Polarium: Tetris on Steriods?
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Polarium: Tetris on Steriods?
I came across this game today I've never heard of called Polarium. It has a puzzle mode which in fine and dandy, but the versus and attack modes looks like serious amount of fun. Is anyone else heard about this game before or looking forward to it? Click the first "box" to watch a video that demo's the modes. (Broadband only)
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never heard of it, but i don't keep track of anything the big N does. i feel their games are't bloody enough for me. anyhow that thing looks cool i watched the video and the one of the dog thing where you've got a virtual dog that looked fun.
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Originally Posted by darkside
I prepaid for it months ago as soon as it went up for preorder. Can't wait for it to come out. The screens and videos I have seen so far look pretty cool.
I thought of you when I saw it actually, I recalled how excited you get about Bejewled and thought you might like it.
#6
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I don't get the hype over Bejeweled.
I like Tetris Attack (and it's offshoots) much better.
I like the faster pace (with having to keep the blocks from reaching the top of the screen) and being able to horizontally swap any two blocks rather than only ones that are instantly completing a 3+ pattern. Adds a lot more strategy.
I like Tetris Attack (and it's offshoots) much better.
I like the faster pace (with having to keep the blocks from reaching the top of the screen) and being able to horizontally swap any two blocks rather than only ones that are instantly completing a 3+ pattern. Adds a lot more strategy.
#7
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I imported this a while ago, as it's been out in Japan for a while. There it's called Chokkan Hitofude, and for a while was listed in the US as One Line Puzzle. The main part of the game is Challenge mode which has 100 puzzles for you to work through. The cool thing is you can add puzzles to it, by typing in codes, so people can design them and share them with others. There were already some on Nintendo's Japanese site, and you can find more on GameFaqs. The timed mode where the puzzles fall from the top continuiously and you just keep clearing as much as you can is okay I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.
#8
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Originally Posted by Josh Hinkle
I don't get the hype over Bejeweled.
I like Tetris Attack (and it's offshoots) much better.
I like the faster pace (with having to keep the blocks from reaching the top of the screen) and being able to horizontally swap any two blocks rather than only ones that are instantly completing a 3+ pattern. Adds a lot more strategy.
I like Tetris Attack (and it's offshoots) much better.
I like the faster pace (with having to keep the blocks from reaching the top of the screen) and being able to horizontally swap any two blocks rather than only ones that are instantly completing a 3+ pattern. Adds a lot more strategy.
My favorite modes on most puzzle games are the "puzzle modes" and Polarium looks to really shine in that area. Even with Lumines I spent most of my time beating the puzzle mode.
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If you guys like puzzle games you might want to check out Toki Toki Boom over at yahoo games, under arcade games. It's kind of a hidden gem, my friend got me playing it. Its a really fun multiplayer puzzler. Good to kill some time.
#10
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The reviews so far are pretty mediocre. Gamespot gave it a 6.9, IGN gave it a 7.8, and 1up gave it 7.5.
Reading into the details of the reviews though convince me this is exactly the kind of game I'm going to enjoy. However, it doesn't have big seller written on it at all. It will be another in a long line of quirky games I love, but no one else I talk to will have ever heard of.
Reading into the details of the reviews though convince me this is exactly the kind of game I'm going to enjoy. However, it doesn't have big seller written on it at all. It will be another in a long line of quirky games I love, but no one else I talk to will have ever heard of.
The real meat of the game, however, is the Puzzle Mode. Unlike the Challenge variant, Puzzle features no timer, no stress, nothing but sheer devious mental tests of escalating difficulty. Polarium offers 100 pre-defined puzzles which are unlocked in sets of ten. You can choose to tackle any available puzzle in any order, but to unlock the next round every single entry must be completed, and some of them are genuine stumpers. Two levels of help are available, and even then some of them can take 10 or 15 minutes to complete.
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The feature of making your own puzzles and posting the codes online is cool for sure. Only thing I worry about is if people can make a puzzle that can't be solved and still share the code. That would suck...
#12
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Originally Posted by jeffdsmith
The feature of making your own puzzles and posting the codes online is cool for sure. Only thing I worry about is if people can make a puzzle that can't be solved and still share the code. That would suck...
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Originally Posted by jeffdsmith
I thought of you when I saw it actually, I recalled how excited you get about Bejewled and thought you might like it.
Polarium looks cool.
It reminds me of my favorite spin-off of the original Tetris game. It's a game on the SNES which was available only in Japan. In this game, the blocks falling from the top are shaped exactly like those in Tetris but some of the blocks will have 1 or more magic orbs in them which are used to accumulate spell points. You select a Hero from a list of about 7 or so. Each Hero has their own special group of spells that you could use to either help your stack of blocks clear-away or interfere with your opponent's stack to make it harder for him/her to clear-away. The spells consisted of four different levels, the fourth being the most devastating.
The Heros were strange: A ninja, a princess, a pumpkin, 6 Mariachi midgets, a Samurai Wolf, a rabbit, and maybe 1 or 2 others which I can't recall. A very unlikely bunch indeed, but the best part was watching each of the Heros perform the spell. The game was completely in Japanese but you didn't have to read any of it to understand/enjoy the actual gameplay.
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Originally Posted by darkside
I think you have to be able to solve it to create it and get a code for it.
#15
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Originally Posted by jeffdsmith
Just curious, do you read this somewhere or are you conjecting?
What's really slick about this mode is the ability to create and save your own puzzle creations to cartridge. The game makes sure that any design can be solved by challenging the creators to solve it themselves; once it's successful, players can convert that puzzle into an extensive, numerical password so that buddies can pull that puzzle up on their own cartridge. Of course, those puzzles can also be transmitted to anyone's cart provided they're within local wireless range. It's this option that really extends Polarium's staying power.
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Simple but fun
Polarium reminds me a bit of Picross with it's simple, graphically sparse, but ultimately intriguing puzzle action.
I am looking forward to Meteos, however. It reminds me of those great hyper puzzlers like Kirby's Star Stacker and Tetris Attack.
I am looking forward to Meteos, however. It reminds me of those great hyper puzzlers like Kirby's Star Stacker and Tetris Attack.
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Originally Posted by darkside
If only Nintendo would release a new Picross game.
#19
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Originally Posted by Hrothgar
T'would be perfect for the DS, but not going to happen given the abyssmal sales of the one and only Picross title to cross the Pacific.
#21
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I saw this game new at ToysRUs for 10 bucks today and was curious if anyone had played it here. Even with all the posts in this thread it looks like very few actually played it (and many posts were around the time it first came out).
Any opinions since the game has now been out for some time?
Any opinions since the game has now been out for some time?
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If I could find it for 10.00 I'd certainly take the plunge. I've played the game on the demo kiosks and it's not the best game ever but it seemed pretty fun. I've been waiting for it to come down in price before I pick it up.
#24
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Everytime I look at games, I always get confused by Polarium, Magnetica, Meteos, etc. They all look the same to me and I know one or more of them are pretty bad, so I never end up getting one.
#25
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Originally Posted by The Bus
Everytime I look at games, I always get confused by Polarium, Magnetica, Meteos, etc. They all look the same to me and I know one or more of them are pretty bad, so I never end up getting one.
Meteos is very good. Though I think overhyped by some as it still doesn't touch Tetris Attack IMO.
Haven't played the others.