Planet Puzzle League - making the best puzzle game even better

[Andrew T. Hingson]

I've loved Panel DePon since Tetris Attack and while I don't much care for the name since Pokemon Puzzle League came out this latest version of "Puzzle League" for the DS is freak'n awesome and entirely lacking of the cutesy stuff some people don't like.

What makes it better you ask? Well online Wi-Fi for one but more importantly the control. PDD has always been a frantic puzzle game but you could only do so much on the screen at a time due to the speed of the execution. In Planet Puzzle League you can use the stylis to go as fast as you fingers can move and let me tell you that's a lot faster than you could go on "automatic". Which will make for even more insane combos. I can't wait to try this out with some friends over Wi-Fi but for a single player experience it's got plenty of modes to keep things interesting.

Finally a portable Panel DePon that rocks! I haven't enjoyed this game on a portable this much since my old Tetris Attack GB cart (admitedly I didn't get Puzzle League for GBC though I'm sure it was fine).

So then.. WHO WANTS SOME? I'm decent at Tetris but this game is my forte.

[Dogasu]

I played a demo at Best Buy today and loved it, but unfortunately I don't have the extra cash to spend on it :(

[K-S-O]

I would LOVE to get this game... but since I bought plenty of games in May, not to mention that I need fundings for my summer trip at the end of June, it's best that I conserve my money until it's a good time to buy more games.

[Sigma]

I too love Puzzle League and I also picked up Planet Puzzle League and I must say it's very good and very addicting like most other Panel de Pon games.

[Chad Bonin]

So, my mom used to love Tetris Attack on my computer back in the day. After proving to her Planet Puzzle League is the same game... she's re-addicted.

[Mikintosh]

I love the core gameplay, but it looks like it's lost the personality(s) it had in every other iteration. Why couldn't they just release Panel de Pon with touch controls? After they canceled the US Nintendo Puzzle Collection, it would've been nice.

[Andrew T. Hingson]

Well it seems it's like this in Japan as well. And you're right it's great fun but it lacks the spark the old games did. It more than makes up for it in the overall package but it would have been nice to have a standard theme. Or at least an option to have an entertaining backdrop. They do have all kinds of blocks and BGS to choose from but with no brand affiliation. I really miss Yoshi and his entourage but what I really would have loved to see is a Smash Bros. varition in which you can pick from the various worlds of Nintendo for your character, block set and BG. Even so, having no theme should make it all the more desirable to casual gamers and I guess they decided since they gave Tetris a theme this time they didn't need to give Panel De Pon. Now then... where's Dr. Mario DS?

[Game Freak 4]

Well it seems it's like this in Japan as well. And you're right it's great fun but it lacks the spark the old games did. It more than makes up for it in the overall package but it would have been nice to have a standard theme. Or at least an option to have an entertaining backdrop. They do have all kinds of blocks and BGS to choose from but with no brand affiliation. I really miss Yoshi and his entourage but what I really would have loved to see is a Smash Bros. varition in which you can pick from the various worlds of Nintendo for your character, block set and BG. Even so, having no theme should make it all the more desirable to casual gamers and I guess they decided since they gave Tetris a theme this time they didn't need to give Panel De Pon. Now then... where's Dr. Mario DS?
What do you mean? It does have a theme... or you don't like space themes?
Or is it a mascot/host you want?

[SuperPhillip]

Even Meteos had little characters associated with it.
I'm not liking how bland it is. There's really no personality to it.
That notwithstanding, PPL is a very good puzzler.

[Andrew T. Hingson]

What do you mean? It does have a theme... or you don't like space themes?
Or is it a mascot/host you want?

A space theme would imply uh... space. It has a techy theme if anything. But you can choose the style of pieces with several options available.

[Demonic Raven]

Ahh...this game brings me back. I remember loving Pokemon Puzzle Challenge way back. And not because of the Pokemon theme, either.

I'm still learning, though. I lost my first Wi-Fi battle just now. I definitely need to get into the groove of things in regards to combos.

The "themes" are okay, if generic. They look cool and everything, but it's too bad this game doesn't have a unified theme of some sort. There's nothing really planetary about Planet Puzzle League. Although, Meteos already has a planet theme, come to think of it.

Despite that, this is still a great addictive puzzle game!

[Andrew T. Hingson]

Yeah for something called Planet Puzzle League you'd except more space stuff. But I believe the slogan on the box pretty much explains why it's named Planet Puzzle League. It's Puzzle League you can play with anyone on the planet. I guess Planet sounds better than Global Puzzle League maybe? They could have called it Puzzle League DS for all I care. But I really wish we could have another Yoshi themed Puzzle League game.

[Game Freak 4]

Yeah for something called Planet Puzzle League you'd except more space stuff. But I believe the slogan on the box pretty much explains why it's named Planet Puzzle League. It's Puzzle League you can play with anyone on the planet. I guess Planet sounds better than Global Puzzle League maybe? They could have called it Puzzle League DS for all I care. But I really wish we could have another Yoshi themed Puzzle League game.
Yoshi's Island and The Pokemon World are okay, but True Fan-Freaks want to see Tetris Attack/Puzzle League for what Nintendo & Intelligent Systems intended it to be from the start: A Happy, Magical, Fairy-Themed PANEL DE PON! No offense.

(BTW, I not a real fan. In fact, I suck at the series.)

[Andrew T. Hingson]

I can play Panel De Pon in any form but I prefered Tetris Attack. That one always feels like "home" to me.

[Demonic Raven]

Online play is cool, but I don't really get some of the modes. Free-play would have been a lot better if they only included a simple win/loss counter. Birthday mode is the only mode that has some sort of ranking system, but why? Why didn't they just have one unified rank system? Why is it divided amongst birthdays of all things? Birthday mode is cool as a standalone mode, but the ranking stuff is misplaced.

On the other hand, you can still have some fun with it. Perhaps we can pick an obscure holiday like say Arbor Day, and change all our birthdays(4/25) and names (put "Arbor" in it) to reflect our own league. Then we can duke it out against other "Arborists". Sounds strange, but maybe sort of fun. ;)