Disney Metos - Better than original?

Chris Kohler over at Wired's game blog Game|Life got some hands-on with 2 DS games by Disney's game division: Spectrobes and Meteos Disney Magic.

Spectrobes I care less about right now, since the topic is about Meteos. I suggest you check it out though, it could be the next 'Pokemon' if they pull it off.

When I heard they were doing a Disney-themed sequel for Meteos, I figured it would be just some Disney skins and maybe some online play on top of the same ol' Meteos. I would have gotten it for the WiFi alone (the WiFi is my own wish, I don't have any confirmation that this will be online).

However, they didn't just put a skin on it, they actually changed the game quite drastically. For one, they've rotated the screen so you hold the DS like a book. No problem, Brain Age has trained me to use it this way quite effectively. In the first Meteos, the game screen was vertical, so this makes the actual game screen with the blocks bigger, and easier to touch with accuracy. After all, it's a Disney themed game which alludes to it being targeted at kids who may not have the greatest precision.

A greater change, especially for Meteos 'veterans', is that now you can freely move blocks horizontaly. In the original game, you could only move blocks up and down to connect 3 or more blocks of the same colour and launch it. It seems this will make the game easier (it would fit with the juvenile/family target), but perhaps there will still be a decent challenge for the rest of us.

Either way it looks good to me, and if it ends up using Nintendo WFC, I'll be all over it.

I love the original Meteos, and I also thought the new version would just be the same as the original with a Disney theme. The news that the gameplay has changed so drastically is very exciting to me. I can't wait to check it out.