Imaginative isn't often a word that can be used for describing a brick busting arcade style game. I say that affectionately, given my love for the genre, but often they tend to play it pretty safe. Blowfish Meets Meteor manages to offer a quite good block breaking experience while still throwing in a few twists of imagination for good measure.
Across six worlds, covering numerous levels, players must clear blocks in order to free the many trapped mermaids amongst them. It makes a pleasant change from simply having to clear all the blocks on each level, with a neat, tactical edge to things. This is further enhanced by the fact that saving the mermaids is rarely straightforward. Often, there are perils such as piranhas in their way to safety, and it's down to the player to clear that path. Elsewhere are boss battles requiring some other form of careful ball flinging, again adding to the variety.
Further on in the game is even the chance to solve some puzzles with the need to create platforms out of jellyfish, and setting up laser beams to wipe things out. Blowfish Meets Meteor certainly keeps things consistently interesting.
At times, Blowfish Meets Meteor falls into the trap that many brick busting games have done before, such as the ball very nearly getting stuck and bouncing between two set points on its own for a while, but for once, I didn't find myself having to restart any levels because of this. Instead, Blowfish Meets Meteor is a fairly well-made game both appealing in its cuteness and also offering some great moments of inspiration. Its one sole quibble is that early on in the game it could do with a tutorial, given that things do start out a little vague.
Free of the irritants of in-app purchases, $2.99 is quite the good deal for so much block breaking action, courtesy of this charming title. It'll certainly entertain for a while to come.