Panel de Pon (1995)

Preliminary: Well even tho I'm in August 1996 in chronology project, I feel it's only right to play the original version of this which was Japan-only from 1995 and did not feature Yoshi etc. I'm not a big Tetris guy nor these types of puzzle games, but hey I wound up loving Puzzle Bobbles and Picrosses so we shall see. And I read this is very addicting too so I'll give it an earnest shot.

Great intro screen and tune. And colors. I'm excited for PS1, but I have to admit SNES really hit its mark near its end with such vivid colors.

OMG the music of this first level is everything. It's Humongous Entertainment-y and such a phat bass line despite the SNES. Wow. Cute world around the game, I'm not in love with the gameplay so far, but I'm enjoying it better than the other games of this nature, mostly thanks to Speed Level 1 and Easy setting for now lol. I wish you could do vertical switches too. My mind can't shake noticing those as much as the horizontal ones. I also wish i knew Tetris shapes better :-p Cuz I'm just doing straight rows but I think you can do more than that.

Oh lol I think I'm playing Endless Puzzle mode cuz it just keeps coming. I wish I could read Japanese :-p most of the game is in English anyway

But hey I got to 12'22" sure on Easy Mode but sitll I think it got to I dunno Speed 21? 29? Can't recall. But that was fun. Time to play the "proper" mode and see if this might actually earn a 4 star or, gasp with this music, maybe even a 5 star.

Ah so turns out I was playing the Endlewss version :-p I'm doing the Stageclaer version to feel like a sense of progression and "levels"/leveling up. And it's delivering! Albeit via Password instead of save.

Day 1

Almost forgot about my day by day set up thought only of Early/Mid/Late Game cuz was doing long and RPG games for so long. But I love love the colors and Look of this still, tho the Stageclear version music isn't as amazing as the Endless version music. Lol at the bunny shaking its rump at us.

Well the tune grew on me, and the first level is done! It's fun and approachable! I wonder how many stages there are! And how hard they get... It helps a lot that I played the Endless version for a bit first cuz I'm over here setting up my 4 in a rows in advance and setting up combos o.O Once it starts moving too fast I'll probly stop liking it but the slow and steady strategizing is fun for now! And with great Look and Sound, it works! A la the Picross situation where it introduced me to a puzzle action game I can enjoy! (And Puzzle Bobble)

It's fun discovering different ways you can move a block to a spot you didn't think you could. Always good when a puzzle game leads you to slowly discover its quirks on your own (much like I did with Mario's Picross)

Day 2

I'm on Stage 2 now (there are several levels in each stage), basically Fairy 2 lol, and still loving this. I could actually complete all the stages here if they don't get too hard, which says a lot. I see what peiople mean about the addicting gameplay, but like always, the Look and Sound make that work for me. The tunes just keep being good.

I love setting up in advance for 4 or 5 in a row :-p Makes me feel big-brained

This is what I do this project for. I honestly would have always skipped this on a game shelf all my life because I have told myself I don't care for puzzle action games. Little did I know that when they click, they click well. This, and Star Ocean, are reinvigorating me in some tough times and some game-based uncertainties, reminding me why I do this. The music mixed with the addictive gameplay is jsut right, I think this could maybe get a 10 star for music cuz of h ow much I like one of the tunes' basslines lol but most likely a 9.5 cuz of the constant click when moving. I wonder if there's a setting for that. Either way, this is something I would ahve never explored, and like Picross, now I gotta try the whole series. Oh and I always like when a puzzle action game increases the tempo/vibe of the tune when you're nearing " death" like in Puzzle Bobble :-p

Ok things are definitely getting harder in Stage/Fairy 3. Ah there's a lot more! And I'm using combos hmmm . 3-5 took several tries but on to the Demon King bonus stage! Ok I didn''t even come close with the bonus stage lol

I love how the water area has a unique tune and block and it's a great tune, even the speed-up tune before I die is good lol. My only beef right now is I was enioying the casual low-stress vibe of earlier stages, now it's like my neck is tensing and it's intense! But so it goes with mid to late game of, well, games :-p

Ok I'm still loving this and I get it has to get to the super-high-levels-of-Picross difficulty, but these later Stage 4 levels are basically starting with you out of time lol.

With Stage 5 (and there's only 6, so it makes sense) it's getting to the un-fun level of difficulty. I guess I can start abusing savestates but that kinda defeats the point/fun. I'll try out the Puzzle mode for a bit and then probly wrap it up. It's valid to increase the difficulty to this point, I just was hoping for more of the low- and mid-difficulty levels before getting to this point. My cursor can't even move quickly/accurately enoguh to manage what I do see :-p

Well here I am still trying, thank goodness for the kind Retry feature

Ahhh ok I discovered another technique where you remove lower layers to set up a row I dnno how to explain it but it's better for this time limited Stageclear mode cuz you're also effectively moving the overall rows downward

Holy cow 5-5 was hard.

Day 3

Oh gosh (only through copious use of savestates) I finished Stage 6 and was having with some new strategies/techniques I was using. But ah! Now Stageclear is done and it's time for that ridiculously hard boss

Yesss you better have a true ending and a sentimental credits music sequence for this puzzle game

Oh gosh right when I think I finished it all and it was in a more reasonable amount than Mario's Picross (tho got to a ridiculous difficulty, albeit with the tiem factor playing a role int hat), I discover the Puzzle version also has stages/levels. And yessss so far I love this even more cuz it's not about time, I can take breaks, it's about strategy and figuring out the solution, hopefully also with infinite tries. Nice. Thizs Puzzle mode may boost this to a Favorite and almost on par with Picross, since that allows for more so my style of gameplay (tho i admit, I was totally hooked with Stageclear too), plus with 2 player etc... wow. Great game.

I mean jsut look at this

To be clear this puzzle version is more of just a process of elimination cuz tehre's no way someone can notice these elaborate strategies (or surely there are people but sitll). it's fun when I do notice it... and when I guess it :-p

I Don't Recall What Day Lol

I've resorted to using a guide to get the FIRST move for these Stage 6 (and even one of the Stage 5) puzzles, but then not looking at all after that. Usualyl through process of elimination, and a little strategy/logic I get it without getting too frustrated.

Day Something

I didn't think I'd do it but I pushed through the Puzzle Mode (with the help of knowing the first move for each solution). What a beautiful and calming ending/credits

Oh gosh there's an extra puzzle set?!

Well I do like this a lot but at Extra Puzzle Set Stage 2-02 I decided to call it for now. I could always slowly chip away like with Picross, and tho I can't claim I loved it quite as much as Picross, the Look/Sound and gameplay all added up to an addictive 6 hours!

Look: 9/10 The right puzzle game vibe

Sound: 9.5/10 Yes. If it weren't for the clinking sound whenever you moved the cursor, this would likely be a 10

Play: 9/10 Definitely has all the range of difficulty levels you would need, plus 2-player etc/endless type versions just to fulfill your need for some Panel de Pon gameplay I guess :-p

Feel: 9/10

Attachment: 9/10 2 player would be fun with this

Overall: 9.1/10

Playtime: about 6 hours