Pokemon is a video game series based off the anime series that rose to heights that most anime may never reach in time. With that generational historic success, there was no doubt that Pokemon would go the route of video games. The success of Red, Blue and Yellow on the GameBoy led to the success of Stadium on the Nintendo 64. There was another game that was released for the N64, albeit a far different game than that of Pokemon Stadium. That game? Pokemon Puzzle League. I had the experience of playing the game as the new year was happening. Here are my thoughts.
Positives:
1. Pick up and play style- It's easy to get used to this game right away. If you have played Tetris, it is easy to understand this game as well. So people who like these types of puzzle games, they'll get accommodated easily. If you don't know those styles, it's easy to understand.
2. Quick play- It's also a pretty quick game to go through with a gym leader, as well as the final fights. So it's just a quick play type game and the games don't last particularly long for a puzzle battle.
3. Graphically, this game looks lovely outside of the usual backdrop of the game. It's quite nice to see this because for a puzzle game, graphics wouldn't be a major deal but this game from the opening and all the backdrops look good!
Negatives:
1. No major replay value- I am sure there are speedruns and different things that could make this game notable, but it's not a game with a lot (or any) replay value. It's kind of a Pokemon Tetris but no one will really bite at the chance at a convention to play this if there were a speedrun competition for lack of better words.
Overall Rating:
Pokemon Puzzle League is a nice, albeit no frills Tetris-lite/Tetrislike game. There isn't a particular wow factor to this, but there isn't anything that will make you turn away from it either. It's a decent enough game that warrants a decent rating. So that's a decent grade of 7 out of 10
