Pokémon Puzzle League
| Pokémon Puzzle League | |
|---|---|
North American cover art.
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| Developer(s) | Nintendo Software Technology |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Producer(s) | Genyo Takeda |
| Designer(s) | Genyo Takeda |
| Series | Pokémon |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo 64, Wii (Virtual Console) |
| Release | Nintendo 64 Wii Virtual Console |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | 1-2 players |
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 82.65% |
| Metacritic | 81/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| 1UP.com | 9.2/10 |
| EGM | 9.2/10 |
| Game Informer | 8.5/10 |
| GamePro |   |
| Game Revolution | B |
| GameSpot | 7.0/10 |
| IGN | 8.9/10 |
| Nintendo Power | 8.1/10 |
| ONM | 85% |
Pokémon Puzzle League is a puzzle game for the Nintendo 64 console. It is based on Nintendo's Puzzle League puzzle games, but with Pokémon likenesses. It was only available in North America starting in 2000, and in Europe in 2001, making it the first Pokémon game produced for North America. It is one of several Pokémon games to be based on the Pokémon anime, and features Ash Ketchum and other characters featured from the anime. The game was released on the Virtual Console on May 5, 2008, in the North America region, and on May 30, 2008, in the European region.
Pokémon Puzzle League features the same gameplay as in Panel de Pon. The objective is to clear blocks from the playfield by arranging them in horizontal or vertical lines of three or more blocks. A continuous stream of new blocks pushes up from the bottom of the playfield, causing the entire playfield to rise continuously. If the blocks reach the top of the playfield, the player loses. The player can temporarily stop the progression of blocks by scoring combos and chains, and in two-player battles, these actions also cause garbage blocks to stack on top of the opponent's playfield.
Unlike its predecessors, Pokémon Puzzle League features a 3D mode in addition to the traditional 2D mode. In this mode, gameplay takes place on a cylinder with an effective width of 18 blocks, compared to the six-block width of the flat 2D field. It also features the original block design from Panel de Pon and Tetris Attack, as well as a Pokémon-oriented design (which is selected by default).
In two-player games, players can select one of fourteen Pokémon trainers to play as. Unlike most Pokémon games, trainer and Pokémon selection are purely cosmetic and do not affect gameplay whatsoever.
The characters in Pokémon Puzzle League either come from the anime and were once exclusive to it, like Ash Ketchum, Tracey Sketchit, and Gary Oak or have appeared in previous Pokémon games but appear in the game as they do in the anime like Misty, Brock, and Giovanni. There are 16 playable characters in the game. In the 1P Stadium, only Ash is playable and Gary's Pokémon, a Nidoran♀, Growlithe, and Krabby, will fully be evolved into Nidoqueen, Arcanine, and Kingler, respectively, in Hard mode, Very Hard mode, and Super Hard mode when challenging him the second time. These fully evolved Pokémon are not playable with Gary. The final opponent of each difficultly setting varies. Giovanni is the last opponent of Easy mode, Bruno is the last opponent of Normal mode, and Gary with his evolved Pokémon is the last opponent of Hard mode. In Very Hard mode and Super Hard mode, Mewtwo is the final opponent, and beating him gives the player the true ending of the story in 1P Stadium.
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Wikipedia