Pokémon Puzzle League - All N64 Games

[Cube]

San Francisco Rush 2049

• NA release: 6th September 2000
• PAL release: 17th November 2000
• JP release: N/A
• Developer: Atari, Midway
• Publisher: Midway
• N64 Magazine Score: 91%

The third of the Rush games on N64, heading back to San Francisco, but given a sci-fi spin with bright neon lights and fast cars with wings. It’s another arcade racer whose best mode is still the “practice” mode, where you can explore all 6 tracks, hunt down hidden coins, and discover new shortcuts.

The other new addition is the wings that you can bring out while in the air. The don’t grant the same level of control as, say, Mario Kart 7/8 gliders, but are rather much more subtle, slightly influencing your trajectory. It takes a good amount of practice to be able to use it properly, but you can reach some great shortcuts if you do.

On top of the stunt mode returning with multiple stunt courses, there’s also an “obstacle” mode. Here, you have to make it through a long series of brutal obstacles within five minutes. It’s incredibly tough, but also great.

San Francisco Rush 2049 is a really fun racing game, but it’s a shame there aren’t that many tracks.

Fun

Quote

As a complete – if ever-so-slightly-flawed – package, San Francisco Rush 2049 has emerged as an unlikely, yet very welcome member of the N64’s racing elite – the throught and effort bestowed on it really shows. Infinitely more rewarding than Ridge Racer could ever hope to be, 2049 offers a unique slant on an otherwise tired genre, while delivering more single-player replay value than any other future-racer game before it.

Geraint Evans, N64 Magazine #48

Remake or remaster?

A Rush collection would be nice.

Official ways to get the game.

There’s no official way to get San Francisco Rush 2049

[Jonnas]

The Experimental World review is among my favourites in this entire series. What an utterly fascinating find.

[Cube]

Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion
 

• NA release: 6th September 2000
• PAL release: 8th September 2000
• JP release: N/A
• Developer: Acclaim
• Publisher: Acclaim
• N64 Magazine Score: 82%

Shortly before Turok 2 came out, Half-Life released PC, with a big focus on a linear, but more cinematic, first person shooter. This was too late to have any influence on Turok 2, but it’s clear to see the influence of Half-Life on Turok 3, very much to the detriment of the series. I played the Nightdive remaster, which has some nice QoL features (and the cut gore from the original restored) but is still the same game.

In the previous games, story is more of a background aspect that you won’t see much of, if you just play the game. It’s front and centre here, with voice acted cutscenes. Joshua (Turok from 2, although he was featured in the box of Turok 1 despite not being the Turok in the game) gets killed, and one of his siblings must take up the mantle.

You can pick between his sister (who can jump higher and has a grappling hook) or his annoying brother (who can crawl lower and use night vision), then get thrust into the first level of stopping Oblivion in a modern day city. Here, the Half-Life influence becomes immediately clear, as this level is linear, and features NPCs (which you can briefly interact with). It’s a really good Half-Life style level with set pieces and a lot of variety, it’s just very different to the previous Turok games.

Later levels in the game are much closer to what you’d expect Turok levels to look like, with no friendly NPCs to interact with, but they’re still very straightforward and linear. The game gives you objectives which, instead of being something to figure out, are just something to guide you through the levels, telling you to press the required buttons or find the keys you need to progress.

Another let-down in Turok 3 are the weapons. Some weapons are exclusive to each character, and there are more “regular” weapons, with very few that feel over the top, with the coolest being a spinning blade that you throw and it flies back to you (although I’m not sure if it actually does damage on the way back). The gunfights are propped up by some more varied enemies, but using your guns isn’t as exciting.

Turok 3 is still a fun game, but it’s a game that has lost its identity by chasing trends, instead of sticking to what it was good at. Fun weapons would have helped bridge the gap between the two styles a bit more, or perhaps co-op would have helped a lot (no matter who you pick, the other character tags along in cutscenes, despite never seeing them in-game). Turok managed to be its own thing in a sea of DOOM clones, so its sad to see it sacrifice so much to be more like Half-Life.

