If the Nintendo DS logged how much time was spent on different games I would be able to give you an exact number, but in lieu of that let me assure you that I spent my fare share of time in Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. I really got into it before the Penny-Arcade Expo last year, and without it I might have started head butting people mid-flight on the way to Seattle. Since then I have been following the actions of D3 Publisher and Infinite Interactive, watching them like a stalker, preparing for the inevitable announcement of a sequel. When the day finally came I didn’t believe what I saw: Puzzle Quest, set in space, with the strange name “Galaxtrix.” After getting a hands-on with the game at E3 last week all of my initial worries were washed away.

After just a few minutes of play it became apparent that Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords was more of a demo than a prequel to Galactrix. The mechanics that remain from the original form the frame of the gameplay experience. Combat, while given a little twist with gravitational pull, remains nearly exactly the same.

Don’t be taken by the look of the game board, this is the same Puzzle Quest that scratched your screen beyond repair back last year. There are three colors of mana that can be used to activate different abilities, purple and white gems that add to your psychic and intellect, and mines that deal direct damage. Like I said, the core structure remains, and the game builds atop the wonder that was the original.

Outside of battle there is plenty more to do. Different factions met throughout the game will give you quests, and depending on which quests you do your reputation bar will shift accordingly. There is also a deeper mechanic to movement, as well as a cargo system that I didn’t completely understand, but from what I got from it there appears to be enough to keep Puzzle Quest fans satisfied for some time to come. Other features, like owning several different ships, recruiting different pilots to your fleet, and taking over the galaxy in the campaign mode just get me more excited for the game, which was just recently pushed back into 2009.

There will be Xbox Live, Windows, and the Nintendo DS versions initially, with other SKUs yet to be announced. D3 is billing this as separate from the Challenge of the Warlords series, saying that Galaxtrix isn’t Puzzle Quest 2. Don’t believe for one moment that this means that the game is an expansion similar to Guitar Hero: Aerosmith – it is as original and brilliant as the first.

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