Puzzle De Pon
AMG AllGame Guide:
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Puzzle de Pon!
- Release Date: 1995
- Genre: Puzzle
- Style: Action Puzzle
- Similar Games: Puzzle de Pon! R (Arcade)
Game Description
Visco's Puzzle de Pon is inspired by Taito's Puzzle Bobble. It was released a year after Taito's puzzler and bears similar gameplay, but offers a few new ideas to set itself apart from its inspiration. The goal of the game is to progress through a series of levels freeing symbols trapped in various bubble formations. These symbols can be freed by eliminating all the bubbles around them, especially the bubbles above the symbol attaching it to the top of the board. Bubbles can be popped when players shoot a bubble so that it forms groups of three or more similarly colored bubbles. Each level has a time limit within which players must free the symbols. The game ends if players are unable to do so.The game offers several power-up bubbles. One power-up, when shot into a bubble, will eliminate all bubbles of that color on the screen. Another power-up gives players a temporary line marker showing where their bubbles will end up.
~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide
Roots & Influences
Puzzle de Pon draws its influence from Puzzle Bobble, a 1994 puzzle game by Taito.~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide
Review: Overall
Taito released Puzzle Bobble in 1994. Visco released Puzzle de Pon in 1995. Both play very similarly, with bubbles being popped when players make groupings of three or more. Puzzle de Pon is obviously a Puzzle Bobble clone. The game could have been a classic, combining the already great Puzzle Bobble gameplay with some new twists and innovations. Instead Puzzle de Pon ends up being something less than its inspiration. While it's still enjoyable, you're left with the feeling that it could have been much more.The game fields two innovations over Puzzle Bobble. The first is the idea of special bubbles that appear from time to time and give you some sort of enhanced ability. These help to spice up the gameplay, but there aren't enough different types of power-ups. The ones that are present don't show up enough, diminishing their impact.
The second innovation is in your goal. You no longer have to eliminate all the bubbles to win a level. Instead, you have to free a large symbol that's trapped within the bubble formation. A lot of times you have to pop one or two bubbles that are wedged between the symbol and the top of the board. You'll need to aim very carefully to wedge a bubble up there, and if you screw up you'll just create a block of bubbles that will take a lot of time to dig through. Puzzle de Pon consistently forces you to make the difficult ricochet shot. In Puzzle Bobble, you could go for the hard shot, but you could also tear down bubbles closer to the bottom to make that shot easier.
The graphics are, for the most part, on par with Puzzle Bobble. The main character is a girl instead of a pair of mini-dragons, and the bubbles are just as colorful as before. Puzzle de Pon's graphics have the same sort of cuteness that gave Puzzle Bubble its visual flair. And like Taito's game, Puzzle de Pon's graphics manage to throw in little niceties without getting in the way of basic gameplay. Whether you prefer one game's graphics over another is really a matter of personal taste.
Puzzle de Pon's sounds and music are utilitarian as well. There are several sound effects, but for the most part Puzzle de Pon's soundscape is dominated by the bubble clicking sound when a bubble wedges itself into place. The background music is passable and played at a muted volume that frequently gets drowned out by sound effects.
Puzzle de Pon is an enjoyable action puzzler, and fans of the genre will find it a rewarding and enjoyable part of their library. But casual gamers looking for one great bubble-shooting game should turn to Puzzle Bobble instead.
~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide
Review: Enjoyment
The game is fun to play, despite some frustrating moments.~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide
Review: Graphics
The graphics are bright and cheery, but a bit on the minimalist side.~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide
Review: Sound
The music is too muted, and the sound effects are too few in number.~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide
Review: Replay Value
You go through the same level progression each time.~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide
Review: Documentation
Average documentation.~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Puzzle De Pon
| Puzzle De Pon | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Visco Corporation |
| Publisher(s) | Taito |
| Platform(s) | Arcade |
| Release date(s) | 1995, 1997 |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player or Multiplayer (Up to 2 players simultaneously) |
| Cabinet | Upright |
| Arcade system | Neo Geo Multi Video System |
| Display | Raster, standard resolution |
Puzzle De Pon! is a puzzle video game made by the Taito Corporation in 1995. It was initially released for the Neo Geo arcade platform. The game plays similarly to Taito's own Puzzle Bobble series. There are some gameplay differences however. Although the player clears the colored balls on the screen by firing balls against other balls of the same colour, the objective of the game is not to clear the screen of balls. It is instead to clear all the balls from around the level shape, referred to as the "drop token". Once this shape is freed, it explodes and the player travels onto the next level. There are 39 levels in the game, divided in groups of three levels. In the first two levels, the shape is something generic; in the third level the shape is a Zodiac sign, up to level 36 (since there are 12 signs). Level 39's shape is the Solar Symbol. Once you beat the game, it is stated that you became the Sun God, and the ending shows your character riding the Sun Chariot in the sky.
Levels in this style were later adopted by the Puzzle Bobble series.
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Contents
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Puzzle De Pon R!
In 1997, a sequel to Puzzle De Pon! was released for the Neo Geo MVS system, entitled Puzzle De Pon! R!.
The game concept is the same, but it features different stages.
Name origin
The name Puzzle De Pon is derived from the animations of bubbles popping in the original Bubble Bobble videogame, where a little onomatopoeic animation (through Japanese pronunciation) saying "Pon!" would appear once a bubble was popped.
See also
External links
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