PANEL DE PON - ACTION PUZZLE GAME
( Tetris Attack )
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パネルでポン
©1995 Nintendo
Release: 1995-10-27 (¥5800)
Cartridge SHVC-AYLJ
Puzzle game
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Released in America as
TETRIS ATTACK
( SNS-AYLE-USA & SNS-AYLE-USA-1)
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Released in Europe as
TETRIS ATTACK
( SNSP-AYLP-XXX )
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Panel de Pon is a puzzle game by Nintendo inspired by Alexey Pajitnov's
classic Tetris (with perhaps a pinch of Puyo Puyo thrown in). The land of the
fairies is in grave peril - the evil Sanatos (aka Thanatos) placed
a curse on the country and used his dark magic powers to turn all the nice fairies into evils
spirits. The cute fairy Lip - the young protagonist of the game and only one seemingly unaffected
by the evil spell - must engage all her fairy friends in duels and rescue them from the evil grips
of Thanatos... and discover, once and for all, the truth behind these mysterious events.
Like any other game in its genre, the task at hand is to clean each playfield from colored tiles
seemingly arranged in random order. To do so, the player moves a two-tiles long cursor around the
screen and can swap any pair of tiles located right under it. As expected, three or more identical
tiles disappear when vertically or horizontally aligned, and tiles obey the laws of gravity and fall
through newly formed gaps. Additionally, special combos and chain reactions can be
triggered and award the player with bonus points. These combos can also generate
large tiles (called Garbage blocks
and often as wide as the playfield!) over the opponent's side. Several playing modes are of course
available : solo, two players, versus, puzzle, time attack and so
forth.
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Interestingly, Panel de Pon was released in the rest of the world as
Tetris Attack (pictures on the right), and the cute fairies were replaced by characters from
Super Mario World 2 : Yoshi's Island. In this alternate version, Bowser
takes the role of the main vilain responsible for Yoshi's friends brainwash
(including Mario himself). Yoshi, much in the same way how Lip
helped her fairy friends,
must defeat all his fellow friends and restore their original personalities.
As a result, the cute fairies and magical animals of Panel De Pon (Lip,
Windy, Shyabetto, Thiana, Ruby, Elias, Flare,
Nerisu, Seren, Phoenix and Dragon) were replaced by Yoshi,
Lakitu, Bumpy, Poochy, Flying Wiggler, Froggy,
Gargantua Blargg, Lunge Fish, Raphael Raven, Hookbill Koopa,
Piranha Plant, Kamek and Bowser. Tetris Attack also features
more stages and an arranged soundtrack. Surprisingly, Tetris Attack was later
broadcasted in Japan by Nintendo via the Stellaview System, and renamed
Yoshi no Panepon
(as a side note, a Game Boy version of Yoshi no Panepon was also released
in 1996 and was renamed Tetris Attack in the United States).
An enhanced version of Panel de Pon (as well as new characters
and more stages) was later included in Nintendo Puzzle Collection released for the
Nintendo Game Cube in 2003, and this exclusively in Japan. The game also included
enhanced versions of Dr Mario and Yoshi no Cookie. As a side note, this
Game Cube version came with a really interesting feature - players could connect
their Game Boy Advance to the Game Cube system via a link cable, and
download special versions of the three games. These bonus games are the Famicom
versions of Dr. Mario and Yoshi no Cookie, but most interestingly an
exclusive (and simple) version of Panel de Pon featuring a cute hamster-like creature
called Pupuri. Finally, Panel de Pon DS followed in 2007 for the
Nintendo DS - the game was renamed Planet Puzzle League in the United States
and Puzzle League DS in Europe, and all the anime graphics and characters were
curiously replaced by more geometric (and less appealing) graphics... A couple of more
games are worth mentioning, such as Pokémon Puzzle League released for the
Nintendo 64 in 2000 (exclusively in the United States and Europe though) which
featured Panel de Pon's gameplay with a Pokémon theme (and an interesting
3D/Cylindrical mode!), or Dr. Mario & Panel de Pon (aka Dr. Mario/Puzzle League
in the rest of the world) released for the Game Boy Advance in 2005.
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Panel de Pon was fan translated in English in 2007 by Zuqkeo.
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Teaser text from the American version:
All the draw of
the classic,
with a new twist!
The Tetris sensation has landed at Yoshi's Island. Kamek
and Bowser await to test your dexterity with a demanding
race of strategic moves in thie exciting new contest.
As the stack of perplexing panels rises from the bottom,
think fast to conteract the merciless enemy attack dropping
in from above. Rapid switches and quick response are the
key to clearing the way to the next challenging level.
An incredible selection of competitive modes and options
provide escalading action and endless fun.
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Game Staff (Copied from the end credits) :
CREATIVE STAFF
CPROGRAM CREATORS
Main Program
Shinya Yamamoto
CP Program
System Program
Toshihiro Nishii
Opening Program
Select Program
Taku Sugioka
Program Adviser
Toshiyuki Nakamura
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DESIGN CREATORS
Design Director
Character Design
Graphic Design
Makiko Tsujino
Graphic Design
Yumiko Morisada
Assistant Graphic Design
Adusa Iwamoto
Go Matsuda
Graphic Design
Toshitaka Muramatsu
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SOUND CREATORS
Music Compose
Sound Program
Sound Effects
Masaya Kuzume
Sound System Program
Kenichi Nishimaki
Voice Sample
Miki Uraki
Makiko Tsujino
Yumiko Morisada
Adusa Iwamoto
Naoko Kugo
Masaya Kuzume
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SPECIAL THANKS TO
Masafumi Sakashita
Fujiko Nomura
Masahiro Nakamori
Kenji Nakajima
Hironobu Suzuki
Naotaka Ohnishi
Mitsuru Matsumoto
Yoshikazu Wori
Hiroya Kuriyama
Osamu Yamauchi
Isamu(s) Kubota
Kousei Kazetou
Kenji Yamada
Hiroki Nishizawa
Kenji Yamafuji
Ryouta Kawade
Hideyuki Monno
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Assistant
Ryuji Kuwaki
Director
Masao Yamamoto
Hitoshi Yamagami
Toshitaka Muramatsu
Producer
Gumpei Yokoi
Produced by
Team Battle Clash
©1995 Nintendo
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G
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Japanese Guidebook
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Japanese Guidebook
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Click on picture to enlarge |
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LK
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Add your Pov here !
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P
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Panel De Pon is an extremely addictive puzzle game with a solid gameplay,
excellent graphics and an awesome soundtrack. Like many successful Tetris-inspired
games, Panel De Pon uses ridiculously simple rules at its core, but surprises
you with a deep and rich gameplay that takes time and practice to perfectly master.
Soon you realize how satisfying and rewarding the game is, as you unleash amazing
chain reactions and mind-blowing combos (and the action can be extremely fast paced!).
The game was Mario-ized for the rest of the world (and this for marketing
reasons, Nintendo probably didn't think magical girls/fairies would appeal to
the western market), but I personally prefer the original Japanese release which has
more charm and personality. But, all in all, both versions are great and
Panel De Pon is one of the best puzzle I've played,
and I definitely recommend it to any fan out there.
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