Meteos and the puzzle genre

sjewkestheloon · Post by **sjewkestheloon** » Sun Aug 07, 2005 10:04 pm

ok as an intro, i've recently purchased an ntsc import of meteos as i couldn't wait any longer, and i must say it's the best puzzle game i've ever played. however that isn't really saying too much as i have played very few puzzle games that i'd give any merit to at all. they always seem to wane very quickly or fail to grab me at all.

having discovered this gem however i feel drivin to explore a little more into the genre to see which classics i have missed.

any puzzle fanatics out there? can you recommend any specific games to me?

also i assume that several puzzle titles have made it onto the taito (pal release only i'm afraid) collection and would appreciate it if anyone could point out any highlights.

Dewclaw · Post by **Dewclaw** » Sun Aug 07, 2005 10:19 pm

You want Tetris Attack for the SNES. Most fun I've ever had with a puzzle game. Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo is also really good.

Post by **Icarus** » Sun Aug 07, 2005 10:42 pm

Some of my favourites:

Tetris Attack (Super Fami)
Super Puzzle Fighter 2X (arcade/PSX)
Intelligent Qube/Kurushi (PSX)
- see also: Kurushi Final (PSX)
Devil Dice (PSX)
- see also: Bombastic (PS2)
Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (Genesis)
- see also: Puyo Puyo Fever (PS2)
Tetris (GB)
Tetris Battle Gaiden (Super Fami)
Super Bust-A-Move (PS2)
- see also: Bust-A-Move 2 Arcade Edition (PSX)
Uo Poko (arcade)

Got others, but names escape me ATM (head full of shooters

)

magnum opus · Post by **magnum opus** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 12:48 am

Triptych, it's sorta got it's own thing going on, it's all about getting the most out of the current peice instead of assembling massive combos.

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 12:49 am

I haven't played it, but the Nintendo Puzzle Collection for GameCube is on sale at play-asia. I heard good things about it and I have played the games in it in other forms, though.

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-4a-70-23g.html

Panel de Pon and Dr. Mario in it are actually based on the N64 versions, though Panel de Pon has the original characters from the Japanese SNES version. Panel de Pon is the original version of Tetris Attack.

The GBA Puyo Puyo Fever is quite good, but just about any version of the game is good. Only the GCN and DS versions are available in the US. I heard that the DS version is just like the GBA version, but with up to 8 players wireless, so it might be looking in to. However, my favorite Puyo Puyo is Puyo Puyo Tsu Remix for SNES.

As for as portable games, Tetris GB is a no brainer. A very good port of Tetris. I also recommend Pokemon Puzzle Challenge GBC (portable Tetris Attack), Tetris Blast/Super Bombliss GB (a slick variation of Tetris with bombs), and Quarth GB (a cool puzzle shooter where you try to form squares by shooting blocks at bars). Puzzle Bobble/Bust A Move GG is definatly a must have if you own a Game Gear. I also like the GBA port of Super Bust-A-Move quite a bit.

Boulder Dash EX for GBA is a very good puzzly variation of Bolderdash and even has a good port of the original game included.

I recommend giving Tetris 2/Tetris Flash SNES a try. It's like a combination of Dr. Mario and Tetris. The SNES version has a cool puzzle mode.

Post by **Icarus** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 1:15 am

One other game I forgot to mention, that just came to me after reading the description of Tetris with bombs (Bombliss)... Panic Bomberman on the Neo. Pretty tricky to get used to, but really freaking great fun once you do, and a blast (no pun intended) in multiplayer.

Davey · Post by **Davey** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 1:30 am

Puyo Puyo: Don't waste your time with the original (or Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine) though, as Puyo Puyo 2 is basically the same thing but with balanced/improved gameplay. Puyo Puyo Sun adds an interesting twist. I haven't played Puyo Puyo ~n or Puyo Puyo Fever, but from what I have read they are less balanced and rely on their 4-player modes for fun (i.e. they play more like a console party game than an arcade game).

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo: Overrated, but it is more accessable to beginners than the Puyo Puyo series.

Star Sweep (a.k.a. Puzzle Star Sweep): Pretty average, but can be bought for under $10.

Cleopatra Fortune: Played this for a little bit, but I couldn't get into it. It can also be had for cheap.

Puzzle Bobble: I never understood the appeal of this series, but I'm pretty much the only one who doesn't like it.

Repeat votes out of obligation:
Tetris Attack
Devil Dice

Games that seem good, but I haven't played enough to give an educated opinion:
Magical Drop 3
Money Puzzle Exchanger
Zoop

On my list to try:
Wario's Woods
Yoshi's Cookie
Puzz Loop

And nobody mentioned Mr. Driller yet? Sacrilege.

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 3:09 am

Davey wrote:Puyo Puyo: Don't waste your time with the original (or Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine) though, as Puyo Puyo 2 is basically the same thing but with balanced/improved gameplay. Puyo Puyo Sun adds an interesting twist. I haven't played Puyo Puyo ~n or Puyo Puyo Fever, but from what I have read they are less balanced and rely on their 4-player modes for fun (i.e. they play more like a console party game than an arcade game).

