METEOS

“It was a dark time... the existence of all planets was threatened by one: the evil planet Meteo! A stream of phantasmagoric matter...” Hang on, all of this back story nonsense is irrelevant, as what this boils down to is a cracking combination of gravitational games like Tetris and Bejeweled.

If you're unfamiliar with these, they are the highly addictive games where (Tetris) involves various block shapes falling down with the player having to arrange them to create solid strips which get eliminated, preventing the screen from filling up and you failing like the loser you are(!); and (Bejeweled) which has you swapping different colour jewels to match up in rows of 3 or more, exploding them and making room for new ones to slot in. Sounds lame when described like that, but once you get started, its hooks are hard to pry loose.
With Meteos you match falling blocks in vertical or horizontal sets of 3 or more by sliding individual blocks with your stylus on the touch-screen, to have them rocket up and off the playing field.

The Meteo blocks consist of different elements, from Air, Fire, H2O and Soil, to Iron, Herb, Glow, Zap, Zoo, and Dark – their values and combinations varying.

Each planet (incl. Geolitia, Smogor, Ignius, Oleana, Florias, Anasaze and more to unlock) features unique Meteos and scenarios.

You can go for the Simple-, Time War-, Deluge- or Star Strip options, the latter a longer term trip flying from one planet to the next, your success essential to move on. It is often the straight forward games that have a longer shelf life, open for continuous play.
It may sound like a protein snack or pet food, but Meteos is all digital entertainment.

5 / A
- Paul Blom