Fun

Quote

Turok 3’s failure to topple PD isn’t for want of Acclaim trying, though – they’ve blatantly stolen ideas from a wealth of big-name games in an effort to make this the greatest Turok ever. You’ll spot a less-than-subtle not to a rival developer at every turn, whether you’re careening over sheer drops with the Grapple Hook (The Legend of Zelda), exploring a pneumatically-driven mechanical alien factory (Quake II), navigating an area that’s unique to the character you’re controlling (Resident Evil II), or watching civilians and scientists fall pray to all manner of hilarious mishaps (the PC’s Half-Life).

Mark Green, N64 Magazine #46

Remake or remaster?

The Nightdive remaster does a great job at making the game more playable, although it’s lacking the multiplayer.

Official ways to get the game.

The remaster of Turok 3 is available on GOG, Steam, Switch, Xbox One/Series and PS3/4.

[Dcubed]

Turok 3 is an interesting little snapshot of the year 2000 within the industry.  Being the first game from Acclaim Studios Austin (After most of the staff from Iguana had left to join Retro Studios), it attempts to carve its own path distinct from what Iguana had done before; but it also takes a huge amount of inspiration from Half-Life.  It's also one of the first games to attempt proper lip syncing (and I believe it's the sole example of it on the N64).  It's kind of a bridge between generations in many respects.

Probably the least "N64-esc" FPS game on the N64, for better or worse.

[Cube]

Toon Panic

• NA release: N/A
• PAL release: N/A
• JP release: N/A
• Developer: Bottom Up
• Publisher: Bottom Up
• N64 Magazine Score: N/A

The most interesting thing about this prototype is that there was little information about the game itself until the prototype was found on a dev cartridge, with only this and a few bits of concept art being all we know about the game. The game itself isn’t particularly interesting – an arena-based fighting game with an isometric view, a style of game that was quite popular in the early 2000s, especially for licensed games.

The prototype itself is very early – the singleplayer doesn’t work and only one multiplayer mode does. Here, you’re trying to get control of a hammer to smash your opponent’s crystal. The characters, which are all fantasy tropes (and, oddly, a few have Final Fantasy VIII artwork as a placeholder), just have a few basic moves and they all feel the same. When Bottom Up were downsizing, they possibly noticed that some similar games with licensing were approaching, and saw that this didn’t have much unique to offer.

Poor

Should it be finished?

Not really, we saw this sort of thing plenty of times.

[Dcubed]

Those visuals actually look pretty nice for the 'ol N64.

[Cube]

Madden NFL 2001

• NA release: 7th September 2000
• PAL release: N/A
• JP release: N/A
• Developer: EA
• Publisher: EA
• N64 Magazine Score: N/A

While Madden 2000 looked like it was trying to revitalise the series, Madden 2001 just comes across as a more clinical version, with the smooth white UI still used today, and less focus on the silly elements (although some of the silly teams are still here). I also suspect that the bigger focus for Madden 2001 went towards the PlayStation 2 version, with the N64 version being seen as less important.

Fine

Remake or remaster?

The genre has evolved.

Official ways to get the game.

There is no official way to play Madden NFL 2001.

[Cube]

NFL Blitz 2001
 

• NA release: 14th September 2000
• PAL release: N/A
• JP release: N/A
• Developer: Midway
• Publisher: Midway
• N64 Magazine Score: 78%

More frantic American football, but also mostly indistinguishable from the previous year’s game. It’s still enjoyable even if you have no idea what’s going on, but this game takes a safe approach, although there is the addition of a few minigames.

The minigames still use the same gameplay, so they are more like little challenges. There’s one focusing on attacking, one focusing on defending, and one focusing on passing, where you have to pass to the right player. Apart from these simple minigames, it’s the same game.

