Namco squares up to Tetris with new DS puzzler Trioncube

Remember when block-based puzzle games counted as simple fun? What happy days; relive them playing Nintendo's excellent Tetris DS.

We've yet to be convinced about other configurations of DS block shifting or ball rolling though. And frankly, on first impressions, Namco Bandai's just announced Trioncube seems unlikely to change our attitude.

First up there's a horribly contrived storyline, and we quote: 'Trioncube is a challenging puzzler that requires attention, patience and skill to rescue the kidnapped princess from the protagonist's arch enemy Hell Metal'.

'The player must embark on a journey across eight planets (and 45 missions) into the depths of space, as the captain of the mighty space ship Penko, to rescue the princess from the grasp of Hell Metal. Players reach this goal by creating a Trioncube – a series of 3x3 blocks, which start a chain reaction that refuels the space ship. Try to create as big a chain as you can before time runs out and the Trioncube is broken. The bigger the chain you make, the farther distance your ship travels.'

All Namco Bandai actually needed to explain was – a bit like in the Catch mode of Tetris DS, in which you create and explode 4x4 blocks – here you need to build 3x3 blocks, and then keep making new ones to chain up a high score.

How a kidnapped princess or an arch enemy called Hell Metal is supposed to improve the situation is beyond us.

But with that rant off our chest, there is something intriguing about Trioncube. By carefully studying its Japanese website, it slowly becomes clear what you're trying to do is mesh together the five types of falling blocks by rotating them as they fall into an initial 3x3 square, called a Trion. Then, the trick becomes to expand that square by making sure subsequent falling blocks are dropped in such a way as to create a new 3x3 square.

If you don't, all the blocks become coins and vanish, providing your 'spaceship' with 'fuel' depending on the number of chains you've created. The coins are also banked, enabling the purchase of effects and arts, such as sushi rolls, dogs and tambourines (!), which will emerge from your Trioncube as your journey continues across the galaxy.

You can get a feel of how the basic mechanic works by playing this flash-based web version.

The DS game will feature four different modes; Arcade, Story, Endless and Versus. And Namco Bandai also promises you'll have to get to grips with different strategies in order to be successful.

Personally, I still wonder if there will be enough variation to make this a truly engrossing puzzle game – something that also hampered another promising DS block-based puzzle game, Meteos.

Still we should know soon enough, as Trioncube is currently scheduled for a late spring release.