{"id":1227,"date":"2023-10-06T19:00:50","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T23:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/?p=1227"},"modified":"2023-10-02T22:27:47","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T02:27:47","slug":"1227","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/index.php\/2023\/10\/06\/1227\/","title":{"rendered":"Pokemon Puzzle League \u2014 Issue 46"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Pok\u00e9\u00admon Puz\u00adzle League catch\u00ades the best traits of Tetris Attack<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The zenith of Pok\u00e9\u00admon came rather star\u00adtling and ear\u00adly, some\u00adwhere in the heady days of 2000. After all, by then, Pok\u00e9\u00admon was in the zeit\u00adgeist as a video game and cul\u00adtur\u00adal phe\u00adnom\u00ade\u00adnon. You could stick your arms out in any direc\u00adtion and hit Pok\u00e9\u00admon prod\u00aducts. So, it goes then, that the video game sphere received its share of the wealth after the ini\u00adtial fer\u00advor wound down. At this point, how\u00adev\u00ader, the Nin\u00adten\u00addo 64 was on its last legs and received a few games bear\u00ading the Pock\u00adet Mon\u00adster license. Out of that smoke arose Pok\u00e9\u00admon Puz\u00adzle League.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pok\u00e9\u00admon Puz\u00adzle League isn\u2019t a ter\u00adri\u00adble use of the license. Sure, it\u2019s gra\u00adtu\u00aditous Pok\u00e9\u00admon every\u00adwhere, but it\u2019s not a bad puz\u00adzling game in gen\u00ader\u00adal. The premise is sim\u00adple: Take what you already know about Tetris Attack and slap Pok\u00e9\u00admon on it. That\u2019s all Pok\u00e9\u00admon Puz\u00adzle League is, and since Tetris Attack isn\u2019t ter\u00adri\u00adble either, Puz\u00adzle League ben\u00ade\u00adfits from a sol\u00adid foun\u00adda\u00adtion. The mechan\u00adics remain the same except there\u2019s Pok\u00e9\u00admon involved, and the Pok\u00e9\u00admon don\u2019t real\u00adly affect any\u00adthing beyond aesthetics. <\/span><\/p>\n

Pok\u00e9\u00admon Puz\u00adzle League feels like a Tetris Attack clone ought to feel. The puz\u00adzling mechan\u00adics are tight and quick move\u00adment is clean and pre\u00adcise, even with the wonky N64<\/span> con\u00adtroller. This is one of the first Tetris Attack clones pro\u00adduced, but it car\u00adries on the tra\u00addi\u00adtion of tight, good puz\u00adzling game\u00adplay well. There is a boun\u00adty of modes to play, includ\u00ading stan\u00addard 2D<\/span> and 3D<\/span> line clear\u00ading, a 1P<\/span> sta\u00addi\u00adum mode and ver\u00adsus. The vari\u00adety makes for a good rol\u00adlick\u00ading time and fills up play\u00adtime with qual\u00adi\u00adty offer\u00adings. And, I\u2019d be remiss if I did\u00adn\u2019t say some\u00adthing about the dif\u00adfi\u00adcul\u00adty lev\u00adel. If you\u2019re not pre\u00adpared and don\u2019t under\u00adstand the mechan\u00adics of Tetris Attack, you will get wrecked even on the easy lev\u00adel. The AI<\/span> does not play around and while it\u2019s part of the charm of Puz\u00adzle League, it can be daunt\u00ading to have to replay lev\u00adels mul\u00adti\u00adple times on Nor\u00admal or even Easy dif\u00adfi\u00adcul\u00adty lev\u00adel because the AI<\/span> caught a lucky break.<\/span><\/p>\n

But what you came here for, let\u2019s be hon\u00adest, is the Pok\u00e9\u00admon pre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtion. Thank\u00adful\u00adly, this is the draw. It\u2019s a buf\u00adfet of Pok\u00e9\u00admon-dom, with all of the ani\u00adme favorite char\u00adac\u00adters thrown in as well as the main gym lead\u00aders and Elite Four from the games at high\u00ader dif\u00adfi\u00adcul\u00adty lev\u00adels. The Pok\u00e9\u00admon rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00aded here are all using the 4Kids voice\u00adwork and the ani\u00adme art\u00adstyle, so hope\u00adful\u00adly you like the ani\u00adme enough that you don\u2019t mind that it\u2019s based on the Pok\u00e9\u00admon Orig\u00adi\u00adnal Series gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions. The sound\u00adtrack is appro\u00adpri\u00adate\u00adly Pok\u00e9\u00admon, which means the music is good. There are a few bangers on the sound\u00adtrack that make it a must down\u00adload, includ\u00ading most of the Team Rock\u00adet themes, Lorelei\u2019s theme, and Pro\u00adfes\u00adsor Oak\u2019s theme. Despite this being car\u00adtridge-based, Puz\u00adzle League does\u00adn\u2019t skimp on the sound quality. <\/span><\/p>\n

Pok\u00e9\u00admon Puz\u00adzle League is a joy to learn and get seri\u00adous about even if you remote\u00adly like Tetris Attack. It\u2019s got the Pok\u00e9\u00admon aes\u00adthet\u00adic from the suc\u00adcess\u00adful ani\u00adme and hand\u00adheld games, a nice Pok\u00e9\u00admon-cen\u00adtric sound\u00adtrack and a fun, chal\u00adleng\u00ading puz\u00adzle mechan\u00adic that\u2019s beg\u00adging to be explored. If you love Pok\u00e9\u00admon and puz\u00adzle games, cast your Mas\u00adter ball out to catch this one.<\/span><\/p>\n