Fine

Quote

The addition of the minigames will no doubt please enthusiasts (yes, both of you), but not very much else has changed. Without the complex torture of the proper rules, Blitz shapes up as a perfectly playable but ultimately so-so knock-about that’s a satisfying blend of the NFL QBC series and ECW Hardcore Revolution. And that’s no bad thing.

Alan Maddrell, N64 Magazine #51

Remake or remaster?

I think there’s room for new arcade style sports games.

Official ways to get the game.

There is no official way to play NFL Blitz 2001.

[Dcubed]

Kinda funny that both Madden and NFL Blitz 2021 came out within a week of each other.  Two completely polar opposite takes on the same sport.

How the market has changed since then.

[Cube]

Frogger 2

 

• NA release: N/A
• PAL release: N/A
• JP release: N/A
• Developer: Blitz
• Publisher: Hasbro
• N64 Magazine Score: N/A

Unlike earlier N64 prototypes of games that released on PlayStation, this is not a final or near-final build, but rather a very early version. This Frogger plays just like the arcade version – move around avoiding obstacles that move across the screen. Here, you have to navigate the level to rescue frog babies (which aren’t tadpoles). When you collect one, you get sent to the start of the level, which is something they decided to change later in development.

The N64 prototype only consists of two short levels and a wonky recreation of the original Frogger arcade. The final game gained the subtitle “Swampy’s Revenge” and came out to middling reviews.

Poor

Should it be finished?

It was on PlayStation and Dreamcast, so you can see what the final result would have been like.

[Cube]

Pokémon Puzzle League
 

• NA release: 25th September 2000
• PAL release: 2nd March 2001
• JP release: N/A
• Developer: Nintendo
• Publisher: Nintendo
• N64 Magazine Score: 89%

The lack of a Japanese release for this is interesting for a few reasons. For starters, it is one of the few (if only, alongside the GBC version) Pokémon games to not get released in Japan. It’s also a version of a Japanese puzzle game called Panel De Pon, which was released on the SNES and known outside of Japan as Tetris Attack, featuring Yoshi.

A sequel for Panel De Pon was developed for the Nintendo 64 and ended up getting cancelled, although it did eventually make its way to the GameCube. The Western version, however, ended up still getting developed with the Pokémon licensing attached.

However, it wasn’t just a generic Pokémon theme, but one specifically relating to the English dubbing of the anime. The game opens up with a nice little animation featuring Ash, Pikachu, Oak, and the narrator from the show introducing the game, and various voice lines from the show are used throughout. The theming is really well done, and they’ve managed to fit everything around Pokémon extremely well.

As a puzzle game, it’s also a really good one, with nice symbols used instead of just colours (you can also swap from the Pokémon themed icons to the original Panel De Pon ones). The object is to swap two neighbouring blocks in order to form blocks of three, with the focus on clearing multiple groups or combos at once – which sends over bad blocks to your opponent. It’s fast paced, but also feels like you can plan fairly well. If you do find yourself clearing lines too quickly, you can also press a button to speed them up, to give you more to work with.

There are also a few different ways to play, with the most impressive being a 3D version, played in a cylinder that you rotate all the way round. While there’s a lot more to keep an eye on at any one time, you can quickly move some blocks a vast distance to score some good combos. There’s also a mode for solving specific puzzles, and a mode where you have to clear a set number of lines to defeat Team Rocket.

Pokémon Puzzle League is a solid and very enjoyable puzzle game, and the Pokémon theming works really well. There’s a lot to like about this one.

Great

Quote

In all honesty, it’s extremely difficult to find fault with Puzzle League. Nintendo haven’t skimped in any area: the backgrounds on each screen show faithful renditions of your Pokémon favourites; the sound is perfectly cute and chirpy and there’s an ideal learning curve. For puzzle fanatics and Pokémon fans alike, this is not to be missed.

Geraint Evans, N64 Magazine #52

Remake or remaster?

We’re due a new Puzzle League game. Perhaps it’s time to return to Pokémon for it, too?

