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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.
Polarium
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 34 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 15 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game >
Game Info
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Mitchell
Genre(s): Puzzle
Players: 2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Release Date: April 18, 2005
Summary
(Known in Japan as "Chokkan Hitofude") Polarium mixes way-cool gameplay with an electronica soundtrack for the trippiest experience yet on the DS. It's the first game that would look cool at a rave. The object is to make room for tiles falling from the top screen by clearing rows of tiles below. You do this by flipping the tiles to make rows that are all black or all white. Gray neutral tiles surround the playing area, so you can flip disconnected groups of tiles. The gray tiles are particularly helpful in Puzzle mode, where you're challenged to eliminate all black or white tiles without lifting your stylus once. Polarium comes with 100 puzzles. You can also build your own custom puzzles and send them to a fellow night-clubber with a tap of the stylus. Play wireless multiplayer matches against a friend; as you clear lines, they'll appear on your opponent's screen, which is visible to you on the upper screen of your DS. Clear lines with "?"s on them to get power-ups that make your lines clear faster, block out your foe's border, reverse his or her tiles, and more. A hypnotic electronic score gives the game the sleek appeal of a high-end fashion show. [Nintendo]
Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central
Also On The Web: GameSpot Hands-On GameSpy Preview IGN Hands-On Official Website
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Game Informer
A truly exceptional puzzle title. [June 2005, p.137]
Gaming Target
What the game lacks in presentation and sound, it makes up for with a fun, original concept that wouldn't quite work as well on anything but the DS.
Read Full Review >Nintendojo
Nintendo hit one out of the ballpark here. All DS owners should also own Polarium. My question: why was it not included with the system?
Read Full Review >GameBiz
The Challenge mode may only hold your interest for a little while, but the one hundred migraine-inducing puzzles will definitely make you come back to the game.
Read Full Review >Games Radar UK (Pre-2006)
An idea with the potential to get boring but that, in practice, is satisfyingly addictive. The puzzle mode offers fiendishly tricky logic problems which are in fact, pretty tricky. Tough but great value and worth the effort. [NGC Pocket]
Read Full Review >NintendoWorldReport
Its simple presentation may deter players who like a bit more pizzazz and graphical flare, but an entertaining game with lastability awaits those who decide to pick it up. [JPN Import]
Read Full Review >Total Video Games
Addictive, fun, and certainly unique, Polarium suits the DS down to the ground (this is game that could only work on the DS…and PDAs) and perhaps this is the direction Nintendo should take their new machine rather than trying to compete with the PSP and bring confused and muddled conversions to the format.
Read Full Review >GameSpy
Granted, the concept of staring at a screen full of black and white squares for minutes on end looking for the correct line to draw may not sound like the most exciting game out there, but for those who appreciate a good mental challenge, it's a treat.
Read Full Review >Modojo
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.
Read Full Review >Electric Playground
Like all good puzzlers, Polarium is exceptionally easy to learn, and it makes it very hard for you to turn your DS off and get your work done.
Read Full Review >GameZone
I think I may like Lumines a little more overall, but I really do think the multiplayer is easily the game's strongest selling point.
Read Full Review >IGN
But it's not a game for the sloppy player, since it really requires a precise handling on stylus drawing.
Read Full Review >N-Insanity
Overly simplistic graphics and sound should have been worked on to make the final package feel more like an actual game, but alas it still felt like a glorified tech demo in the end.
Read Full Review >Nintendo Power
After solving Polarium's first 30 puzzles, I now plan to have my cranium resized - I swear that my brain's gotten bigger. On to the final 70! [June 2005, p.95]
Detroit Free Press
If you like solitaire, "Tetris" and puzzle games, this is for you.
Read Full Review >Da Gameboyz
A title that I had no idea would be so addicting. The graphics and sound are definitely basic, but it is gameplay that makes this title what it is.
Read Full Review >Gaming Age
The multiplayer could have been a bit more robust and single card play would have been easy to implement given the simplicity of the graphics... If you love puzzle games then I highly recommend giving Polarium a try.
Read Full Review >eToychest
A very interesting demonstration of the DS's capabilities, but it is not exactly a worthy successor to the classic puzzle games of the past.
