Planet Puzzle League


Planet Puzzle League, known as Puzzle League DS in Europe, and as in Japan, is a video game for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console in the Puzzle League/Panel de Pon visual matching puzzle game series. In North America, Planet Puzzle League is part of the Touch! Generations brand; in Japan, Panel de Pon DS is marketed in the general Touch! brand. The publisher for the game is Nintendo, and the developer is Nintendo second-party developer Intelligent Systems, creator of the original Panel de Pon and its cult classic English-language adaptation Tetris Attack. The game was released in Japan on April 26, 2007 in North America on June 4, 2007, and in Europe on June 29, 2007.

Gameplay

In Planet Puzzle League, identically-sized square blocks of various colors are stacked in a two-dimensional well 6 spaces wide, of which the active on-screen playfield is 12 spaces tall. The blocks in the stack align according to an invisible grid, such that the blocks occupy distinct rows and columns.
Planet Puzzle League, by default, is played with the Nintendo DS unit in a sideways "book-style" orientation, which allows the vertically oriented playfield and its blocks to be displayed larger, making it better-suited for touch-screen gameplay. The game can also be played in the standard Nintendo DS orientation, for button positioning that is suited for traditional button-based gameplay. Either control method can be used, regardless of orientation. The game can be configured for either left-handed or right-handed play.
When using touchscreen control, blocks can be dragged horizontally with the stylus. In this control scheme, a move occurs as a block is dragged from one grid space into an adjacent grid space, during which a two-space horizontal cursor is repositioned, framing both grid spaces. As a block is dragged into a space occupied by another block; the other block is swapped into the space vacated by the dragged block. For computer-controlled players and when using traditional button-based control, the cursor is navigated along the playfield to select spaces to swap, in which a move occurs when blocks are repositioned in a swap. Players move the cursor using the D-pad and perform swaps using the A or B action button.

Clearing

When blocks of the same color are aligned adjacent to one another in vertical or horizontal lines of three or more while supported from underneath, the blocks are cleared, "exploding" from the playing field one by one, from left to right, top to bottom. When more than three blocks are cleared at the same moment, the event is known as a combo. Combos are measured by the number of blocks cleared, with a clear of six blocks referred to as a "+6" combo. Once all the blocks in a clear or combo have disappeared, the blocks that were resting atop the cleared blocks drop down.
When blocks that drop down as a result of a clear result in another clear upon landing, the clears are linked together in a chain. Chains are measured by the number of clears in the chain, with a chain of three clears referred to as an "x3" or "triple" chain. When the blocks for a chain are actively moved into position while the blocks in a cleared line are exploding, the resultant chain is referred to as an active chain. In some modes, hints for performing active chains are occasionally provided in the form of an arrow indicating a particular move to perform.

Lift

In all gameplay modes except Puzzle modes, the stack of blocks lifts up from the bottom of the screen. As the match progresses, the stack rises at an accelerating rate. In these modes, players have the ability to manually lift the stack by using a Lift button. For touch control, the Lift button is a touch-screen area located to the side of the playfield. For button control, a shoulder button is used for the Lift button. If a player's stack is in a state of rising while at or beyond the top edge of their playing field, the player loses the match.
The lift of the stack stops while blocks are exploding. If a combo or chain is performed, a stop occurs, in which the rising of the stack will remain stopped for a short time after the clear. The duration of the stop depends on level of combo or chain that was performed, as well as the height of the stack, decreasing as the match progresses. Lifting the stack manually during a stop overrides it and resumes natural lifting speed.

Garbage

In several modes of play, rectangular garbage of various widths and heights can drop from above the playing field to add to the stack. When a block is cleared while touching a piece of garbage, the garbage piece and all same-colored garbage pieces contiguous with it are transformed as a group, space by space from right to left, row by row from bottom to top. In the transformation, the bottommost layer of each piece of garbage is turned into blocks. The rising of the stack is stopped during the transformation of garbage. Until the entire transformation event is completed for the entire group, the newly formed blocks still behave as part of the garbage, and cannot be moved or used in a clear. Once the transformation event is completed the newly formed blocks move, fall and clear as normal.
In Vs. modes, garbage can be sent to the opponent by clearing surprise blocks or performing combos or chains. The garbage pieces are produced according to the table:

levelx2x3x4x5x6x7x8x9x10x11x12x13x14
combo1×31×41×51×61×3, 1×41×4, 1×51×5 1×6
surprise block clear1×61×6, 1×31×6, 1×41×6, 1×51×6 -
chain1×62×63×64×65×66×67×68×69×610×611×612×613×6

For a chain, the garbage piece produced spans the whole width of the playfield, with a height of one less than the chain level.

Item blocks

A new addition to the Puzzle League series, item blocks are special blocks that are optionally available in Garbage Battle matches, which cause certain effects when cleared. While the item is in effect, the item block is displayed to the right of the playfield of the affected player, scrolling up from the bottom of the screen, with the effect wearing off when the item scrolls past the top of the screen.

Single-player

Planet Puzzle League features several different gameplay modes:
In Vs. COM modes, competitive matches are played against a computer-controlled opponent. There are several Vs. COM modes available for playing:
In Time Attack modes, the goal is to score as high as possible in 2 minutes. There are several Time Attack modes:
In Puzzle modes, different puzzle scenarios are presented for which there are only a limited set of solutions. In some modes, a "hint" button is available which provides a solution hint when pressed. Each Puzzle mode features six ten-stage levels.
There are two standard Puzzle modes. In each, progress is saved with the clearing of each separate stage.
In addition, there are two new Puzzle modes. In these modes, progress is only saved upon the completion of the entire level.
In Daily Play, players can play special Time Attack challenges once per day, for which the scores are recorded in a graph displaying performance over time.

Multiplayer

Wi-Fi Battle

Two-player Vs. matches can be played over the internet using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Players can be matched with opponents according to several different modes:
Multiplayer Vs. matches of up to four players can be played over local wireless connections through either Multi-Card Play or Single-Card Download Play. Competing with other players through DS Wireless Play automatically registers them in the player's Friend Roster.
Players whose games have ended through either elimination or completion can continue to play until the match is finished for all competitors.

DSiWare release

A condensed adaptation titled Puzzle League Express, known as A Little Bit of... Puzzle League in PAL regions and as in Japan, was released for the Nintendo DSi's DSiWare download service. It consists of four single-player modes: Endless, Clear, Score Attack, and Vs. COM. The game was released in Japan on January 29, 2009, in the PAL regions on July 17, 2009, and in North America on August 31, 2009.

Reception

GameSpot gave Planet Puzzle League a 7.5 out of 10 praising its mind-bending puzzles, curious combo mechanics and great online options. It also stated that "Even though the game itself is far from puzzle-perfect, Planet Puzzle League is a fun title with enough worthy challenges to warrant playing. Its weird, paradoxical combo scheme keeps it from approaching the greatness of games like Lumines, Tetris, or Super Puzzle Fighter, but if you're looking for a new way to flex your brain and test your reflexes, this piece is a solid fit." Craig Harris of IGN gave a game a 9 out of 10 score saying that "The last time I played the fun and addictive Puzzle League design was in the extremely watered down Dr. Mario/Puzzle League cartridge released on the Game Boy Advance a couple years back. Intelligent Systems really went to town in this Nintendo DS version -- it's an excellent retooling of a very addictive puzzle game."