I found Puyo Puyo Fever to be quite a bit of fun in one player, despite the balance issues. The Fever mode is a blast and the AI can get extremely hard. BTW, only the GBA and DS versions have four player. I also recommend Puyo Puyo Sun. I found the first Puyo Puyo fun to play even after playing Puyo Puyo Tsu. It may not have countering, but it's still challenging and fun. It's not like the original Puyo Puyo costs an arm and a leg. IMO, it's definatly worth a try. Oddly enough, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is not excatly the same as the original Puyo Puyo. It has been rebalanced and has some other changes.

No Panel de Pon or Pokemon Puzzle League recommendations? I also recommend Tetris Attack, but why so many recommendations for this specific version?

Panic Bomber is also on the SNES and Virtual Boy. It's also coming soon to the PSP, if it's not already out. I haven't played enough to recommend it, though.

I didn't include Mr. Driller becuase it's more of an action game than a puzzle game, but I do like the games quite a bit.

zaphod · Post by **zaphod** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 6:44 am

good puzzle games.

Tetris: The Grand Master. best basic version of tetris ever. playable at max acceleration.

Magical Drop 2/3

Battle Balls (this one is qquitefun)

Puzzle Bobble seriess

Columns, even though I suck at it.

TalkingOctopus · Post by **TalkingOctopus** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 6:58 am

On the PC side, I really like popcap games (http://www.popcap.com/). My favorites are:

zuma (remarkably similiar to puzz loop)
Seven Seas
Insaniquarium

Minzoku · Post by **Minzoku** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 8:36 am

^^ Jewel Quest is Bejeweled with a goal [as opposed to "make matches until you advance a level"]. Worth a look

judesalmon · Post by **judesalmon** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 8:46 am

Lumines

Zoo Keeper

sjewkestheloon · Post by **sjewkestheloon** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 10:47 am

thanks for the recommendations chaps. as for zoo keeper i play that one all the time in one cart vs against my girlfriend but she just hapopen to be a god at the game and destroys my face every time.....

as for the tetris games i've seriously od'd on them a long time ago. i played the original tetris for the gb so much that i cxan pretty consistently beat the maximum line level with the maximum speed level on the extra mode.... i don't need to play that game any more.

i'm definately going to check out the puyo games as well as mister driller, and i'll be popping back to mark out the other interesting and more obscure suggestions.

so do any of you have meteos? if not, why not?

magnum opus · Post by **magnum opus** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 11:58 am

oh just thought i should point out to those without a psp (like me) some one made a PC version of lumines i'm sure it's not the same experience but the gameplay is the same. http://acm.tongji.edu.cn/people/kaikai/lumines.php

Minzoku · Post by **Minzoku** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 12:45 pm

sjewkestheloon wrote:so do any of you have meteos? if not, why not?

No, no DS.

[No money, either! Figures!]

I'm getting some mad errors extracting that Lumines RAR file

magnum opus · Post by **magnum opus** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 5:41 pm

rigghtclick save as then unrar'ed with winrar worked fine.
the file should be 680K you might have had an interrupted download

sjewkestheloon · Post by **sjewkestheloon** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 5:43 pm

to be honest getting a ds was the best thing i could have done. meteos, iridion 2, f-zero, and mario64ds have seen constant play, and if what i've read is accurate, the emu and homebrew scene will soon be thriving. a ds based flash cart is being released that can read both gba and ds roms (homebrew and pd i'm taking about here, don't jump down my throat with accusations) as well as being able to support game gear, master system, pc engine, snes, nes, gb and gbc roms as well as a good working scumm interface.

i personally can't wait to pick up a flash cart and get myself some good ole adventure games

BUHA · Post by **BUHA** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 7:46 pm

I have to mention Tetris Attack again. Overall, it definitely is the best puzzle game I've ever played. (Never played meteos, though). I totally recommend it. I might have put more hours into it than any other game I've ever played.

Davey · Post by **Davey** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 11:37 pm

BrianC wrote:I found the first Puyo Puyo fun to play even after playing Puyo Puyo Tsu. It may not have countering, but it's still challenging and fun. It's not like the original Puyo Puyo costs an arm and a leg.

The original isn't a bad game by any means, but Tsu basically obsoleted it IMHO. Since Tsu can be bought for about $10, I don't see the point of going after the original at all.

BrianC wrote:No Panel de Pon or Pokemon Puzzle League recommendations? I also recommend Tetris Attack, but why so many recommendations for this specific version?

Personally, I don't like the Pokemon franchise or the N64, and the Nintendo Puzzle Collection doesn't really offer anything new to warrant a purchase.

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 1:46 am

Davey wrote:
BrianC wrote:I found the first Puyo Puyo fun to play even after playing Puyo Puyo Tsu. It may not have countering, but it's still challenging and fun. It's not like the original Puyo Puyo costs an arm and a leg.
The original isn't a bad game by any means, but Tsu basically obsoleted it IMHO. Since Tsu can be bought for about $10, I don't see the point of going after the original at all.

