I felt like writing a blog, and didn't feel like finding a new Starcraft Math project to work on, so I'll share with you guys one of my favorite games besides Starcraft.
The Puzzle League series began with Panel de Pon on the Super Famicom in Japan. It's a match three type puzzle game, with square blocks on screen that can be swapped by the player and disappear when combined into lines of three or more of the same color (much like Bejeweled). Except Bejeweled is a slow-paced game to play casually and let your mind cool down, while Puzzle League games are fast-paced, mentally exhausting, and extremely skill-based because of three differences: 1) You compete against an opponent, and drop "garbage blocks" on their screen when you get good combos. 2) You can only swap blocks horizontally, not vertically. 3) You can swap any two blocks, not just blocks that will make a line of three if you swap them.
Even though the text is in English, can't you just tell this is Japanese?
When Nintendo decided to release Panel de Pon in the United States, they decided Americans were too <insert disparaging adjective here> to play a straight puzzle game they didn't recognize. So they paid to use the Tetris name on it, and named it Tetris Attack! (despite puzzle league and tetris having fairly little in common other than both being block puzzle games). And to really make sure Americans would be interested, they made it Yoshi's island-themed, with a plot line and everything.
This title screen tells you absolutely nothing about the actual gameplay of this game.
Henk Rogers of The Tetris Company regretted letting Nintendo use the Tetris name on this entirely un-Tetrislike game, so when Nintendo started releasing their old games on the Virtual Console, they did not get permission to re-release Tetris Attack. They did, however, release the next game in the Puzzle League series, Pokemon Puzzle League. Pokemon Puzzle League was the same gameplay set in the Pokemon universe, where players chose trainers and pokemon, and each match was supposed to represent a pokemon battle. The soundtrack is entirely from the original Pokemon TV show, including taunts that your trainer or pokemon shout when you get combos or clear garbage blocks.
Apparently all those blocks and combos somehow represent a Pokemon battle. Somehow.
In all these iterations of the Puzzle League theme, the gameplay changed very little. What was there to change? The gameplay was simple (what's simpler than matching three blocks together?) The only controls you need are a D-pad and an A button to switch blocks (and L or R to make the screen scroll up more quickly, if you're really pro). Yet with such simple rules, the game's strategy is endlessly complex; you are given an essentially random arrangement of blocks, and you are tasked with looking for patterns that you can turn into useful combos that will pressure your opponent. You can drop small garbage blocks on your opponent by clearing four or five at a time, instead of the minimum of three, but the real rewards come from sequential combos: clear three blocks, which drops blocks that form another three (that would be a x2 combo; longer sequential chains reward more highly).
The effect is that there are virtually infinite combos out there for you to build, assuming you can think fast enough to spot them and move fast enough to build them. One could measure something like APM to represent how fast players can move around and switch blocks, and faster players will have more possible combos they can build. But it does you no good to move quickly if you can't think just as fast, spotting the combos that are available to you, and avoiding clearing sets of three until you can use them in some sort of combo.
Do you have any idea how hard this is?
While it may have caught your attention, my title for this blog was completely facetious. Why is that? Not because this game isn't incredibly strategically complex; it is. Not because it isn't exciting to watch, either; I often have friends over and have extremely tense matches of Puzzle League (We even designate a commentator sometimes, which is always fun and hilarious). In fact, Panel de Pon was played competitively in Japan (and still is, at least at some level). But it still doesn't work as an e-sport for two reasons, one obvious and one less so.
As with everything else, the American player base for Panel de Pon are referred to as foreigners and are vastly inferior to the Japanese competitive scene.
First, obviously, the graphics and sound effects are very dated. It seems like a modern version could be released that could be competitive, but I'm not sure how well that could be done. I mean you could give the blocks shiny surfaces, and replace the dated sound effects with all manner of explosions and adrenaline-inducing excitement, but when it comes down to it, it's still a bunch of colored blocks on a screen with a cursor moving around and switching them.
But the second reason is the much more interesting one. Puzzle League gameplay breaks down at the highest level of play. At a certain point players become skilled enough at building combos that both sides will just have an infinite stack of garbage blocks on the top of their screens at all times, so the only way to survive would be to continuously build combos, since it doesn't give you a game over while blocks are still clearing on screen; this doesn't make for very interesting gameplay.
