Trioncube

Trioncube is a Tetris-like DS game released in 2006 by Namco.

Overview

In this game, the objective is to rescue a lady Princess with the help of a spaceship named Penko. Each "round" is then a timebatle to reach the distance seperating you and the Princess.

Gameplay

The basic gameplay of the game is really similar to Tetris. The main goal is to form 3x3 squares (trioncubes) as more fall down, to clear the level. As soon as a 3x3 squares is in place, other blocks can be added to it, so the player can clear a bigger section of the level. That sec tion will be cleared as soon as a wrong piece is added to the pack. Note that the color of the pieces doesn't matter in this game, only the shapes. The whole gameplay revolves around this delayed explosion system, that will allow the ship to gain speed and distance, to finish the levels.

Unlockables, such as graphics and items, are also gained while playing the game.

Note : Trioncube doesn't use the Nintendo DS's touch screen.

Modes

Trioncube has a few modes that you can play with :

Single player

Story mode : It is around 45 small missions of 30 seconds each.

Arcade mode : Planets over planets until a boss is reached. This mode seems inspired from Meteos.
Endless mode : 99 levels in a row.

Multiplayer (via WiFi)

Versus mode : Play against a friend via Wi-Fi (can also be against the computer). Large chains of blocks that are cleared will send unusable gray blocks at your opponent, The more grey blocks you send, the more chances of winning you get, as it slows your opponent down.

Story

The story of the game starts with a basic plot : the Princess has disappeared and somebody needs to save her. The player plays as the Captain of the ship Penko, who looks like a fat pingouin. During his journey, he has to save the Princess from numerous situations, as kidnappings, black holes and such.