Pokémon Puzzle Challenge

Pokémon Puzzle Challenge
Developer	Intelligent Systems
Publisher	Nintendo
System	Game Boy Color, 3DS Virtual Console
Release Date	Game Boy Color JP September 21, 2000 US December 4, 2000 PAL June 7, 2001 3DS Virtual Console US November 6, 2014 PAL November 27, 2014
Genre	Puzzle
Rating	ESRB: E

Pokémon Puzzle Challenge (known as Pokémon no Panepon in Japan) is a Game Boy Color game released to coincide with Nintendo 64's Pokémon Puzzle League. Like Puzzle League, Pokémon Puzzle Challenge is a Pokémon-themed version of the Japan-only game Panel de Pon. The main difference between the two games is their presentation, because while Puzzle League was based mostly on the Pokémon anime, Puzzle Challenge's inspiration comes from the then-recent Pokémon: Gold and Silver Versions.

Story

The game's Challenge mode has a story presented similarly to the story in Panel de Pon, with the character proceeding across floating islands. Taken from the Gold and Silver story, the player controls Gold on his Pokémon quest in battles against all of the Johto gym leaders followed by the Elite Four (the latter only being battled on a difficulty level of Normal or more).

Gameplay

In the puzzle game, rows of blocks rise from the bottom of the screen towards the top. The player uses a cursor to rearrange the blocks, and matching three or more blocks of the same color will eliminate them. The goal in most modes is to eliminate as many blocks as possible and prevent any column of blocks from touching the top of the screen, at which point the game will end.

The game contains several different modes. Marathon Mode is an endless mode in which the player's goal is to reach as high a score as possible before losing. Challenge Mode is the story mode in which the player faces various opponents. Time Zone is the opposite of Marathon Mode, where the player has to score the highest score within a time limit.

Line Clear and Puzzle Mode are presented as series of stages (the latter in which all blocks must be eliminated in a certain amount of moves), while Garbage Mode is a version of Marathon Mode with the additional challenge of various garbage blocks.

=Ports/Remakes

In 2014, it was released for download on the Nintendo 3DS as part of the 3DS Virtual Console.