Pokemon Puzzle League, at its core, is the same exact game as Tetris Attack. If you liked that game, you’ll certainly love this one as well. For those of you unfamiliar with Tetris Attack, here’s how the game plays. You must clear the blocks off of the screen before they reach the top. Instead of blocks falling from the top of the screen ala Tetris, the blocks slowly rise from the bottom of the screen. Each square block will have a colored icon on it. Matching up at least three of the same icons will make those blocks disappear. You can line these blocks up vertically or horizontally, but not diagonally. You can move the blocks with a cursor that highlights up to two blocks at once. By pressing the A or B button you can switch the blocks around. If only one block is highlighted, it will move to the open area. This allows you to move blocks horizontally across the play field and, if need be, allows you to move a block to an empty spot where it can fall down on top of other blocks.

There are two methods of clearing away blocks, combos and chains. To perform a combo, you must line up more than 3 of the same blocks. Or, you can line up, say 3 water blocks and 3 leaf blocks simultaneously to achieve a six-block combo. The problem is, once three of the same blocks are touching, they disappear. In order to achieve high combos you’ll have to use your brain to figure out ingenious ways for all the blocks to simultaneous touch. You can make chains by clearing multiple groups of three or more blocks one right after the other. These also take some preparation to successfully pull off. While both of these methods may seem confusing, and indeed they are at the beginning, there are plenty of differing modes of play to practice your skills.

Pokemon Puzzle League is a one or two player game. When two players battle against each other they can send garbage to the other player’s screen by successfully completing combos and chains. This garbage appears as solid colored blocks that fall from the top of the screen. In order to remove this garbage, you will have to change the solid blocks into normal blocks. You can do this by clearing blocks that are touching the garbage. In addition to playing the normal modes, the game can be played in 3D mode. Instead of having a flat field of play, the screen will wrap around to form a cylinder shape. This makes the game more difficult because there are blocks that you can’t see unless you move the screen. I found this mode even more fun, however, because combos and chains are easier to make since there are a lot more blocks to play around with.

Fantastic gameplay is what makes this game so much fun. There are many different modes of play, including marathon, time zone, spa service, and puzzle university. Marathon allows you to play until your pieces hit the top of the screen. Time zone puts a time limit on the game so you have to try and score as many points as you can within the time constraint. Spa service allows you to battle Team Rocket. You must clear all of the blocks above a certain line to continue on to the next stage. Puzzle University requires you to clear all of the blocks on the screen within a certain amount of moves. This is probably the most unique mode since it really requires you to think about what moves you will make before you make them. You can even make your own puzzles and challenge a friend to play your puzzle.

Puzzle fans really have a lot to like in this game. The Pokemon characters really don’t hurt the game in any way, so even if you’re not a fan of the cartoon you should still find the game enjoyable. One thing that does worry me is that a lot of younger children may want this game solely because it has the Pokemon name attached to it. Upon playing the game, they may find it difficult to learn. Then again, I’ve known some six year olds that can beat me at Mario Kart, so maybe this won’t be a problem after all. While I still prefer The New Tetris since it has a 4-player mode, this game is certainly worth your money if you’re looking for a new puzzle game with a twist. The presentation is crisp and the gameplay is spot-on. There’s plenty of differing modes of play so even the most jaded gamer can find something to like in this package. It comes highly recommended!