PUZZLE GAMING BLASTS INTO ORBIT AS METEOS CRASH LANDS ON THE NINTENDO DS

August 1 – Prepare to blast off with a game that will leave your head spinning and your heart pounding with excitement. From 23rd September 2005 prepare to put your life on hold because every waking hour will be dedicated to METEOS, the new puzzle game for Nintendo DS.

In METEOS, players use the Nintendo DS's innovative touch-screen control to manipulate falling blocks and clear the screen. The game begins with a clear playfield, which quickly begins to fill with falling blocks. Players must use their stylus to move blocks up and down, rearranging them within their columns in an attempt to line up three or more identical pieces horizontally or vertically. Successful lines of three or more will then transform into rockets and blast off into space, carrying with them all the blocks above, thus clearing the screen.

Once a group of pieces has "taken off", players can create "combos" in various ways to increase the size of the launched stack - the more pieces destroyed in one go, the more points awarded – even to the whole width of the playfield. However, stacking up too many blocks in the playfield when arranging "combos" will risk players being overwhelmed making big "combos" a risky balancing act. While in the air, players are still able to rearrange blocks, launching smaller pieces individually to increase the overall thrust and propel the group higher into the air.

The touch-screen, unique to the Nintendo DS, makes METEOS adrenaline filled with the action becoming incredibly fast-paced and intense. This game is 'can't-put-it-down' entertainment, not a relaxing puzzle game!

The game's main 'Star Trip' mode challenges players to clear a selection of planets, complete various tasks and send the METEOS blocks back to space. In addition, Simple mode, allows players to choose a planet and customize the game's options to cater for individual taste, whereas Deluge mode challenges players' skills to help the planet to survive as long as possible and to achieve the highest score at the same time. There is also a Time War mode available where players must get the highest score possible in a set period of time or launch set amount of blocks in shortest time possible.

METEOS guarantees to keep players coming back for more with a plethora of unlockable extras. Each block successfully removed is stored and can be used in different combinations to create new planets, music sets and special items. Each planet has its unique physics and playfield vastly affecting gameplay. Some have heavy gravity, increasing the speed of the descending blocks, while horizontal block sets take off faster than vertical ones.

So you have perfected your skills and now want to show off? Then rejoice that METEOS features a multiplayer mode, allowing you to challenge your mates. Thanks to the unique DS download play option up to four players can battle it out using just one Nintendo DS game card. Players using multiple cards will also be able to save high scores and gameplay records facilitating long-term league tables.

METEOS is 'building up' to be a massive success when it launches across the UK on the Nintendo DS on 23rd September 2005, at the estimated retail price of £29.99.