Panel de Pon
Encyclopedia
, also known as Panel de Pon: Action Puzzle Game, 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 America
n and Europe
an markets as Tetris Attack
. The rebranded Tetris Attack was later re-released in Japan as for the Satellaview
satellite modem
service and Game Boy
handheld game console
. An altered version of the original Panel de Pon was also released via Satellaview in 1998 under the name BS Panel De Pon - Event '98. 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.
Upon completion of Hard Mode, the player discovers that the final boss, the goddess Cordelia, 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; however, the ending is very different.
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.
in 1996. This version, while essentially identical in gameplay to PdP, replaced the original characters and backgrounds with characters and scenes based on Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
. Some music tracks were also changed for this rebranding, and the game also includes a slightly more advanced computer-controlled player
in certain modes. This rebranded version was then re-released in Japan several years later.
The game was updated and rebranded again in 2000 for the Nintendo 64
as Pokémon Puzzle League
(PPL). This version, based on the first few seasons of the Pokémon
anime
, includes a training mode, a puzzle editor, and a 3D game mode that takes place in a cylindrical playfield. Pokémon Puzzle Challenge
(PPC) was released around the same time for the Game Boy Color
, retaining most of the features of PdP while introducing "Garbage Mode" and a new "Intense" difficulty level.
Panel de Pon was ported again in 2003, this time for the GameCube
as part of Nintendo Puzzle Collection
, released only in Japan. This version features new characters (the descendents of the original PdP characters), updated graphics and sound, and a four-player competitive mode. The game's release in North America was quietly cancelled.
An adaptation of Panel de Pon is available in the Game Boy Advance
title Dr. Mario & Panel de Pon, released in Japan in 2005. This version, also released in North America as Dr. Mario & Puzzle League, contains generic graphics and background and no story mode at all, making it the first game in the series to be released on only the merits of its gameplay.
The most recent version of the game is Panel de Pon DS
in Japan (Planet Puzzle League in North America), released in 2007 for the Nintendo DS
. This version includes new backgrounds and music, stylus-enabled gameplay, and the ability to play against other players worldwide via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
service. Aside from an unlockable background featuring Lip (from the original Panel de Pon) in the Japanese version, the DS version continues the storyless presentation of the Game Boy Advance title. A limited-function version, known as Chotto Panel de Pon in Japan, Puzzle League Express in North America, and A Little Bit Of Puzzle League in Europe, was released for the Nintendo DSi
via the DSiWare service on the Nintendo DSi Shop. This version includes most of the original release's single-player features, and excludes multi-player gameplay entirely.
Computer puzzle game
Puzzle video games are a genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles to be solved can test many problem solving skills including logic, strategy, pattern recognition, sequence solving, and word completion....
video game developed by Intelligent Systems
Intelligent Systems
is a Japanese first-party video game developer and internal team of Nintendo Co., Ltd. It has its headquarters in the Nintendo Kyoto Research Center in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture....
and published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
for the Super Famicom
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
home video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
. It was released on October 27, 1995 in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and was later ported to the North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an markets as Tetris Attack
Tetris Attack
Tetris Attack is a puzzle video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System home video game console and Game Boy handheld game console...
. The rebranded Tetris Attack was later re-released in Japan as for the Satellaview
Satellaview
The is a satellite modem add-on for Nintendo's Super Famicom system that was released in Japan in 1995. Available for pre-release orders as early as February 13, 1995, the Satellaview retailed for between ¥14,000 and 18,000 and came bundled with the BS-X Game Pak and an 8M Memory Pak.The...
satellite modem
Satellite modem
A satellite modem or sat modem is a modem used to establish data transfers using a communications satellite as a relay.There is a wide range of satellite modems from cheap devices for home internet access to expensive multifunctional equipment for enterprise use.A "modem" stands for...
service and Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
handheld game console
Handheld game console
A handheld game console is a lightweight, portable electronic device with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are run on machines of small size allowing people to carry them and play them at any time or place...
. An altered version of the original Panel de Pon was also released via Satellaview in 1998 under the name BS Panel De Pon - Event '98. The original Panel de Pon was released in Japan on the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
's Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
service on November 27, 2007.
Panel de Pon is the first game in the long-running Puzzle League series
Puzzle League (series)
Puzzle League is a series of video games published by Nintendo for its various video game consoles. The series began with Panel de Pon in Japan and Tetris Attack in North America, and has since been adapted to many other consoles...
