Nintendo's worst side-trip yet.
Review 51
Released: September 1, 2000
Developer: Nintendo
Game Genre: Puzzle
Story
Well, you’re Ash, and I think this is the first Pokemon game that has actually let you control Ash, other than the chance to name your character Ash in Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow. The point of the game is the new battle system…the Puzzle League Battles. The objective of the game is to beat all 8 gym leaders in the puzzle battle mode.
Gameplay
The main screen is pretty reminiscent of Pokemon Stadium. There are different places you can go, but the main things to worry about are the 1P Battle Stadium, the 2P Battle Stadium, and the Coliseum.
In the 1P Battle Stadium, you follow the storyline and attempt to defeat the 8 gym leaders. In the 2P Battle Stadium, you battle friends, and the Coliseum has little mini-game puzzles for you to solve.
The objective of Pokemon Puzzle League is to outlast your opponent. Resembling Tetris, when you get three or more similar blocks in a column or row the blocks disappear. Making combos of 4 or more blocks or chains of more than one combo creates garbage blocks for the other player to deal with. Otherwise, that’s about all you need to know to play.
Graphics
The game actually shows clips of Ash, Pikachu and Oak, which is kind of cool, with sound and everything, but the graphics themselves aren’t too flashy.
Durability
It doesn’t really make you want to play it very much. Once you finally defeat the eight gym leaders, plus Gary, Tracey and Team Rocket, it’s just not fun anymore.
Sound
Great sound. It uses actual Pokemon sounds and actual character sounds, plus the music is not repetitive at all and actually makes you want to listen to it.
Controls: The D-Pad moves your little cursor, and the A or B button switches a block. To make the blocks move faster you push the L or R buttons.
Difficulty: Hard
Other than the Easy difficulty, the game’s hard to play, especially near the end. The mini-game puzzles are very hard to solve as well.