Read Full Review >1UP
Consider Polarium a killer robot sent back into the present to conquer your brain. Might as well enjoy the subjugation...for as long as it lasts, anyway.
Read Full Review >Sydney Morning Herald
Presentation is stark and uninviting but few games are this mentally taxing.
Read Full Review >Eurogamer
With some of the most basic visuals seen since the days of the ZX81 and mind-numbingly uninspired audio it's not going to woo gamers looking for the quick thrill that other eye-candy laden DS titles will.
Read Full Review >Edge Magazine
The end result is a rather cold and uninvolving game. Too subtle to be a Tetris replacement, too plain to be an engaging puzzler, Chokkan Hitofude adds up to something a little greyer than its crisp black-and-white stylings might suggest. [JPN Import; Jan 2005, p.95]
GameCube Europe
It is very addictive and a lot of fun. But the puzzle mode has a replay factor of absolute zero. Anyone who would go back to it for fun would be a mad man.
Read Full Review >Play Magazine
It may look plain, but Polarium is a game that really etched itself into my brain. [June 2005, p.86]
RewiredMind
Indeed, Polarium isn’t so much about your stylus skills, rather your ability to create continuous paths on the screen to change as many blocks to the correct colour in one move as possible.
Read Full Review >GameSpot
If staring at a brainteaser for lengthy periods of time is your idea of excitement, or if the idea of creating puzzles and sharing them with like-minded friends is intriguing to you, then you'll find enough enjoyable mind-benders to make this worth a purchase.
Read Full Review >3DAvenue
One for the puzzle fans but unless you absolutely want to just draw lines all day, "Zoo Keeper" offers a much better gaming experience and has a lot more features.
Read Full Review >Armchair Empire
Maybe my only real complaint is that during Challenge mode there's a half-second delay from the completion of a line of tiles to the time is disappears.
Read Full Review >PALGN
A good game but it’s going to be forced to dwell in the shadows of much superior titles, especially Meteos, as it’s genre has been trumped. However, a lot of the redeeming value is diminished by the fact that the Challenge mode is weak and it is a puzzle game that will only appeal for a finite amount of time.
Read Full Review >Pelaaja (Finland)
In a perfect world, Polarium would have been a built-in game in the Nintendo DS, just like "PictoChat." Even so, there is no better alternative for a solid DS puzzle game, at least until Meteos arrives. [May 2005, p 89]
G4 TV
Simple, yet fun, Polarium is an engaging puzzle game. It proves that the touch screen can be used for more than gimmicks.
Read Full Review >NTSC-uk
The pickup-and-play nature of the Checkmate mode lends itself perfectly to the portable medium, but it's no more than a simple puzzle experience that can be found on millions of Desktop PCs. [JPN Import]
Read Full Review >Gamestyle
It's a great game if you like the genre, but it won't probably won't win any new fans to the puzzle style of play. Their loss.
Read Full Review >Nintendophiles
If you’re a fan of brain teasers, then the game’s 100 puzzles are definitely worth the price of admission (even though it is a little steep). If, on the other hand, you tend to enjoy the more traditional puzzle games that involve making falling objects disappear, you might want to skip Polarium.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this game is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 15 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Frogguts1 gave it an8:
It's a good puzzle game by itself but it's the custom puzzles and wireless play that kept me playing Polarium.
Obrien gave it a9:
the challenge mode gets a bit tiring, but the puzzles are awesome. i've finished 30 so far, 70 to go! i also love the two player mode more than anything else that you can play with your friends who dont have the game. Awesome!
Disappointed D. gave it a3:
Although I'm a puzzle game lover, this one is not worth the money.
Fank N. gave it a10:
This game is great! Anyone who like puzzles games or thinking in general, and likes to get a endless game, to learn plaiying with the touch screen should get this. I made 170+ puzzles for this game, and will make more in the future.
Paul Scotto di P. gave it a9:
I am loving this game. It's pretty hard and pretty frustrating, but you ask for more and more all the time...
Ish aten gave it a9:
This game is extra swan.
[Anonymous] gave it an8:
It's a pretty good puzzler. Its has a few shortcomings such as the fact that the early levels in challenge mode soon become just a chore as you're working your way upwards and the music can get a little repetitive.