The GB b/w version of the original Puyo Puyo is terrible, but the GameGear version is definatly worth finding since it has a cool Puzzle mode with it. Then again, there are spinoff games for both GG and SNES that are based around that mode. As for the originals, they cost about 5 or 6 dollars complete for Genesis or SNES.

Tsuu may be similar and better, but, IMO, it doesn't make the original Puyo Puyo obsolete. Those newer Puyo Puyo games wouldn't be around if it wasn't for the first Puyo Puyo games with vs. computer modes. I think they are definatly worth a try. It is true that most versions of Tsuu can be played without countering or the special blocks, though.

I definatly recommend Tsuu over the first game, but I personally think obsoleting the first game just becucase better ones exist is a bit harsh. Puyo Puyo Tsuu got the long end of the rope when it comes to portable versions, though most of them are based on the GB version (which is actually a good thing since it rocks, has new endings, and has most of the modes of the SNES remix version). There is also a GG version of Tsuu, which is also very nice, but it very barebones with only the tower vs. computer mode like the arcade and Genesis versions (they don't even have endless). Also on GB and GBC are Pocket Puyo Puyo Sun and Pocket Puyo Puyo~n, which I heard extremely good things about (and I liked what I tried of them too).

At Play-Asia, I saw this GBA game listed called Zooo. Is it a GBA version of Zoo Keeper? http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-66- ... 0-5fj.html

Minzoku · Post by **Minzoku** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 4:14 am

magnum opus wrote:rigghtclick save as then unrar'ed with winrar worked fine.
the file should be 680K you might have had an interrupted download

It's 680k, I've re-downloaded it three times now, same errors.

sjewkestheloon · Post by **sjewkestheloon** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 11:38 am

yep zooo is zoo keeper but from what i've seen it's pretty impossible to play well due to the control interface. maybe i'm just spoilt by the ds but chaining seems pretty impossible.

ok so what is the best puyo game available for the ds? by this i mean gba and ds. incase you weren't aware you can't play gb or gbc on a ds so please don't recommend those atm. when i get my flash cart sorted that may well be different however.

PaCrappa · Post by **PaCrappa** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 5:25 pm

Davey wrote:And nobody mentioned Mr. Driller yet? Sacrilege.

Buncha fucking bedwetters at this forum. Don't know a real puzzle game from shinola. Any Mr Driller title (even the GBC one) kicks the absolute shit out of all titles/series' listed in this thread. You people need to get out more. Thank me later.

The only thing that approaches Mr Driller quality is Star Trigon. Which, not so coincidentally, also happens to have been developed by Project Driller.

Pa

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 6:34 pm

sjewkestheloon wrote:yep zooo is zoo keeper but from what i've seen it's pretty impossible to play well due to the control interface. maybe i'm just spoilt by the ds but chaining seems pretty impossible.

ok so what is the best puyo game available for the ds? by this i mean gba and ds. incase you weren't aware you can't play gb or gbc on a ds so please don't recommend those atm. when i get my flash cart sorted that may well be different however.

The best Puyo Puyo game for the DS is Puyo Puyo Fever. I also like Puyo Pop/Minna de Puyo Puyo, but Fever has much harder AI and more modes. 8 player wireless for the DS version too. I heard that the Gundam Puyo Puyo for GBA is pretty bare bones.

I consider Mr. Driller more of an action game than a puzzler, but the games do rock. Play Asia has the Japanese DS Mr. Driller (definatly recommended over the US version) and Mr. Driller Ace for about 30 dollars. I ordered Ace from PA recently and I can't wait to play it.

Mr. Driller Drill Spirits:
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-9g- ... 0-cyy.html

Mr. Driller Ace:
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-66- ... 0-q2b.html

Davey · Post by **Davey** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 8:40 pm

Puyo Pop is definitely a good intro to the series. However, once you get good, the AI is just plain easy (even on Hard).

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 9:00 pm

Mr. Driller Ace for GBA is the best I've tried

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 10:39 pm

Davey wrote:Puyo Pop is definitely a good intro to the series. However, once you get good, the AI is just plain easy (even on Hard).

Which is exactly why I recommend Fever over it. From what I read, the DS sounds better than the GBA one. The GBA one costs a bit more and doesn't have a US release. As for a GBA Specific version of Tetris Attack/Panel de Pon, Dr. Mario/Panel de Pon GBA will be out on September 13th in Japan at a budget price.

sjewkestheloon · Post by **sjewkestheloon** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 11:36 pm

ah sweet as. oh and to the wrathsome pa, i'm well up on my driller thank you very much. many hours have disappeared gasping for air on my ole dc. stopped playing it now though as it makes my dc scream for mercy. sounds like nails on a blackboard and makes me cry

after my infatuation with meteos i'll be getting driller on that.

as for puyo pop fever, would it be worth just picking up the gba edition as it's £7.99 second hand somewhere near and in a 4 for £20 deal?

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 1:27 am

doh, forgot you were in the UK. I'm not sure about the pricing there, but the GBA version of Fever is still good if you can get it for cheaper. I heard that the UK one only has the English voices, though.

Stormwatch · Post by **Stormwatch** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 2:30 am

I know it's not "puzzle" in the same sense as those other games, but...

...fuckin' RULEZ!