Polarium proves without a doubt that less can
definitely be more. Using a simple premise of converting black and white
colored tiles, players are thrown into the mental meat grinder. As tiles fall
faster and faster, and you, the player are only able to use the stylus to
control the action. You see, the game involves black, white or grey shapes
falling towards the bottom of the second screen (yes this game use both
screens). The upper screen acts as a preview of what shape is to come next.
The idea of the game is to make complete horizontal lines of the same color
(and therefore making them disappear) as the tiled shapes fall from above.
Grey tiled shapes act as a universal color for either black or white in the
completion of lines. As is the norm, you must act quickly to form complete
color lines or the shapes will pile up too high and you will lose.
The game offers two modes of play, challenge and
puzzle. I described challenge above, what I didn’t describe is that challenge
is the mind bending portion of the game, tiles fall at an almost unbearable
pace. Moving the stylus you begin to start thinking in larger terms, like
making multiple lines of the same color in order to clear the screen, but then
another shape comes and you’re running out of room, so you begin to unravel
mentally and the whole puzzle comes crashing down. Tough, frantic
brain-busting action.
The second mode is the puzzle mode. Instead of
pieces falling downward, the idea is to flip all tiles in one fell swoop of
your stylus. If you think this sounds hard, well, at first you won’t think so,
but after a couple of minutes you start sweating and you realize that this
whole game must be some diabolical plan to infiltrate your mind’s deepest
recesses. Almost like a Star Trek episode from about 12 years ago. Mind
control aside, the game really grabs hold of you and time seems to accelerate
while you play.
Not that there is much in terms of graphics the
game has a definite black and white TV feel to it. Not that I minded, the
game looks fine for what it is and the programmers used the "if it ain’t
broke, don’t fix it" mentality. The same could be said of the audio, it’s
there, but has no relevance to the overall game. I in fact, merely turned the
sound down as it allowed me to concentrate more on the puzzle at hand.
Probably the coolest feature of the game is the
ability to make puzzles yourself and then send them to other DS owners who are
linked with you via the wireless connection. The game forces the creator to
first beat the puzzle before allowing you to ship it off to frustrate your
friends. Which is only fair, I made allot of puzzles that simply were not
able to be completed. There is also a downloadable mode for DS owners who
don’t own the game. It allows them to take the game out for a trial spin.
Slick. Lastly there is also a head to head mode where players play against
each other, provided they each have a copy of the game. Still, I’m liking
this wireless gaming niche I’m having with some of my co-workers. If only the
boss really knew!
Gameplay: 8.0
Wowzer, a game that is only played with the
stylus. This game is tailor made for the DS and the user friendly controls
make it a real treat for those of us who bought the system.
Graphics: 6.5
It’s nothing special, but it’s not supposed to
be. The whole idea of black, white and grey is that they are easiest on the
eyes after long stretches of time, good thing because long stretches of time
is exactly what you will be spending.
Sound: 6.5
It is nice little subtle beat that drums along,
but it makes no difference in the game. Where some games need a strong
soundtrack to help move things along, Polarium does not because it isn’t
needed.
Difficulty: Med/Hard
Yes, it starts out fairly easy, and the tutorial
sure is a big help, but boy are you in for some serious headaches. This game
is almost indescribable in its ability to frustrate you. Not that you mind,
that’s what puzzle games are all about.
Concept: 8.5
Yes, the game may sound like some other puzzle
games, but the stylus gives it an entirely new dynamic, and therefore a
heaping dose of originality.
Multiplayer: 8.8
Easily the most popular DS games that my friends
and I play against each other. When someone comes up with a new devious
puzzle, there is nothing cooler then solving it, in like, five minutes,
knowing your buddy spent much longer then that making the darn thing. Ah,
bliss.
Overall: 7.9
It’s really a great little game. I think I may
like Lumines a little more overall, but I really do think the multiplayer is
easily the game’s strongest selling point. Good original puzzle game that
should at least be tried by all DS owners.