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The Lowdown
Pros: Three puzzle games in one package, GBA support, same old games
Cons: You're paying for the same old games again, could have used a few
extra games
 Purchase
at Play-Asia
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Nintendo has a funny way of reusing its classic games. No game is too
dated, too unpopular or even remade enough times to be resold again and
again. Such is the case with the Gamecube's Nintendo Puzzle Collection.
This package sports three classic puzzlers on one new package with some
new graphics. The three games included are Dr. Mario, Yoshi's Cookie and
Panel de Pon.
Let's go through the games in chronological order. The first is Dr.
Mario, which made its debut on the NES and Game Boy in the 1990s. This
game stars Mario who has some how gained medical certification to
extinguish viruses. Mario has three types of viruses to take care of:
the red ones, the blue ones and the yellow ones. The viruses can be
eliminated by placing three of the same color pills in a row on top of a
virus. Dr. Mario drops pills from the top of the screen and you have a
limited amount of time to rotate and place the pieces on top of the
viruses. If you clear all the viruses in the jar, you win the level. If
you don't you lose and the viruses laugh at you, seriously they do. If
this sounds a lot like Tetris, you're right on. Dr. Mario
originated in the time where everyone, including Nintendo, was trying to
put a spin on Tetris. If you've played all of the old Dr. Mario's you'll
notice that the graphics have been given a huge boost, an even larger
boost than the Nintendo 64 version of Dr. Mario. You'll also notice the
classic tunes, Fever and Chill are intact and sound a bit better than
the NES versions. You'll also notice that Dr. Mario hasn't changed much
in the last ten years and this game is pretty much the same Dr. Mario
you've played before. Sure the graphics are better and there is one new
song, but these novelties are superficial when you're actually engaged in
the game.
Yoshi's Cookie, which was released in 1992, suffers similar problems
to Dr. Mario. The gameplay, which was somewhat inventive ten years ago,
has you rearrange stacks of cookies to place the pieces in a row. Most
of the puzzles have solutions that allow you to beat a level in a few
moves. The puzzles stay the same, which makes the game easier and
easier. If you can't clear the cookies in one fell swoop more cookies
will drop down allowing you more chances to clear the entire stack. Once
the stack is gone you've won the level. Out of all of the games Yoshi's
Cookie has the most cosmetic additions. There are cute animations in the
menu of Yoshi chasing Mario and Mario posting a banner that says push
start. However, during the game the improved graphics go pretty much
unnoticed. There are some new sound bytes of Mario saying muffled GBA
like cheers. Besides that this game is the same old Yoshi's Cookie as
before. Out of all of the games Yoshi's Cookie is easily the most
boring. Puzzle games thrive from some amount of randomness. This forces
players to be quick on their feet and think. Since Yoshi's Cookie deals
the same puzzles over and over again the game focuses on memorization of
a solution. Another problem with this style is that if you lose say
level 3-3 you need to play all of the puzzles to get to 3-3 over again.
Which means you'll be getting sick of level 1-1 really quickly.
Most US gamers probably never heard of Panel de Pon since it was
released in Japan only. Which is kind of ironic since, Panel de Pon is
the most improved and arguably the most entertaining game in the package.
Panel de Pon places you in a sea of blocks that move upwards. You can
switch any two blocks by selecting them and pushing the A button. Your
goal is to use the ability to switch blocks to make rows of three or
greater, so you can clear the rising stack of colored blocks. If you
clear four or more blocks the column briefly freezes, allowing time for
you to think of your next move or position blocks for a combo. What
makes this game so much fun is the intensity the game reaches at higher
levels. You can see the column rising faster and faster, while you're
moving random blocks around hoping something will clear. Panel de Pon
contains the original 2D mode and also features an all new 3D mode. The
3D mode has you rotating a short column of rising blocks rather than a
wider column in the 2D mode. Both modes are equally fun to play and it
is refreshing to see two different gameplay modes. The graphics in Panel
de Pon are crisp and clear. They have a very "cute" look to them, there
are cute little monsters running around on screen and blocks that smile
when you clear them. With the addition of a whole new mode Panel de Pon
is clearly the most refined game in this package.
The coolest addition to this package is its GBA support. If you own a
GBA and a link cable you can download the SNES versions of these games
into your GBA's flash ram. This means you can play Panel de Pon or Dr.
Mario anywhere you want. The biggest problem with this whole package is
that most gamers own these games for other systems. Repackaging these
games with a face lift and selling them at the same price of brand
spanking new title doesn't seem right. If you're a fan of puzzle games
and haven't played these before (which is pretty unlikely, except for
Panel de Pon) you'll love this collection. However, there are many more
fresh games at the same price as this one, which makes it a tough
recommendation.
Import Friendly?
The menus, for the most part are in English. You won't need any real
instruction to learn how to play these games, since you've probably
played them before. Even if you haven't these games have a simple
learning curve, so you'll be able to pick up any of these games and play
right away.
US Bound?
It is unlikely that this game will be released outside of the US
due to a lack of interest in Japan.
Overall
If you have any other versions of these games this package is probably
not worth getting. The main redeeming factors in the package is the
addictive Panel de Pon and GBA support, but both of these aren't worth a
full priced game.
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