Pokemon Puzzle League (Nintendo 64) Review

Puzzle League is definitely not a game that requires a lengthy story mode to make it addictive; its gameplay mechanic alone does a more than adequate job of achieving that status alone. However, Intelligent Systems and Nintendo included one back in Tetris Attack for the SNES and a distinctly Pokemon-flavoured yarn adorns this puzzle-fest, albeit in totally bare bones form with Ash merely working his way through a Puzzle League tournament in order to defeat Team Rocket and the gain as many badges as possible, including the elusive Elite ones obtained by beating the Pokemon masters during battle.

The basic aim of Puzzle League is to match up between three and five of the same coloured panels vertically or horizontally by using the directional pad to move a cursor around the screen highlighting two panels at any one time and switching their position on the lateral plane. As many tiles must be cleared as is necessary or possible, dependent on the mode of play, all the while trying to ensure that the set of panels do not scroll right up to the top of the screen and leave you with a 'Try Again' option. As with most great puzzle titles there are minor aides that let players flex their tactical prowess and rack up massive scores and cause havoc for your opponent. Once one particular set of tiles is removed, there is a slight pause to give players chance to quickly rearrange others so that combination clearances can be made when different colours from above drop downwards to fill the newly created gaps in the playing area. Create a good enough chain and Jigglypuff will whip out its microphone and start singing, thus putting everyone to sleep other than yourself and allowing all sorts of chaos to ensue as veterans will be flying around switching panels like nobody's business and sometimes even clearing the field completely, thus requiring a manual rise to be done to push more blocks into view.

The main mode is the one-player tournament to earn badges and become the best Puzzle League competitor, and this pits you against numerous familiar faces from the Pokemon world, such as Gary, Brock, Misty and Tracey, each with varying degrees of skill. In this mode each combination move results in large, solid blocks falling onto the opponent's screen. To remove them a line of panels must be cleared whilst actually touching the solid block, which then results in it breaking down into separate panels that can be cleared as usual. A three panel clearance will not separate a thick solid block, though, or else things would be too simple. Sometimes only one line will be transformed back into normal tiles, whilst if a five-chain is made it will obviously normalise more of the large slab. Once you have caused the other player's screen to fill up, the white flag is raised and you move victoriously onto the next round. This mode is also available for two players and will definitely eat into your time considerably, along with the Marathon, play-til-you-drop mode, and Time Zone (puzzling whilst against the clock)...

So will 'Line Clear' (or Spa Service, which it is strangely called in this game) as well. Here players are tasked with continuously clearing all of the on-screen panels until a specific point, denoted by a white line - clearing everything above said line finishes that stage, allowing progression to the next. Eventually a 3D mode is introduced in the latter stages, in which the playing field is no longer restricted to a narrow 2D box. Players must, therefore, keep clearing panels as per normal, but also keep an eye on the back of the field, scrolling right around either left or right to maintain a balance all round or else again face a 'Try Again' message. To start with, this new inclusion will seem like a nightmare as there is far too much to concentrate on at one time. However, after a few plays its all clicks into place and the real fun begins! And that is what Pokemon Puzzle League is all about sheer addictive fun. With its brightly coloured aesthetics, various animated clips made especially for the game, plus voice-overs from cast regulars as well, the game really is the full package. When released on the N64 the price-tag may have been ridiculously high, but for the equivalent of $7.50 this is a must-buy title now it is available on the Virtual Console!