I'm always up for a good puzzle game. I really enjoyed playing Tetris on my Gameboy 20 years ago. That progressed into other great puzzle titles culminating in a very strong lineup of puzzle games on the Nintendo DS. So how will Planet Puzzle League stack up against all the other puzzle games on this system?
Gameplay
The premise behind Planet Puzzle League is simple. The object is to match up 3 identical colored blocks in a row horizontally or vertically. Those three blocks appear and any blocks located above them will fall into place. Your only adjustment is to move individual blocks horizontally in order to line up colors. Blocks appear from the bottom of the screen and push the stack upwards. Once your stack of blocks reaches the top, the game is over. The later the level, the faster the blocks are pushed up. But don't get this confused with Tetris because the speed progression is much more gradual in Planet Puzzle League. You can also manually move up lines if they aren't progressing fast enough. This is a common practice when you want to rack up tons of points.
Planet Puzzle League measures your progress through a point total. While you can simply clear blocks 3 at a time, you generate more points based on your ability to create chains and combos. Combos are when you swap two blocks that immediately cause 6 blocks more to be cleared instead of the normal 3. Chains are defined when clearing 3 blocks leads to another 3 or more to be cleared as the blocks above fall into place. When 3 blocks are cleared there's roughly a two second pause for you to swap more blocks into place in order to create chains. This is the key to Planet Puzzle League. Overall the concept is very similar to Lumines.
Planet Puzzle League offers several different modes of play. The default mode in single player is endless where you lose when the blocks reach the top. However there's also a clear mode where you must clear all the blocks above a clear line. With each new stage in clear mode the line rises. Another single player is Time Attack where you must score as many points as possible in a time limit. This is geared towards maximizing the number of combos and chains to increase your score multipliers. There are other variations on the Time Attack mode where you clear garbage blocks or lift the stack as high as you can in the time allotted. The other mode is puzzle mode. This is where you start with a pile of blocks where the goal is to clear all the blocks from the screen. This isn't so much speed oriented but finding the right combination of combos and chains that need to be used to clear all the blocks. You usually have a limited number of moves as well to further add challenge.
There are several multiplayer modes as well. You can play the multiplayer battles against the computer if you do not have any friends to play with. The main modes of play in multiplayer are variations on the single player mode. The main mode of play is to play for a set amount of time and see who has the highest score at the end of two minutes. The clear battle is like the clear mode only you compete to see who can clear all the blocks above the clear line first. Garbage mode allows you to drop garbage on your opponent's stack thus winning the game when your opponent gets overwhelmed. The multiplayer battle modes also open up a new set of gameplay dynamics which is the item blocks. These can make it easier to clear your own stack or to make life difficult for you opponent by paralyzing one of their rows or obscuring their view.
There are many ways to play Planet Puzzle League against another human player. First, the other player must also have a DS. The most common way is local wireless play where the other person is in the same room and plays on their own DS. However, the other player doesn't need the cartridge as there's a download play option. The final way is to find an opponent via the internet. This is controlled using friend codes in order to find someone you know outside the game. You can play people anonymously; however you can only use voice chat against a player you know on your friends list.
Controls
The controls in Planet Puzzle League make heavy use of the stylus. You use to the stylus to swap positions of blocks with one another. The responsiveness and accuracy of the stylus during gameplay is very sound. The control scheme is very simple which makes for a polished puzzle game experience and it shows with Planet Puzzle League.
Graphics
The graphics in Planet Puzzle League feature bright colors and smooth animations, but nothing unique or spectacular. While the blocks are brightly colored and the backgrounds look solidly refined, the removal of blocks is decidedly unspectacular. All they do is blink and flip into thin air, which is fine. But the problem is that it happens so slowly. At least with Meteos, the blocks explode. If the animations are going to take so long to develop, at least make it worthwhile. The different tilesets do add in a bit of variety and the shifting backgrounds are a nice touch. Overall the graphics in Planet Puzzle League are solid and polished, but nothing revolutionary.
Sound
Aside from Wifi support, the audio is the next best thing about Planet Puzzle League. The non-aggressive electronic sound track is a great fit for this game. It sets a good pace for the action during certain parts and is surprisingly memorable after you're finished playing for a session. The sound effects are low-key arcade like sounds. Unlike other games the audio doesn't change much during gameplay. At least if it does, it melds in well with the overall themes and sound effects.
Replay Value
While the single player gameplay is solid and offers many (albeit recycled) modes of play, most of the replay value is found via the online multiplayer. That's not to say the single player doesn't have a fair amount of stuff to do. The time attack mode can be just as frantic as a multiplayer game as you're competing against the clock to achieve your highest score. The clear mode is also a pretty challenging gameplay mode as well. Multiplayer offers quite a few modes of play available and playing against another person is much more appealing than playing against a computer player who you will either predictably beat most of the time or will outmatch you. In addition there are a few wrinkles not seen in the single player mode like item blocks. The ability to use voice chat with friends is also a huge bonus in keeping the game fresh. The only thing that really kills the game is its vanilla-like gameplay as a puzzle game. When I play Planet Puzzle League, I just feel I'm playing another variation of Bejeweled and Meteos without the interesting twists.
Maybe I'm missing something here, but aside from the Wifi multiplayer, is there anything that sets this game apart from other puzzle games on the Nintendo DS? I enjoyed Tetris DS (which has Wifi support), Meteos, and Puzzle Quest much more than this game because it did something unique or uncommonly good. While this game does have a decent amount of polish, I just feel as if the gameplay is so stale that I can't imagine playing this for more than just a few hours before getting bored. There's no back story or premise like with Puzzle Quest, there's no incredible graphics or dynamic gameplay like with Meteos, and it doesn't have the same Wifi and nostalgic charm as Tetris DS. Even Peggle Dual Shot adds new gameplay elements to the mix in the puzzle genre. I just don't see the value in this game. I can only recommend this game to puzzle game fans who are looking for a new game to play on the DS. But I recommend only picking it up after you've played Tetris DS, Meteos, Puzzle Quest, and Peggle Dual Shot first.
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