Review: Puzzle League DS (NDS)

There are two important ingredients to a great puzzle game. It has to be simple, so that it only takes a few moments to learn the basic mechanics of the game, and it has to be addictive. The best puzzle games have that certain something to keep you playing, trying to better your previous score, to keep you coming back for more when you have managed to eventually turn off the game. When you close your eyes and all you picture are falling blocks, or similar brightly-coloured moving pieces, you know that you are hooked. Puzzle League DS is the latest puzzle game to make an appearance on the dual-screened handheld, hoping to establish itself as a classic on a console that is not lacking in puzzle games.

Like many games on the DS, Puzzle League is an update of an older game, refreshed with better graphics and touchscreen controls. It was originally released as Tetris attack on the Super Nintendo, and it’s most recent incarnation came in the form of Pokémon Puzzle Challenge on the Gameboy Colour. Although both these games had different themes, the game was essentially the same, and an adaptation of the Japanese title Panel de Pon. It has been developed by Intelligent Systems who have created some of the best titles on all of Nintendo’s consoles, and this immediately sets Gamestyle’s expectations reasonably high. It does not disappoint, and Nintendo have added another great title to their Touch Generations range.

The object of the game is to clear blocks from the screen. To make them disappear, you have to line up three or more blocks of the same colour, either in a vertical or horizontal line. Blocks can only be moved left or right, and two adjacent blocks can swap places. As time passes the stack of blocks rises at an increasing rate, and if the stack reaches the top of the screen the game is over. The concept is easy to grasp, but the real skill comes in performing combos and chains, which greatly increase your score. A combo occurs if you clear more than three blocks with one move, and you can create a chain by clearing one set of blocks and causing another set to drop and clear. The best aspect of Puzzle League is the ability to control the gaming environment. You can add more blocks to the stack by temporarily speeding up the game, giving you more opportunities to create chains and combos, and you can move blocks whilst sets are clearing, allowing you to create longer chains by keeping the sequence going. Although it seems ridiculous to liken this game to chess, it does pay to think ahead, and manoeuvre the blocks into position before making that all important move to start the chain.

The previous versions of Puzzle League have only had button controls, selecting two blocks with the D-Pad, and switching them by pressing a button. Although this option is available, it feels awkward to use when the touch controls work perfectly. Blocks can be moved almost effortlessly with a swipe of the stylus, and as the game is played vertically, holding the DS like a book, more blocks can be seen at one time, and therefore more chains and combos can be made. The secondary screen is used to display the elapsed time, score, and current level, leaving the gaming screen solely for the action. There are three difficulty settings, and you can choose to display onscreen hints, which show you which blocks to move in order to start a chain. This is vital at first, as it can be quite confusing to see how a chain will develop when you’ve just started playing the game. It does become easier, and eventually you will be able to spot the chains faster than the hints, making them more of a hindrance than help. Once a chain is in progress, the stack does stop rising, giving you ample time to move blocks into place and get yourself a decent score, or get yourself out of trouble when things are speeding up.

In the single player game, there are several modes to play the game, each with a different objective. If you have played other puzzle games before, you should be familiar with the concept of all of them. There is a marathon mode, where you keep playing until the game is over, a mode where you have to clear a certain amount of blocks in order to progress to the next stage, and a garbage challenge in which you have to clear solid horizontal blocks that fall onto your stack. There is also a separate time attack mode in which you play each of the three modes against the clock, to either see how many points you can amass, lines you can clear, or how much garbage you can dispose of in two minutes. Each mode works well, and although one sitting of the marathon mode can last the good part of an hour, the time attack challenges offer a quick fix, which is an important part of portable gaming. There is also a puzzle mode for those who want more of a mental challenge, which has you trying to clear the screen in a set amount of moves. This is actually quite dull, and by far the worst feature of the game. The puzzles aren’t terribly taxing, and there is a hint button which gives you a step-by-step solution for the puzzles that do offer a tiny amount of a challenge. You don’t have to use this button, of course, but it does make it less enjoyable knowing that if you want to move onto the next puzzle, you can just be told how to complete it. There are advanced puzzles, which are more difficult (you must fulfil a requirement to complete the puzzle, like create a chain of 10 clears in one move), but these too have a hint feature, which shows you how to complete the puzzle on the opposite screen. This is a minor part of the overall game, and thankfully the rest of Puzzle League more than makes up for it.

The multiplayer modes of Puzzle League are equally as varied as the single player. The game supports wireless play, allowing you to play with up to four other DSs with one cartridge, and also uses the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection so that you can play against people from around the world. If you are unable to take advantage of either of these, or want to get in some practice, then you can play again the computer. Again, there are a variety of different games to play, but the most common (and most entertaining) is the garbage battle, where creating chains and combos causes garbage to be dropped onto your opponent’s stack. In some circumstances you can have items appear that affect the game if you clear a set that includes one. Examples include turning all of your blocks to certain colours, returning garbage that has been sent over to you, or shuffling your opponent’s stack. It adds another dimension to the game, as you have to monitor your opponent’s game and use items to give you the optimum benefit, whilst ensuring that you don’t let your stack grow too high. The online mode is a little lacking, as you can only play in three different battle types: the novice battle, which you can only play whilst you are learning the game, a free play battle in which you can play against people of any standard, and a rather bizarre birthday battle. In this mode, the battles that you win will earn you a ranking, but you can only be ranked against people who share your birthday. We’re not quite sure why this particular attribute has been used to sort ranks, as it doesn’t act as any kind of standard. A better choice would surely have been the year of birth, as then you would be ranked against someone of similar age. Using your birthday seems a random choice, but as the ranks are updated weekly, it does give you the opportunity to improve yourself, and climb up the league. If you have exchanged Friend Codes with someone, then voice chat is enabled so you can talk to your opponent, and there are a few more options available.

Puzzle League is an exceptionally good puzzle game. It’s easy to play, but is significantly challenging to master. The touchscreen control work particularly well and it is ideal for the console, offering a variety of depths in terms of gameplay. It can be a five minute distraction, or an afternoon’s entertainment, and the different modes will keep you coming back day after day. This is perhaps emphasised with a daily play feature, which charts your scores on the timed games, and you can monitor how you improve on a daily basis. It's well presented, with bright, colourful graphics, and an infectious soundtrack to keep the momentum going as you rack up the points. The online modes make Puzzle League an even more worthy addition to your collection, and it’s a different gaming experience to the single player. Although it may not be as memorable as other puzzle games that have come before it, Puzzle League DS ranks as one of the best.

Rating: 8 / 10

Words by Chris Thornton