Official Ways to get the game

There is no way to buy a new copy of Pokémon Puzzle League, the only official way to play is to rent it via the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pak.

Re-Releases

2003: Nintendo Puzzle Collection (original Panel De Pon Version, Japan Only, GameCube)

2008: Wii Virtual Console

2022: Nintendo Switch Online (Subscription Only)

[Glen-i]

I alluded to this when I looked at this game on my Pokémon Spin-off's thread, but this is one of only three times where the Pokémon video games even so much as acknowledge the anime, the second one is a clumsy cameo of Ash's Greninja in Sun/Moon, and the third one is an awful mobile game which shoved Ash Ketchum in for Gacha purposes.

Smash Bros. Brawl, and especially Smash Bros. Melee also does so (Mewtwo and Lucario are specifically based on the movies they feature in). Although even this series has started to veer away from using the anime too much.

You'd think with how prominent the anime actually is, more games would be based on it, but nope. It's very strange.

Edited 7 hours ago by Glen-i

[Julius]

12 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

but this is one of only three times where the Pokémon video games even so much as acknowledge the anime

It depends on how we're defining "acknowledging the anime" (Ash in particular? The films? Just the animated series? Actual visual representation of something/someone in the anime being seeing in a game? Just a mention?), but at a surface level, this statement just isn't true; the games acknowledge or reference the anime countless times in many different ways throughout the series. 

Off the top of my head: Red's Pikachu in HGSS had its moveset changed to be in line with Ash's compared with its original GSC moveset; there's an Ace Trainer called Rebecca just off Victory Road in Sinnoh, who is clearly based on/named after Rebecca from Destiny Deoxys, Metagross in tow; similarly, there are trainers named after and with the Pokémon of Butler and Diane from Jirachi: The Wish Maker are in DPPt; if we're counting event Pokémon like Ash's Greninja, there are the Pikachu-coloured and Spiky-eared Pichu from Arceus and the Jewel of Life in HGSS, as well as Zarude with its scarf from Secrets of the Jungle in SwSh, not to mention the various Pikachus we got with Ash's caps for the 20th anniversary in SM; the dialogue in ORAS's Delta Episode where Steven refers to Alain and his Mega Charizard X from the Mega Evolution specials...you get the gist, and there are what feels like countless more that I'm surely missing (these are the ones I remember from what grew up with). 

Also...the entire existence of Pokémon Yellow, with the myriad of changes and various characters brought in not featured in RGB to bring it more in line with the anime? 

But, I do agree that it's pretty strange that we never had more games actually based on/featuring Ash and his various companions. I have to imagine it's just down to how Game Freak ended up needing to start up a new gen every few years with the pressures they've always been under to consistently deliver, and I think also tying into this is how it feels like they don't milk the IP with as many spinoffs as they used to, where you'd imagine they might have leaned on the anime more. 

[Cube]

Misty's trophy in Melee is also based on the anime rather than her game appearances.

[Glen-i]

2 minutes ago, Julius said:

It depends on how we're defining "acknowledging the anime" (Ash in particular? The films? Just the animated series?

Yeah, probably should've gone with actual distinct characters and such, instead of subtle nods, and such.

And yes, I did actually space on Pokémon Yellow, so four times.

[Glen-i]

1 minute ago, Cube said:

Misty's trophy in Melee is also based on the anime rather than her game appearances.

Yep, Melee really went all in on basing stuff off of the anime. Brawl dialed it back a bit, but the influence is still there. (Although Pokémon Trainer is clearly based on the games)

I do wonder why they changed tack after Brawl? Pokémon characters still use anime style voices, but that's about it. Compared to Mewtwo and Lucario, Greninja and Incineroar are about as standard design as you can get.

Although Smash Ultimate did make Greninja become Ash-Greninja during it's Final Smash, but the actual mainline games have since retconned that form out of the games, (Even if you transfer that special one from Sun/Moon to the Switch, it can't transform) so it remains to be seen whether Smash follows suit.

