Polarium

Last updated
Polarium
Polariumbox.jpg
Developer(s) Mitchell Corporation
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Director(s) Takamitsu Hagiwara
Designer(s) Takamitsu Hagiwara
Platform(s) Nintendo DS
Release
  • JP: December 2, 2004
  • EU: March 11, 2005
  • AU: March 24, 2005
  • NA: April 18, 2005
  • CHN: July 23, 2005
Genre(s) Puzzle
Mode(s) Single player, multiplayer

Polarium [lower-alpha 1] is a puzzle game developed by Mitchell Corporation and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It was a launch title in Japan, Europe and China. In the game, players use a stylus to draw lines on the DS's touch screen, flipping black and white tiles to clear puzzles.

Contents

Gameplay

Select tiles by drawing lines over them with the stylus. Selected tiles will flip from black to white or vice versa. In the standard Tetris-like challenge mode, players must make room for falling tiles by clearing rows as they pile up on the bottom screen. Rows are cleared by flipping the tiles to make rows that are all black or all white. Surrounding the main puzzle area are gray "neutral" tiles that have no effect on the puzzle but can be used to flip disconnected groups of tiles in a single pass. The scoring in Challenge and Versus mode are based on how the lines are cleared; for example, more points are given when more lines are cleared (lines), when numerous lines are cleared with just one stroke continuously (chains), when there are 2 separate lines cleared with uncleared lines between them (split), or when several lines are cleared in one stroke, but different lines have different polarities (borders).

Game modes

Demo version

Nintendo DS Download Play allows Nintendo DS owners who do not have a copy of Polarium to wirelessly download this demo version of the game to their system from a friend or kiosk.

Polarium Advance

A Game Boy Advance version of Polarium, called Polarium Advance , was released in Japan, Europe and America. Interestingly, its development started before the DS version. [1] The game features almost four times as many puzzles as Polarium, as well as the removal of Challenge mode, and the addition of new tiles, among other gameplay tweaks. [2]

The game was released in North America sometime during November 2006, published by Atlus rather than Nintendo.

Critical reception

Polarium received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. [3] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of one eight, one seven, and two eights for a total of 31 out of 40. [6]

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: 直感ヒトフデ, Hepburn: Chokkan Hitofude, Single Stroke Intuition
  2. ↑ Japanese: ヒ
  3. ↑ Japanese: ト
  4. ↑ Japanese: フ
  5. ↑ Japanese: デ

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References

  1. ↑ "直感ヒトフデ 開発スタッフインタビュー[". 2004-12-04. Archived from the original on 2004-12-04. Retrieved 2024-04-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ↑ GameSpot staff (July 27, 2005). "Polarium chillin' GBAs". GameSpot . Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Polarium for DS Reviews". Metacritic . Archived from the original on June 3, 2024. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  4. ↑ Edge staff (January 2005). "Chokkan Hitofude". Edge . No. 145. p. 95.
  5. ↑ Reed, Kristan (March 22, 2005). "Polarium". Eurogamer . Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Famitsu Scores DS Launch Titles". Nerd Mentality. November 24, 2004. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  7. ↑ Helgeson, Matt (June 2005). "Polarium". Game Informer . No. 146. p. 137. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  8. ↑ Gerstmann, Jeff (April 15, 2005). "Polarium Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on October 8, 2014. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  9. ↑ Theobald, Phil (April 18, 2005). "GameSpy: Polarium". GameSpy. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  10. ↑ David, Mike (April 29, 2005). "Polarium - NDS - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on December 29, 2008. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  11. ↑ Harris, Craig (April 15, 2005). "Polarium". IGN . Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Polarium". Nintendo Power . Vol. 192. June 2005. p. 95.
  13. ↑ D'Aprile, Jason (May 9, 2005). "Polarium Review". X-Play. Archived from the original on December 2, 2005. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  14. ↑ Campbell, Craig (May 8, 2005). "'Polarium'". Detroit Free Press . Archived from the original on May 14, 2005. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  15. ↑ Hill, Jason (April 28, 2005). "Spectacular graphics". The Sydney Morning Herald . Archived from the original on January 31, 2014. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
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