Pokemon Puzzle League, while really just Panel De Pon with a facelift, manages to be one of the best multiplayer games on the N64, sadly forgotten because of it's Pokemon branding.
Let's get this out of the way: gameplay-wise, if you've played Panel De Pon or Tetris Attack, you've played Pokemon Puzzle League with a different face. Pokemon Puzzle League was an attempt to sell a very Japanese series to a Western audience using an established series, and it worked. Yet this came at a pretty high price: respect. Most people think of Pokemon as "kiddy" nowadays, and even more the anime. Just because of it's labeling, many will never play PPL, and that's a shame. Namely, because it's one of the best multiplayer games for the N64.
If you don't know the gameplay at all, check out wikipedia; but I'll give a brief overview anyway. The board is layed out with two Tetris shaped grids next to each other; player one is on the left, player two on the right. The boards are filled with blocks of various colors. Here's where it gets hard: all of the blocks will slowly rise, creating new rows at an increasing speed. If they touch the top, you lose. Think of Tetris backwards. You control a horizontal cursor, which with a tap of the A button, will switch the locations of two blocks. Blocks disappear when in a row of three or more of the same color. Sounds simple enough, right? Well PPL has one feature that keeps it a step above the other games: garbage blocks. When a row of four or more is made, two groupings are made with one move, or falling blocks create a combo, a garbage block will fall onto your opponent' side. Garbage blocks can only be destroyed in one way: destroy a row of blocks touching the garbage. The garbage will then turn into more blocks. It doesn't sound like much, but is insanely fun.
Now, the big appeal here is multiplayer. I have yet to play an opponent for less than five rounds in a row, the seconds turning to minutes to hours. I can't explain it any further; it's just fun. One player mode is much more of a hit or miss. You can play against the computer, fight through the "Spa Service," play a timed match or marathon mode, or complete a variety of challenging little puzzles. They work as follows:
1P Stadium - A "story mode" of sorts, with progressively harder computer opponents. It's fun, but some of the later levels are nigh on impossible. Still, great for those without friends.
Spa Service - You are given a line, and you have to get all the blocks below that point. It's fun at first, but later forces you to play the rubbish 3D mode.
Time Zone - Two minutes on the clock, get as many points as possible.
Marathon - A never ending stream of blocks. It gradually speeds up, so you'll be overwhelmed eventually.
Puzzle University - At least over 100 different puzzles of different difficulties. You are give a board and a set number of switches, and must clear all the blocks. Also, you can make your own puzzles.
Onto the technical details: The graphics could be better, but really don't need to be. It's a puzzle game, after all. On a side note, this is one of the first games to have VHS quality FMV. The sound is taken from the show, sans lyrics in midi form. There is a good variety of music, yet I couldn't help but feel that it could have been better quality. And then the sound bytes; both one of the game's best bits and also one of it's worst. Most are unintentionally funny, be it the ridiculous voices for the pokemon, (dew gong gong gong!) or the character's taunts. (James repeatedly yells "I'm feeling giddy!" mid-battle.) But here lies a problem: the characters will taunt every time they drop a garbage block, and every time they destroy one. THERE ARE ONLY TWO SOUND CLIPS PER CHARACTER. So if you play Team Rocket, expect to hear about James' giddiness with EVERY combo. If you are losing, you will forever be haunted by the taunts of your opponent.
Lastly, 3D mode. It's terrible. The idea is alright; take the board and place it on a rotating cylinder. It just doesn't work. The board is about three times as wide as usual, and you can only see part of it at any given time. Maybe I just can't multitask, but I got no enjoyment out of it whatsoever.
Bottom line, if you need a good 2 player game for the N64, it's worth the price. If you need a good 1 player puzzler for the N64, it's worth the price. If you just have 1000 Wii points laying around, or you see the cart at a garage sale or something, it's worth the price. If you can't get past the Pokemon, however, just buy Tetris Attack and call it a day.
