My husband has spent hours on end playing Tetris Attack on his computer, and I was always in awe of the pieces climbing so fast that I could barely see them, while he still kept moving them left and right, making more and more chains. It was beyond me how someone could play like that, but now I’ve found out it’s actually possible, since I’ve done the same on my DS (but not to that great of an extent).
Puzzle League has been around since 1996 and the game shows no signs of dying down, as this handheld release comes to prove.
Planet Puzzle League is like Tetris Attack, only with a bunch of added features and new challenges. The purpose of the game is to remove blocks from the puzzle field by matching 3 or more of the same color, vertical or horizontally. You can only slide blocks left and right, swapping two at a time. You do this by using the stylus, and you can play with the DS sideways or not and configure it for left-handed and right-handed play.
New rows of blocks keep appearing from the bottom of the screen and the speed increases the longer you play. By creating chains and combos you can temporarily pause the rows and continue to move blocks to create more chains. These pauses are lifesavers when the pace of the game gets really fast.
The game comes packed with six different single-player modes that are sure to keep puzzle game enthusiasts busy.
Puzzle mode offers a series of different challenges where the goal is to clear all the blocks from the screen using a set number of moves. In Endless mode you do your best for as long as you can until eventually the pieces reach the top of the puzzle field. Time Attack places you against the clock, completing stages before the timer runs out. Clear requires you to keep doing chains and combos until the puzzle field goes below a certain line.
Garbage Challenge reminds me of Super Puzzle Fighter. There are large brown slabs falling on your colorful blocks, and to get rid of them you have to make a chain that is touching one of the slabs. I grew very fond of this game mode, actually, it gets pretty challenging.
There is also a Daily mode where you can play three short games a day, that even keeps track of your scores and progress over time using a graph.
You can also play against an AI opponent in Vs. Com mode, but you will probably want to go head-to-head with someone else. There is a local wireless option for up to four players, but you can play against anyone anywhere in the world over the Wi-Fi Connection.
Wi-Fi Battles have three “servers”, so to speak: Free Play, Novice and Friend Battle. Free Play is for friendly matches that won’t affect your rankings. Novice is for beginners, and more experienced players won’t be able to access this mode (there are certain conditions based on skill, victories and score). Friend Battle is for playing against people who have shared their friend codes with you. Friend Battles support voice chat, so if you have been debating about a DS headset, this would be a great excuse to get it.
Planet Puzzle League instantly reminded me of Magnetica in many ways, with the futuristic menus, plenty of game options and cool music. But it borrows from Brain Age in the sideways play style, three tasks per day and progress tracking.
While the core of the game is not a new concept, Planet Puzzle League has plenty of replayability packed into a single game cartridge. The simple touch controls will appeal to new players, while veterans might want to set the game to be played with D-pad and buttons. Either way, there’s a control style to suit every player.
With tons of tutorials, demos, challenges, puzzles, difficulty settings, customization options and multiplayer, this is another DS must-have for puzzle fans.
Special thanks to Chris Olmstead, Eileen Tanner, Allison Guillen and Nintendo for providing a copy of this title.