NGPC and anything SNK.

in theory i probably should have written up about the first puzzle link, but i’ve yet to find a complete copy (UK Clamshell) so i’ll hold off on that until i find it. in the meantime – here’s one pretty addicitive puzzle game for the NGPC.

Puzzle Link 2. produced by the developers at yumekobo back in 1999.

for most people that know me, they know that i’m a sucker for puzzle games. hell, i make it a point to have tetris, puzzle fighter, and puyo puyo on any one of my handhelds and consoles at any one given time. this game definitely ranks up there in puzzlers that have been taking up more of my time recently, especially with me being on the road alot for work. im actually in my hotel at the moment typing this up, taking a break from playing this game.

gameplay is fairly simple but still addicitve – a good combo for a great puzzle game. gems drop from the top of the playfield down, one row at a time, a la Magical Drop. players are tasked to remove gems from the field by linking similar groups of at least 2 gems or more at a time.

as those linked gems disappear, the surrounding ones fall back into place, creating opportunities for chain combos and higher scores. eliminate enough gems without reaching the bottom of the screen, and two “C” gems will appear.

link the two C gems and the round is clear. clear enough gems and the C gem before the C meter on the left runs out, and you earn a trading card, usable in other modes of gameplay.

i got the homely looking sumoman for my efforts. hooray?

other modes besides the default one player “card” mode include:

endless: play with no C gems, aim for the high score. reaching the bottom of the playfield ends the game.

battle: head to head VS. play.

all clear: a very cool 1P mode where your goal is to clear a set amount of gems from the board without leaving a single one remaining.

card battle: kind of like rock-paper-scissors. you battle with the cards you obtained in the first card mode and battle with CPU characters for their cards.