Panel de Pon
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| Panel de Pon | |
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 Front cover of Panel de Pon package. |
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| Developer(s) | Intelligent Systems |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Platform(s) | Super Famicom Wii (Virtual Console) Nintendo Gamecube |
| Release date | Super Famicom JP October 27, 1995 Virtual Console JP November 27, 2007 |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single player Multiplayer |
| Media | 8-megabit cartridge |
| Input methods | Gamepad |
Panel de Pon (パネルでポン?) is a puzzle video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Super Famicom home video game console. It was released on October 27, 1995 in Japan, and was later ported to the North American and European markets as Tetris Attack. The rebranded Tetris Attack was later re-released in Japan as Yoshi no Panepon (ヨッシーのパネポン?) for the Satellaview satellite modem service and Game Boy handheld game console. The original Panel de Pon was released in Japan on the Wii's Virtual Console service on November 27, 2007.
Panel de Pon is the first game in the long-running Puzzle League series, and has seen numerous sequels for most of Nintendo's game consoles in markets worldwide.
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[edit] Story
In Panel de Pon, the evil devil king Sanatos has cast a spell over the world of Popples to cause fighting amongst the fairies. The Fairy of Flowers, Lip, is unaffected due to her magic stick. Lip must defeat each of her fairy friends in a puzzle game to return their personalities to normal, then proceed to face off against Sanatos.
Upon completion of Hard Mode, the player discovers that the final boss, the goddess Corderia, is actually Lip's mother and queen of the fairies. She informs Lip that the events leading up to this moment were a test to see if Lip had the strength to become the new Queen of the next generation of fairies.
In the version of Panel de Pon released as part of Nintendo Puzzle Collection for the GameCube, similar but younger fairies take the place of the original characters, and several new characters and stages have been added. The plot is otherwise very similar.
[edit] Gameplay
In Panel de Pon, the player is presented with a playfield consisting of a virtual grid of squares, each of which can be occupied by a colored block. Blocks are stacked on top of one another and rise steadily toward the top of the playfield, with new blocks being added at the bottom. The player must arrange blocks in horizontal or vertical lines of three or more matching colors by swapping blocks horizontally two at a time. As matching lines are formed, the blocks are cleared from the screen and any blocks above them fall into the gaps. The game is over when the blocks touch the top of the playfield, or another game-ending condition is met (such as reaching a time limit or clearing blocks below a set line).
The player moves a two-block cursor around the playfield using the D-pad and swaps blocks within the cursor using the action button. A block may be swapped with an empty space, and blocks that are moved into an empty column immediately fall toward the bottom of the playfield. The player can cause the playfield to rise more quickly by pressing either shoulder button. The cursor is free to move while blocks are clearing, allowing the player to form other matches and line up chains.
Clearing more than three tiles in a single move scores a Combo, while Chains are scored when falling blocks from one clear cause another clear to occur. Both of these events score extra bonus points, and in multiplayer Versus games, these also send "garbage blocks" to the other player's playfield.
Panel de Pon provides several single-player modes. Story Mode takes the player through the game's main plot, pitting the player against a series of foes in a head-to-head match. The objective is to cause the computer-controlled player to lose. In Endless Mode, the player is challenged to play as long as possible with a continuously rising stack of blocks, which increases in speed over time. Timed Mode challenges the player to score as many points as possible within a two-minute time limit, and Stage Clear mode takes the player through a series of stages in which the objective is to clear blocks below a set line. A Puzzle Mode is also provided, which presents the player with a number of puzzles where he or she must clear all of the blocks in a set number of moves. (Blocks do not rise in this mode.)
In addition to the game's single-player modes, Panel de Pon also provides several multiplayer modes that are essentially two-player variants of the single-player modes. One or both human players may be substituted with a computer-controlled player with a selectable difficulty level.
[edit] Newer versions
Tetris Attack was first released in 1996. It was updated for the Nintendo 64 console and rebranded as Pokémon Puzzle League (PPL). PPL was not a direct port of Tetris Attack; it included many changes and new features along with the characters from the Pokémon anime that replaced Yoshi and friends. PPL added a training mode, a puzzle editor, and a 3-D game mode that takes place in a cylindrical playing field three times the width of the 2-D board. It also had smoother game play and smarter computer opponents than Tetris Attack.
In tandem with Pokémon Puzzle League, Pokémon Puzzle Challenge was released for the Nintendo Game Boy Color. PPC dropped the puzzle editor and 3-D mode but had a new game mode of its own, Garbage mode, which was basically Marathon mode with the addition of garbage blocks that periodically fall onto the stack. Whereas Pokémon Puzzle League added several new features, Pokémon Puzzle Challenge was essentially Tetris Attack with a Pokémon theme. An additional difficulty level, "Intense" mode, was added for Pokémon Puzzle Challenge.
Panel de Pon, the predecessor to Tetris Attack, has been remade for GameCube as a component of Nintendo Puzzle Collection released in Japan in 2003, receiving a graphical and audio facelift along with a new four-player competitive mode. It is unknown whether the Yoshi's Island infusion would have been applied to Panel de Pon for a North American release like it was applied to the SNES version, since the game's release in North America was quietly cancelled.
Panel de Pon is also available in the Game Boy Advance title Dr. Mario & Panel de Pon, released in Japan in 2005. This title has also been released in North America as Dr. Mario & Puzzle League. Both the Japanese and North American releases feature generic backgrounds, with characters and story mode completely removed, making it the first time the game has been released on its own merit, without the infusion of cartoon characters from one source or another.
Planet Puzzle League is the most recently available iteration of Panel De Pon, released in Japan (as Panel de Pon DS) and the US in the second quarter for the Nintendo DS. The Japanese and American versions of Planet Puzzle League are identical, save for the ability to unlock a background featuring Lip and her stage theme from Panel De Pon in the Japanese version, the only way to unlock this feature in the American version is by using a cheat device. This title is also Wi-Fi enabled on the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service so that players may compete with each other around the globe.
[edit] References in other media
In Super Smash Bros. Melee, one of the various objects that Kirby randomly transforms into when using his "Stone" (down+B) special attack is a garbage block from Panel de Pon.
Also in the game, there is an item called Lip's Stick, named after the Panel de Pon character replaced by Yoshi for Tetris Attack. Lip's Stick poisons the opponent that it contacts, as a flower is planted atop his or her head. While some in-game graphics exclusive to the Japanese market were replaced with more recognizable items, Lip's Stick was left as-is with its trophy explaining its Japanese-only origin. It also appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Also present in Brawl are four collectible Stickers depicting characters from the Nintendo Puzzle Collection iteration of Panel de Pon, marking the first time a Panel de Pon character is intentionally shown to audiences outside of Japan. The character stickers, however, had their names translated to those of the Super Famicom characters. The red heart block is also present. The game also includes a remix of Lip's theme, which plays on the PictoChat stage.
[edit] References
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This article does not cite any references or sources. (April 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
[edit] External links
- Official Panel De Pon website
- (Japanese) Japanese Dr. Mario & Panel de Pon website
- (Japanese) Nintendo Puzzle Collection Japanese website
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