Planet Puzzle League
Review
A Tetris Clone with some great enhancements
by JSnake
reviewed on NDS
The Stylus makes all the difference
The stylus control is smooth and responsive, and it can turn amateurs of the older games into seasoned pros. Even if you're accustomed to the standard buttons control, you won't be able to go back after using the stylus. However, the stylus control does make a few of the advanced techniques much harder, but that won't bother most people.
PPL actually has quite a few different game modes. VS. Com plays out exactly as I described above, and is the meat of the game; you can change its difficulty level, which will have most players preferring it over Clear Mode.
Clear Mode is a little different. As the blocks rise and you keep clearing blocks, you will come across a thin line called a "clear line" in the middle of the blocks. Your goal is to keep clearing blocks so that all the blocks fall beneath this line. Once you manage that, you advance to the next level and things get more difficult. Blocks will start rising at a staggering rate (it takes about three seconds for the blocks to hit the top in the later levels!). The key is to make combos and chains. Doing any one of those will stop the blocks from rising for a short time so you can catch your breath and clear some blocks. The bigger combos and chains you make, the longer you have as a breather.
This mode doesn't have much replay value because you can't change the difficulty. Although players wishing to better themselves, can do so by trying to beat the entire mode in a very short time. Unfortunately, there aren't any rewards in the form of unlockable stages or any other goodies like that.
The game includes various Time Attack modes. Your goal is to get high scores within a mere two minutes. They differ by the goals the player must accomplish in order to score points. For instance, in one mode you gain 100 points for every row of blocks you add by pressing the "fast-forward" button. In another, you gain points by clearing sets of garbage blocks. The bigger the blocks, the more points you gain. High score nuts will love these modes as they are the primary way of getting better at the game.
Woohoo...Online play
And now we come to the main selling point of Planet Puzzle League: WiFi play. Through the Nintendo WiFi Connection, PPL players are able to go online and battle other players all across the globe. The inclusion of this mode adds an enormous deal of replay value. And there is even an online leader board in place. Players with the best win-loss ratio get placed in the top 3. Every week, the board is reset. This helps newbies who just bought the game have a chance at getting into the board. There is also a "novice mode" where players new to the game can battle others who are new. This is useful for the folks who buy the game at a later date and want to hone their skills without getting completely demolished.
Unfortunately, WiFi isn't without its flaws. Nintendo has been having a lot of trouble with their online services, and PPL is no exception. For one, you cannot voice chat with other people without having their friend code (they also need yours. it's kinda like an IM buddy list system). This does indeed take away some of the interaction that online games are created for in the first place.
9.0
fun score
No Pros and Cons at this time
