G-pinions

Maybe there is a link between actions performed within the safe confines of a game and actions performed in the real world. Obviously, to actively emulate what your on screen avatar can do is a sure sign of insanity beyond repair. If your confidence in being able to jump across a bottomless pit stems from your adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom, you will never hold an award for Most Evolved Person. However, it's the involuntary actions that continue to exist long after a system has been turned off that plagues me. Though I haven't touched Planet Puzzle League in four days, I still attempt to rearrange everyday objects in groups of three. If only the keys on my keyboard would just line up for once.

With PPL's undeniable staying power, it would be very difficult for me to bash this game. How many titles can claim such a lasting impression? However, I am not ready to fawn over this like it's the second coming of Tetris Attack. PPL for the Nintendo DS does not reinvent puzzle games like the original Tetris Attack did with its crazy take on block stacking. Nor does it add a level of depth to an old classic like Pac-Man Championship Edition. PPL is not a must have game for those people who loved Tetris Attack and are begging for a new experience within that 6x12 universe. Instead, PPL is a portable clone of the original game, only now offering an impersonal multiplayer mode that is boring times ten.

The biggest difference between PPL and the classic it spawned from is online multiplayer. I can understand the fascination with online multiplayer in a complex, competitive environment such as Halo. When you are on a team with your friends and everyone is wearing a headset and making jokes. When you are trying to work together to secure that elusive flag. That is a good way to utilize the strengths of multiplayer gaming. Yes, it is still impersonal, but at least there is a reason for it to exist. In PPL, playing online feels exactly like playing against the computer. There is no feeling of camaraderie or even competitiveness. It is just the utilitarian task of making combos and clearing garbage. That you can now challenge the best PPL players in the world from the comforts of your nearest wireless depot is only interesting on paper. I would rather play a long distance chess game where you mail your next move to your mentor who happens to live in a region with no computers or telephones. At least there is a personal touch to that horrendously slow chess match. Without any voice or character, the online mode in PPL is completely worthless.

The other addition is a mixed bag. Now you can control your game using the stylus. Yes, this once again seems good on paper, but in practice doesn't actually add that much. Like all touch screen games, the control is not quite as precise as using buttons. If a level rises unexpectedly or shifts in a manner you didn't predict, you'll find yourself sliding the wrong block. Not a huge problem, but has caused a few angry yells to escape from the sanctuary I played this game. What the stylus does offer is speed. When things are clicking, you can move tiles much faster than the SNES pad would have ever allowed, making 5x chains seem like mere child's play. It adds a slightly new element that gives experts something to learn.

But isn't that the point of this game? For experts to show off their mad skills? PPL has turned into the hardcore puzzle players game of choice, and that is not a good thing for your less than skilled narrator. PPL is merely average if you lack inhuman spacial resoning. To play this game for three block matches is boring and pointless. It is about the massive chains and screen clearing combos. Without the ability to perform those complex maneuvers, the game grows stale much faster than more accessible puzzle games.

The stylus controls brings forth the obvious comparison to Meteos, and that made me long for the days when I could rocket pieces right out of the playing field rather than merely make them disappear. Meteos is a fun game for casual fans. You can get rid of pieces with pure luck and chains were not exactly emphasized. It was just a fun puzzle game that took advantage of the touch screen. It was as much about clearing the screen as it was about collecting objects and building new planets. Meteos is not only more original and accessible than PPL, it also offers a deeper experience away from the main puzzle game. And that is why I would still nominate Meteos as the best puzzle game on the Nintendo DS. For those hardcore gamers who live to compete, there is not a better game in the world than Tetris Attack and it's various offspring. For the rest of the population, if Tetris Attack has treated you poorly in the past, you can still find a home in Meteos.

I'm not going to say that Planet Puzzle League is a bad game. It's basically a remake of one of the greatest video games of all time so it is obviously a damn good game as well. But the core of the Tetris Attack games is competition. I've already explained why online play is quite lame, but even local matches take a serious hit compared to the SNES original. There is something lacking when everyone has their face buried in their own NDS rather than staring at a huge TV with all the action right in front of you. If you're on the road a lot, this is a great puzzle game to add to your collection. It isn't as good as the game it's based on, but it's still one of the best portable puzzle games around.