Tetris Attack
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Tetris Attack is a puzzle game first released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America and Europe. It was released for the Satellaview attachment to the Super Famicom as Yoshi-no Panepon in Japan.
Tetris Attack began as a Super Famicom title called Panel de Pon (Japanese: パネルでポン). It bears no relation to the original Tetris aside from being a puzzle game, and the American version shares the Tetris name only for marketing reasons. Panel de Pon featured an extremely feminine look with many whimsical, fairy-like characters. When Nintendo decided to release the addictive puzzle game to North America, they dropped the fairies in favor of characters from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island for the purpose of making it more appealing to image conscious young male audience, a significant part of the video game market at the time (see Character Replacement Table). Tetris Attack was later released for Nintendo Game Boy, with a drop in graphics and sound quality, drop in difficulty, and loss of color information. A subsequent port of the game to the Nintendo 64 console, Pokmon Puzzle League, was rebranded with Pokmon characters and added two new features: a puzzle editor and a 3D game mode that takes place in a cylinder three times the size of the normal board. PPL also had smoother game play and smarter computer opponents than Tetris Attack. Pokmon Puzzle Challenge was released for the Game Boy Color soon after. PPC dropped the puzzle editor and 3D mode but had a new game mode of its own, Garbage mode, which was basically Marathon mode with the addition of garbage blocks that periodically fall onto the stack. Whereas Pokmon Puzzle League presented several new features to the gameplay, Pokmon Puzzle Challenge was essentially Tetris Attack covered with Pokmon wallpaper.
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Objective and gameplay
The objective of the game is to eliminate blocks from the playing field by creating horizontal or vertical rows of three or more identical blocks. The blocks are manipulated by switching pairs of horizontally adjacent blocks with the cursor. The gameplay is divided into four different types:
Endless mode
Blocks rise continually at increasing speeds in this mode. If the blocks strike the top of the playing field, the game ends. The objective in this mode is to attain the highest score possible. The maximum score is 99,999 points.
Stage Clear mode
In this mode a certain number of the rising blocks must be cleared to finish each of thirty stages. Game over occurs identically to endless mode. The end of the level is marked by a "clear line" displayed as the bricks rise.
Versus mode
Either two human players or one human and the computer AI compete in this mode. The object is to make the opponent lose by striking the top of the playing field. By completing combos or chains (see below), "garbage" slabs are sent to the opponent's side. These are horizontal slabs of blocks that do not match any of the standard blocks until a group of adjacent blocks are cleared. The garbage then "pops" into ordinary blocks and may be cleared.
Garbage slabs can strike the top of the playing field and in fact stand above it for a short time before the player loses.
Panel de Pon does not offer the opportunity to enter passwords in Versus mode, but Tetris Attack does offer that opportunity.
Puzzle mode
A specific pattern of bricks is laid out on the playing field and must be cleared in a specific number of moves. There are 60 standard levels and 60 more advanced levels that are unlocked by beating the 60th level.
Terminology
- The playing field is a grid 6 blocks wide by 12 blocks tall.
- Combos are instances when more than three blocks are cleared simultaneously. Combos are counted with plain numbers (4, 5, 6, etc.).
- Chains are instances when blocks which fall as the result of a clear trigger another clear. The player may rearrange blocks during the time interval while the clear takes place to cause a chain to occur; if this is done, the chain is called a skill chain. Chains are counted with numbers with an "x" prefix (x2, x3, x4, etc.). The maximum value of a chain is x13. Beyond that the chain will be marked as x? and will cease to gain further score bonus.
Soundtrack
The music remained unchanged between Panel de Pon and Tetris Attack, except that Tetris Attack has remixes of tracks from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. The original Panel de Pon title theme, the original Game Over theme, and Corderia's theme were dummied out of Tetris Attack, but they are included in the Tetris Attack SPC emulator music archive, available at Snesmusic.org (http://www.snesmusic.org). The Tetris Attack title theme is a remix of the Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island title theme. The demo theme in Tetris Attack was originally Lip's theme. Bowser's theme was originally Sanatos' theme. Yoshi's theme and the Tetris Attack Game Over theme are remixes of the World 1-1 theme in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. The original Panel de Pon soundtrack was scored by Masaya Kuzume. The remixes of tracks from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island were scored by Yuka Tsujiyoko.
Remake
Panel de Pon has been remade for GameCube as a component of Nintendo Puzzle Collection in February of 2003, receiving a graphical and audio facelift. The GameCube version looks even more feminine than the Super Famicom version. Also, a four-player mode, from Pokmon Puzzle League, has been added in the GameCube remake of Panel de Pon. It is unknown whether the SMW2 infusion will be applied to the GameCube version of Panel de Pon done for a North American release like it was applied to the Super Famicom version.
Panel de Pon reference in Super Smash Bros. Melee
In Super Smash Bros. Melee, there is an item called Lip's Stick, named after the Panel de Pon character replaced by Yoshi for Tetris Attack. Lip's Stick poisons the opponent that it contacts, as a flower is planted atop his or her head.
External links
- http://www.slack.net/~ant/tetris_attack/ - a visual guide to chains and skill chains
- http://www.tetrisattack.net/ - fan site includes game info and records pages
- http://www.classicgaming.com/tmk/ta-snes.shtml - The Mushroom Kingdom game entry for Tetris Attack
- http://www.classicgaming.com/tmk/tetris_ahack.shtml - Tetris A-Hack
Character Replacement Table
When Nintendo of America decided to release Panel de Pon to North America, they axed the fairy-like characters in favor of characters from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island for the purpose of making it more appealing to the image-conscious young male audience, which was a significant audience at the time. There were very few female gamers in the United States at the time. When the U.S. game news sites display image information on Nintendo Puzzle Collection the pictures of the original Panel de Pon characters are ghosted.
| Tetris Attack | Panel de Pon |
|---|---|
| Yoshi | Lip |
| Lakitu | Wendy |
| Bumpty | Sherbet |
| Poochy | Thiana |
| Flying Wiggler | Ruby |
| Froggy | Elias |
| Gargantua Blargg | Flare |
| Lunge Fish | Neris |
| Raphael the Raven | Seren |
| Hookbill Koopa | Phoenix |
| Naval Piranha Plant | Dragon |
| Kamek | Sanatos |
| Bowser | Corderia |