Panel de Pon

Panel de Pon is an Action Puzzle game created by the company Intelligent Systems and released, with the support of Nintendo, in 1995 for the Super Famicom console. The game is based on a Tetris-style narrow area (well) with blocks (panels) that slowly scroll upwards, the goal is to clear three or more blocks of the same color using a two-block wide cursor which you can move throughout the area. With the cursor you can switch the panels and move them left or right. The gameplay can sound simple and boring, but the focus of the game is generating the best scores using chains and combos. Probably the most played mode on Panel de Pon is the VS. game (Story Mode), where play is really fast and furious. In the most hard mode of the game you need to make the most, and biggest, chains and combos if you want to survive, making the game addictive and enjoyable.

In 1996 Nintendo released the game in America and Europe but the original characters of Panel de Pon (the fairies) were changed to Yoshi Island characters and the game retitled Tetris Attack, presumably because US gamers identify all puzzle games with Tetris. As strange as this sounds, the game wasn’t butchered at all: the music and backgrounds were preserved and the game got a password system and an 'Option Mode' absent from the original version. The popularity of the game in the US was very impressive, so Nintendo released the same game again in Japan with the Yoshi's Island characters, called Yoshi no Panepon.

In 2000, Nintendo of America got the rights to Panel de Pon and made their own game on the US: Pokémon Puzzle League for the Nintendo 64 and Puzzle Challenger for the Game Boy. This game is almost the same as the SNES version but with Pokémon-themed graphics, a new '3D-Mode' game, a new Hard difficulty level (S-Hard) and new Puzzles on Puzzle Mode. The N64 version of Panel de Pon is probably the best version of the game that you can get on America.

In 2003 Nintendo released Nintendo Puzzle Collection for Nintendo GameCube exclusively in Japan. This game featured 3 remastered titles: Dr. Mario, Yoshi's Cookie and Panel de Pon. This time the Japanese gamers got the 3D-Mode like Pokémon Puzzle League, as well as a new Story Mode and a 4 Players VS. The music and character designs were changed as well. The game also includes a GBA Download cable so that you can transfer the original Endless modes of the games onto the GBA.

In 2005 Nintendo released Dr. Mario + Panel de Pon for Game Boy Advance. This was released to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Super Mario Brothers in Japan (as well as the Game Boy Micro).

Intelligent Systems has not revealed plans to release a real second Panel de Pon game.

1. Panel de Pon (Super Famicom - 1995)
2. Tetris Attack (Super Nintendo - 1996)
3. Yoshi no Panepon (Super Famicom - 1996)
4. Panel de Pon 98 (Demo game for the Satellaview system - Super Famicom - 1998)
5. Tetris Attack / Pokemon Puzzle Challenger (Game Boy Color - 2000)
6. Pokemon Puzzle League (Nintendo 64 - 2000)
7. Nintendo Puzzle Collection (Gamecube - 2003)
8. Dr Mario + Panel de Pon (Gameboy Advance - 2005)
9. Planet Puzzle League / Panel de Pon DS (Nintendo DS - 2007)
10. Chotto Panel de Pon / Puzzle League Express (DSiWare - 2009)
11. Animal Crossing Puzzle League (within Animal Crossing: New Leaf's Welcome Amiibo update - 3DS - 2016)

• http://www.intsys.co.jp/game/panepon/ - Official Panel de Pon website by Intelligent System (still with updates).
• http://www.tetrisattack.net - Probably the biggest PdP/TA/PPL fansite with time attack videos, news and a community.
• http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n08/bzpj/index.html - Official Dr. Mario + Panel de Pon website (and also part of Happy! Mario 20th).
• http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ngc/gpzj/index.html - Official Nintendo Puzzle Collection website.
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