[Julius]

3 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

Yeah, probably should've gone with actual distinct characters and such, instead of subtle nods, and such.

And yes, I did actually space on Pokémon Yellow, so four times.

I mean, some nods are definitely less subtle than others  wasn't there a blurry poster or something with Pikachu on Ash's shoulder in SM? Not sure if it was USUM too though, as I didn't get around to those. 

And well, at least five times with the capped Ash's Pikachu events I mentioned too, then (and that's if we bundle them all together to count as one thing) 

4 minutes ago, Cube said:

Misty's trophy in Melee is also based on the anime rather than her game appearances.

How Pokémon is managed in Smash is so interesting for this reason, just with how certain Pokémon are (or used to be) clearly based on how they were presented in the anime, like @Glen-i mentions; had no idea about that Misty trophy in Melee (having never played it myself), so that's a really cool tidbit. I'm pretty sure one of the Events in Brawl was a nod to Lucario and the Mystery of Mew as well, the one where you play as Lucario on the Spear Pillar stage. 

[Glen-i]

34 minutes ago, Julius said:

I'm pretty sure one of the Events in Brawl was a nod to Lucario and the Mystery of Mew as well, the one where you play as Lucario on the Spear Pillar stage. 

I mean, you don't even need to go as far as Event mode. It is the same Lucario. Same voice actor and all. And they still use that voice in the other Smash games.

Mewtwo is a weird one, though. It has actual spoken lines in the Japanese version. (Again, same voice actor as the movie) But it never got an English dub in Smash Melee, so they just took the Japanese voice, and removed all the actual words for other languages.

Another funny Pokémon based one is Kirby. Kirby tends to do his voice impression shtick, even with English dubs, but one that weirdly slipped through the cracks is Jigglypuff. Charge up Rollout, and Jigglypuff says "Jiggly", but Kirby says "Purin" instead, even in English.

[Dcubed]

This was my first experience with the Panel De Pon/Puzzle League series and naturally it became a lifelong obsession for me.  I utterly adored this game and played it to absolute death, becoming pretty darn decent at it if I do say so myself.

Looking back on it, it's actually now one of my least favourite entries in the series, owing to its rather janky presentation (you can literally see and feel the seams where it switches game engines from Intelligent Systems' Panel De Pon 64 game code into NST's bolted-on Pokemon Puzzle League code).  It feels like a hack of another game... and that's because that's exactly what it is...

... in fact, the original Panel De Pon 64 was actually recently just found! Someone got their hands on a beta development cartridge containing the original PDP64, before it was cancelled and later ported to the Gamecube as part of the Nintendo Puzzle Collection!

Note that the game remains undumped, so this is the only known copy in existence

However, despite my issues with PPL's overall janky feeling, it's still Puzzle League and it still plays very well in the actual gameplay department; which means that it kicks arse.  It's crazy fast and frenetic, and it rewards fast thinking in a way that no other puzzle game does.  While it makes the player have to think several moves ahead of their opponent, it doesn't require the player to spend so much time setting up chains in advance as seen in Puyo Puyo.  In that respect, the closest analogue to Puzzle League's gameplay is probably Magical Drop (and its own lovingly made knockoff, Money Puzzle Exchanger; which is also a great game for the NeoGeo BTW!).

However, Puzzle League's gameplay doesn't end with its kick arse multiplayer battle mode, because it also shines as a single player puzzle experience; as the core gameplay lends itself surprisingly well to limited-move puzzles too.  It's a surprisingly malleable set of core gameplay mechanics.

It's so sad that the series ended proper in 2007, but we did at least get a little tease of life in Animal Crossing New Leaf Welcome Amiibo of all things! But that was just a minigame (and not a particularily good version of Puzzle League at that either, featuring gameplay that is pretty slow and unresponsive).  Come on Nintendo!!! Bring back Puzzle League already!! If Famicom Detective Club of all things can get a revival, surely Puzzle League can!?

Edited 4 hours ago by Dcubed