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Polarium Review
Written by Modojo Staff on Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Tough, numerous puzzles will have your brain swimming. Great wireless use too.
High learning curve, and a no frills audio/visual package.
All of you are probably familiar with the puzzle where you have to connect the dots on a paper without lifting your pen or crossing over your own line. Polarium, Nintendo's latest release for the touch-screen DS, looks to bring that kind of mind game back in vogue, and they've succeeded in many accounts. While it's not going to wow people at first glance, it does boast a good amount of gameplay longevity. Unfortunately, just how long you keep Polarium in your system is up to how patient a gamer you are.
Developed by the relatively unknown Mitchell, Polarium doesn't try to do anything but challenge you with a well-organized puzzle game. Split up into sections that include Challenge and Puzzle, the game's only control method is with the stylus. Yup, no buttons will ever be pressed after you power on the system. To call this game focused is definitely an understatement.
Challenge mode is much like any main mode of a puzzle game. The tiles fall down (almost too) quickly, and the object of the game is to flip the tiles of one color to match the others to make horizontal rows of solid colors. Once that happens, the tiles clear, points are scored, and the game continues.
It sounds very simple, but in execution it is supremely tough. Even with the top screen acting as a preview for the tiles to come, it's difficult to keep up with the pace. Polarium is a simple game, but don't be fooled because it took me an hour just to last more than a minute in this mode!
Puzzle mode follows a more methodical pace, throwing away the pressure of falling tiles in favor of brainteasers that will keep you riveted until the solution is figured out. Just like those pen-and-paper puzzles, the object is to clear all the tiles by flipping them in one continuous stroke. You only have one line to do it, and you can't cross over your line once you've placed it.
At first, the puzzles are designed to get you warmed up. Then they start really cramping your brain, as you have to take into account a variety of factors such as the ability to clear multiple rows of different colors. Remember, the row will clear as long as you make a horizontal row of the same color tiles, so you can imagine how complex this can get in the later levels.
Thankfully, there's a pretty comprehensive Tutorial you really need to read so you can get the hang of the game. The game still has a steep learning curve, but you should go through the Tutorial at least once before you hit the main modes.
As for the game's graphics and sound, there is literally nothing of note to write about. The graphics do the job in a largely monochromatic fashion, so if you hate colors, you're going to love this game. As for the game's audio, it's no Lumines, but it doesn't purport to be. The very subtle beats won't have you tapping your feet for very long, but you'll be too deep in concentration to even notice.
The wireless capabilities of the Nintendo DS are also on display in a few ways. Of course, you have your standard multiplayer mode where players battle head-to-head in Challenge mode. There's also puzzle sharing: with Polarium, you're able to create custom-puzzles that can be shared with others that have the game. And last but probably most impressive is its utilization of DS Download Play, allowing friends that don't have the game to download a trial version onto their DS, or to compete wirelessly using only one copy of the game. We hope to see this feature being used in future titles, because a game like Polarium really needs to be played before it can be understood.
So with all this talk of the game being tough, Polarium does what it's supposed to do - frustrate the hell out of you until you stab the touch-screen with your stylus. But once you get that solution to the puzzle you're working on, it's a big relief... that is, until the next puzzle rolls around. If you're up for the challenge and remember loving these kinds of brainteasers from yesteryear, Polarium is exactly what you're looking for.
