Pokemon Puzzle League

Pros • Abbreviated learning curve (very abbreviated if you are familiar with Tetris Attack) • Therapeutic, mind-numbing gameplay • Substitute baby-sitter	Cons • Buying this game feeds the frighteningly powerful Pokemon machine • Basically mimics another game • Pikachu, Pikachu, Pikachu
Bottom Line If you can get past the fact that it’s another Pokemon product, Pokemon Puzzle League is actually a fun diversion with a few tough challenges. I remember when Tetris came out I would sit at the computer for what must have been days while the kids I was supposed to be baby-sitting tore up the house. I got the same feeling when I sat down to play Pokemon Puzzle League.

First off the intro movie and game premise are not even relevant enough to mention. You play the trainer, Ash (particularly cool for me since my name is Ashe), and you go off to Puzzle Village with Pikachu, where you are pitted against other trainers in the puzzle-solving championships.

In the first Stadium you solve puzzles to win badges (bolder, thunder, rainbow, etc.) before moving onto other puzzle-solving challenges. It takes a bit of practice to get used to the quick-twitch action of the game, but if you’re familiar at all with Tetris Attack, then you know the drill.

Basically, you start off with a game frame half-filled with different themed blocks (heart, water, circle, fire). You can play a friend or play the computer; the challenge is very similar (well, depending on how nimble your friend’s fingers are). As rows of blocks push up from the bottom of the screen, you need to manipulate the blocks in the columns. Line up three, four or five blocks of the same theme, either vertically or horizontally, to clear them from the frame. Diagonal formations won’t clear.

I was kind of hoping there would be some bloodletting in two-player mode; whoever wins gets to stone his or her opponent with their own tiles while the virtual crowd in the stadium cheers. Then I realized this is primarily a kids’ game and I’ve been playing entirely too much Ogre Battle 64.

As you move through each level you’ll be introduced to new blocks (leaf, diamond, poke ball). After you complete the basic game you move up to the next level of difficulty. When playing 3-D Marathon mode, there’s a dizzying display of cubes that rotate slowly in a cylinder; it’s your job to clear the blocks and beat the clock. It’s pretty frustrating because just when you start to make progress on one side of the puzzle, the other side quickly creeps to the top.

In the Spa Service area, there is just barely enough wiggle room to clear the tiles before they start blinking and annoying you. If you hang in there though you are rewarded with a dancing Jigglypuff. (Let’s see Sonic beat that).

Perhaps the most entertaining part of the game is the Custom Puzzle feature. Here you get to try out your puzzle creation skills on your friends. First you choose from a handful of non-inspiring backgrounds, and then you select where each puzzle tile will begin and how many moves you’ll allow in solving it. You can either test out your puzzle to make sure it can be solved in 2, 4, or 6 moves before challenging your opponent. Or you can just say you did and watch them struggle ineffectually for hours.

All in all the game is fairly straightforward and mind numbing, if not finger numbing as well. You don’t have to be a Pokefan in order to appreciate this game, but it helps. If you aren’t used to the characters, their constant meowing, prodding, and encouraging remarks can be a bit tiresome.

If you have kids buy, or at least rent, the game. And don’t be surprised if you find yourself sitting in the middle of the living room floor late one night playing it hours and hours.

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