Mobile Stream Meteor
WHAT’S HOT
does exactly that. The game-play is based on the
arcade game classic "Breakout," but Meteor adds a
space theme, complete with enemy space-ship game
elements. It also adds an amazing array of block
types, some of which move during play, and a wealth of
additional weapon types and power-ups. All of
which are very well rendered on quarter VGA (320×240)
screens and absolutely stunningly rendered on full VGA
(640×480) screens.
PROGRAM FEATURES
Meteor starts with a main menu screen:
(click on the image
above for a full-sized VGA-resolution image)
Each of the images below show the actions of the menu
items, from bottom to top. "Exit Game" leaves
the program.
"Help" calls up the
brief help screen
"High Scores" shows a
list of the current high scores
"Options" allows you to
adjust the volume of the background music and the
action sound effects
"Start Game" brings up
the difficulty and level chooser
(click for VGA)
When you start a game, you can choose from three
difficulty levels. "Easy" is really only for
getting familiar with the game. "Normal" is, as
the name implies, where most people will find the
proper mix of challenge and doability. "Hard"
makes you work for your points while dodging enemy
fire. There are also three different "Missions,"
each with its own unique layouts. The start
screen only shows the first layout in the missions.
There are 10 layouts in each for a grand total of 90
different levels. Here are just a few of them. (Click on the images for full-sized VGA-resolution
images.)
As you smash the blocks,
you free the enemy ships.
This one has invisible
blocks. You only see them after you hit them.
Some of these blocks are
bombs. Hit them and they’ll explode the nearby
blocks as well.
The "fireball" weapon hits harder, but watch out for
the enemy ship. It fires back.
Aside
from the varied layouts, there is also a suite of
power-ups (and a few power-downs, too). Some of
these include a 3-ball and 7-ball split, which gives
you 3 or 7 balls in the air at one time, and
additional weapons, which allow you to fire
line-of-sight missiles of various power. There
are varieties of blocks as well. Some require
additional hits to break. Some have to be hit
from one side or only with special weapons. Some
are invisible until the first time you hit them.
All of this makes for an interest-holding game-play.
Unlike those games where all the levels look the same
and you tire of them long before you’ve seen even a
quarter of them, Meteor has enough elements and
variations to keep you guessing. It also has
what I consider to be the absolutely necessary feature
of any arcade style game, a "pause." The first
time I lose a level just because I had to answer the
phone is usually the last time I play a particular
game.
Meteor has a very brief
HELP SUPPORT
built-in help screen. To augment that, there is
also
a full set of illustrated rules on the Mobile
Stream web site. In addition, you can contact
Mobile Stream
for information and questions and
for
technical support.
Meteor requires Pocket
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
PC 2002 or Windows Mobile 2003 (First or Second
Edition) operating system. The program takes 4MB
of storage memory and 4MB of program memory to run.
BUGS AND WISHES
I didn’t experience any faults or failures while I was
testing the program so I don’t have any bugs to
report. As usual, I have a few ideas for future
versions of the program:
I’d like to see names added to the High Scores screen.
High scores are basically "bragging rights." Without the name attached anyone could have gotten
that score.
Meteor doesn’t have a save game feature at all. At
first, I thought this was an issue, since you might
want to save your progress so you could go back to
your game after calling up your Tasks list for a quick
check. In the end, I really haven’t found much
of a need for one. Starting a Mission over isn’t
that much of a set-back.
Finally, I had some ideas for even more elements to the game:
One such option I’d
like to see a slider which would increase or decrease
the amount of "bounce" the weapon has. Another
option would be to add "gravity" so the weapon would
travel in a parabolic path instead of a straight line,
decelerate as it goes "up," and accelerate as it comes
"down." A third option would be to allow the
user to put more than one weapon into play from their
reserve (rather than relying on getting the 2x or 3x
power-up). Another option would be to place
stationary extra balls in the field which would pick
up momentum from the ball you fire from your ship and
then do additional damage. A final option would be to have ships
that could lay or replace blocks.
Meteor is available for purchase from the pocketnow Store for $14.95. Until December 16th, use the code 6C2299F for
PURCHASING
$2.95 off the price. There
is also a trial version available at the link above.
PROS
- Versions
for QVGA and VGA resolution screens
Excellently rendered graphics- Multiple
levels for varied game play - Pause and
Quit controls - Separate
volume controls for background music and sound
effects
CONS
- No names
on high score list - No save
game feature
Meteor tests your
OVERALL
IMPRESSION
ability to plan ahead and figure angles as much as it
tests your reaction time. It also has enough
variations of blocks, enemies, and weapons that each
level is unique.
If you’re looking for a reasonably-priced arcade-style
game with excellent graphics and sound effects, and a wide range of
game elements and layouts to hold your interest, Meteor is a great choice.
All screenshots in this
review are taken using
SOTI’s Pocket Controller Pro
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