, and has seen numerous sequels for most of Nintendo's game consoles in markets worldwide.
Story
In Panel de Pon, the evil devil king Thanatos 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 Thanatos.Upon completion of Hard Mode, the player discovers that the final boss, the goddess Cordelia, 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
Nintendo Puzzle Collection
is a compilation of puzzle video games published and developed by Nintendo for the GameCube home video game console. It was released in Japan, and was intended to be released in North America and Europe until it was announced that it was cancelled in both regions. It contains three video games: Dr...
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; however, the ending is very different.
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.
Newer versions
Panel de Pon (PdP) was released in North America as Tetris AttackTetris Attack
Tetris Attack is a puzzle video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System home video game console and Game Boy handheld game console...
in 1996. This version, while essentially identical in gameplay to PdP, replaced the original characters and backgrounds with characters and scenes based on Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, originally released as in Japan, is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the SNES console. Despite its title, this game serves as a prequel to all other games within the established Mario Bros timeline...
. Some music tracks were also changed for this rebranding, and the game also includes a slightly more advanced computer-controlled player
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
in certain modes. This rebranded version was then re-released in Japan several years later.
The game was updated and rebranded again in 2000 for the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
as Pokémon Puzzle League
Pokémon Puzzle League
Pokémon Puzzle League is a puzzle game for the Nintendo 64 console. It is based on Nintendo's Panel de Pon puzzle games, but with Pokémon likenesses. It was only available in North America starting in 2000, and in Europe in 2001, making it the first Pokémon game produced for North America first...
(PPL). This version, based on the first few seasons of the Pokémon
Pokémon
is a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video...
anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
, includes a training mode, a puzzle editor, and a 3D game mode that takes place in a cylindrical playfield. Pokémon Puzzle Challenge
Pokémon Puzzle Challenge
, is a video game for the Game Boy Color. It was based on the game Panel de Pon, only with characters from the Pokémon franchise. The characters in Pokémon Puzzle Challenge were based on those in the Gold and Silver games, while those in Pokémon Puzzle League—its Nintendo 64 equivalent-were based...
(PPC) was released around the same time for the Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
, retaining most of the features of PdP while introducing "Garbage Mode" and a new "Intense" difficulty level.
Panel de Pon was ported again in 2003, this time for the GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
as part of Nintendo Puzzle Collection
Nintendo Puzzle Collection
is a compilation of puzzle video games published and developed by Nintendo for the GameCube home video game console. It was released in Japan, and was intended to be released in North America and Europe until it was announced that it was cancelled in both regions. It contains three video games: Dr...
, released only in Japan. This version features new characters (the descendents of the original PdP characters), updated graphics and sound, and a four-player competitive mode. The game's release in North America was quietly cancelled.
An adaptation of Panel de Pon is available in the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
title Dr. Mario & Panel de Pon, released in Japan in 2005. This version, also released in North America as Dr. Mario & Puzzle League, contains generic graphics and background and no story mode at all, making it the first game in the series to be released on only the merits of its gameplay.
The most recent version of the game is Panel de Pon DS
Planet Puzzle League
Planet Puzzle League; known in Europe as Puzzle League DS, and in Japan as ; 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 Japan (Planet Puzzle League in North America), released in 2007 for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
. This version includes new backgrounds and music, stylus-enabled gameplay, and the ability to play against other players worldwide via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
The is an online multiplayer gaming service run by Nintendo to provide free online play in compatible Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS and Wii games. The service includes the company's Wii Shop Channel, DSi Shop, and Nintendo eShop game download services...
service. Aside from an unlockable background featuring Lip (from the original Panel de Pon) in the Japanese version, the DS version continues the storyless presentation of the Game Boy Advance title. A limited-function version, known as Chotto Panel de Pon in Japan, Puzzle League Express in North America, and A Little Bit Of Puzzle League in Europe, was released for the Nintendo DSi
Nintendo DSi
The is a handheld game system created by Nintendo and launched in 2008 and 2009 in Japan, North America, PAL territories, and other regions. It is the third iteration of the Nintendo DS, and its primary market rival is Sony's PlayStation Portable...
via the DSiWare service on the Nintendo DSi Shop. This version includes most of the original release's single-player features, and excludes multi-player gameplay entirely.