Panel De Pon returns with Online play! Good news, its fun as ever!
Gameplay
Amazing. Gamespot's review kinda made me feel like they sucked at the game. I myself am undefeated online, and have chains that last longer than 5 minutes on normal, though once in a while on hard I can do it (With Explosion rise on, which allows you to raise the blocks during a chain) with no problem. Now, what I can't understand, is how you die in endless mode. I have to say, the only time I die in endless mode is when I either purposely do it. Now of course, if you really sucked at the game, maybe when the stack is at the top you are almost dead, but when I play, there is always a block touching the top, so I have as many blocks as possible. Anyway, the game is all about chains, which are when you clear something, and the blocks fall into place creating another clear. Unless you make a mistake and accidentally clear a block you are setting up for a chain, its possible to do them forever! Combos are when you clear 4 or more blocks in one move, and are useless in multiplayer and score competitions unless you score them at the end of a chain. There is puzzle mode, which gives you limited moves, active puzzles which gives you a pile of blocks and one chain to remove them, and clear modes where you try to clear blocks before they hit the roof. Garbage mode drops a pile of blocks on you, and you try to clear them all before time runs out! Multiplayer wise is like versing an AI. I'm proud to say I beat the highest difficulty AI, but it wasn't easy. When playing a skilled opponent, you have to pile enough stuff on, and then not clear too much. If you pin yourself, which is clearing so many blocks that you have no moves left, its game over, and if you don't send enough garbage, they will have a clear board, and pile more on you, forcing you to lose. If you are both skilled opponents, you will both focus on clearing blocks until one is pinned, takes too long for a move, or gives up. I myself am undefeated because I don't quit even in a match that lasts upwards of 10 minutes. Some last longer, though most opponents quit after 15 minutes or so. Its a tug of war, and its a fun one. With online play, you could play forever. One thing I will completely admit Gamespot was spot on with is the lack of continuity. Tetris Attack had a story to it. In Puzzle... Panel De Pon DS you just have a bunch of modes to play, no unlockables, except more puzzles after you beat puzzle mode. If you are already a fan, this won't be a problem, but if you absolutely need some sort of progression you won't like it. But for people like me, who played Tetris just to see the castle launch, the numerous game modes and online play is enough to keep you addicted.
Graphics
Colorful, bright, happy, and well animated. Wait... thats Tetris Attack. Let me rephrase. Technoish, bland 3D, and distracting, with abstract concepts. Yeah, thats Panel De Pon DS. Very disappointing in my opinion. Also, be sure to select your favorite block type, because some block types make it extremely hard to play as they disappear different than the ones you are used to! Very annoying. Overall the weakest aspect of the game.
Sound
Decent. You get long fanfare when you do a chain of 10 or above, but it seems to not add anything new after 20, which is disappointing, or its so long, that it gets cut off by another one started by your opponent. The music is strange, and no where near as good as Tetris Attack. Its merely average.
Value
I don't care how much it costs, there is a lot of gameplay packed into this game. I have to say, the lack of story and stuff is disappointing once again, but still, its amazing to see how many game modes they packed in, my favorite new mode being active puzzle.
Tilt
I loved the game series from the beginning. Thats tilt enough. I love the series, and hope it outsells Pokemon, despite knowing it won't. Lets just hope it sells well enough to hold a tournament or something online, because I'll be there. I love the game, nothing will change that, no matter what form it is in.
BTW, the learning curve is four or more hours because to truly master this game, you will need hundreds of hours into the series. It takes a good 2 hours just learn all the different ways to continue chains. And if you use stylus mode thats another hour, plus if you learn all the modes, I'd say it takes a long time to master. Easy to learn, hard to master.