Pokemon Puzzle League

"Who cares if it's Pokemon? It rules!"

I've had Tetris Attack for a fair few 4 years now, and I've already beaten about 95% of the game (Blasted Puzzles!). So when I got Pokemon Puzzle League (I'm a fan of it, so what?), I was excited as hell.

Graphics: I'm scoring on a basis of puzzle games, and it's very much like Puyo Puyo Sun (I've read about it in a magazine, haven't played it). You have your character in the background, with your selected Pokemon, and the basic-looking squares with the symbols. However, the characters do not move, AT ALL; but, it's not all bad.
The introduction of the game shows a cartoon of Ash and Pikachu relaxing on some resort (Damnit, no pornography needed!), before being called by Professor Oak for an invitation to the Puzzle League. This is also a TRUE version of Pokemon, with cartoon pictures of the characters. I praise Nintendo for that.
Graphics: 9/10

Sound: About 75% of people out there would be sick to death of Pokemon music and the characters' voices. To be honest, I can't get Brock's music out of my head. However, the characters' voices CAN be tedious. You have about 4 different phrases for each character (Team Rocket are counted as one), and their victory phrases (Rather corny, giving Ash more than 1 victory phrase). Pokemon noises are also true to the show, although they too can become annoying; especially when your opponent unleashes a 7x combo and you have to hear their Pokemon's voice about 7 times in a row.
Sound: 8/10

Story: Basically identical to the show. Your own is to become the Puzzle Champion, rather than a Pokemon Master. Not Emmy material, but at least it's different.
Story: 6/10

Gameplay: This is where the lemon in the soda (again) becomes the real flavour. If you've played Tetris Attack, you know what to expect. If not, you have to join up 3 or more of the same symbol to clear them. Combos and chain combos are obtained by clearing more than 3 of the same kind, and clearing sets of symbols one after the other. Not braintaxing stuff, but the adrenaline rushes when your pieces are almost at the top of the screen. If you haven't guessed already, the game ends when one player's pieces rise to the top. 2D is the basic Tetris style, while 3D portrays a similar style to Tetrisphere. Single player has 5 difficulties (2 are secret), but you can only play as Ash. Multiplayer allows you to play as different characters (who are actually opponents in the Single Player mode), although you don't have that many to choose from at first, without gaining a code to unlock more. However, like most puzzle games, you can only have 2 players.
Overall, solid, not brain taxing, but solid, and very adrenaline-rushing.
Gameplay: 9/10

Originality: What's so different from other puzzle games? The theme, and that's it. Even the 3D mode is somewhat akin to Tetrisphere.
Originality: 3/10

Replay Value: 4-5 modes of play don't seem like much, but quantity is not always the case for games. High score junkies will appreciate the chances to increase your personal scores, and having different game files is very beneficial to people who like to have their own personal files. Also, the 2-player mode can become very frantic, and provides a lot of fun. There are also different CPU levels for single players, so training isn't a case of always Single Player modes again and again. Very much like Smash Bros, at least as far as training goes, anyway.
Replay Value: 8/10

Difficulty: Easy, to downright DIFFICULT!!! I still cannot successfully defeat a level 9'er consistently.
Difficulty: 1-10/10

Score: 7 (average) 10 (own score)

This is definitely a game for Tetris Attack fans, and for those Pokemon fans who can actually play video games.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/08/02, Updated 10/30/02