In some cases when Panel de Pon was played competitively in Japan, they didn't play the direct versus mode where you drop blocks on your opponent; instead, they played score attack where players are given points for building massive combos, and the player with the most points after a set amount of time wins. This solves some of the problems that come into play at the top level in versus modeut, but it doesn't make for good competitive gameplay. You could play Bejeweled competitively too just by setting two computers side by side and seeing who scores the most in a set amount of time, but it's not exciting because there's no interaction. Part of what made puzzle league gameplay was the excitement of throwing out a really good combo to attack your opponent; then your opponent goes on a simply incredible clearing spree to stay alive. When it's just about scores, both players scroll their blocks to the top, then combo some massive chain to clear everything out, then scroll back to the top again.
This time we can tell they're Japanese, not from the artwork, but from the skill level.
So why, as a non-Puzzle League-playing Starcraft forum-goer, do you care? Because Puzzle League demonstrates principles about e-sports, and about video games in general. A lot of what makes a game a good e-sport is also what makes it a good game: exciting gameplay, diverse and interesting strategy, lots of opportunity for skilled players to excel over more novice ones, and direct interaction between the players. But an e-sport needs a little something extra.
First, it needs to be pretty. Lots of colored blocks and Yoshi-themed backgrounds may be fine for a SNES game, but it's not good for spectatorship. It should feel like Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder came together to make something grander in scale and more dazzlingly eye-catching than either of them could produce individually. In a word, it should be epic.
Second, and most importantly, the gameplay must remain interesting at the top level of play. You can give Tic Tac Toe mind-blowing graphics and special effects for every move, and the strategy will still consist only of draws. Any time a game seems to have been "figured out," it had better just be a really strong strategy that will be solved by players or patched by developers, or else the skill ceiling has been reached.
The last lesson you should learn as a reader is that Puzzle League games are awesome. Go buy Pokemon Puzzle League on the Virtual Console, and give it a try. If you can get past the bad graphics and repetitive sound effects, it's really good gameplay. I just got a x11 combo today for the first time, and improving at Puzzle League feels every bit as good as improving at Starcraft. It should give you and your friends hours of enjoyment — that, or lose you whatever friends you have. :D
Thanks for reading! I've said a lot that was obvious, and a hell of a lot that could be found on Wikipedia, but maybe you learned something from my blog, in which case, cool! Or maybe you didn't, in which case, man, you know a lot about Puzzle League off the top of your head.
Holy shet those guys in the video are insane. The scores are just flying back and forth. I kinda wanna give this a try, not sure if my hands will like me after a few hours of this...
A big thing that you missed is that a game that will become and REMAIN a good eSport has to be engaging to people who do not play it.
For instance, that's what separates league from sc2. League is not exciting to watch if you don't play actively, sc2 is (to some larger extent at least)
On August 08 2012 12:47 DYEAlabaster wrote: A big thing that you missed is that a game that will become and REMAIN a good eSport has to be engaging to people who do not play it.
For instance, that's what separates league from sc2. League is not exciting to watch if you don't play actively, sc2 is (to some larger extent at least)
You might be right, although that hasn't fully been my experience with league. I mean, you have to explain a little bit of what's going on for them to understand what the goal even is, but that's true with any spectator competition. But I have nerdy friends so they might be a little more predisposed to being entertained by puzzle league. Probably most people would just say "what's this shitty-looking block game? I'm bored." I think that's what most people say even if they have played Puzzle League.
On August 08 2012 13:20 a176 wrote: man, i was expecting some super puzzle fighter
Super Puzzle Fighter is great, but I don't feel qualified to talk about it at length; I never got around to buying it, so I never got all that good. I've only played at friends' houses, I don't even really know what the strategy is.
And for anyone wondering, yes, I did write this entire blog just to brag about getting a x11 combo today. Blaine never knew what hit 'im.
On August 08 2012 12:47 DYEAlabaster wrote: A big thing that you missed is that a game that will become and REMAIN a good eSport has to be engaging to people who do not play it.
For instance, that's what separates league from sc2. League is not exciting to watch if you don't play actively, sc2 is (to some larger extent at least)
I don't see how SC2 is exciting to the people who don't play it. They never know who's winning, and they don't know what's good.
I used to love playing super puzzle fighter. We used to have this Friday night drink night, in which we would play puzzle fighter for cash, and had $400 tournies once a month.
Great blog man, I love Tetris Attack/Pokemon Puzzle Challenge.
Yeah, PPL as an e-sport doesn't really work well--I once played a game of PPL 3D mode that was over half an hour, lol. It was exactly as you described--infinite garbage chaining until someone screws up.
What is interesting to do however is speedrunning the single player modes. The SDA record for Tetris Attack is crazy good (8:06 using standard RTA timing--my PB is like 18:00 RTA, lol)
Does puyo puyo have a competitive scene? I've seen streams of people playing it on some online server but idk how big it is.
On August 08 2012 12:47 DYEAlabaster wrote: A big thing that you missed is that a game that will become and REMAIN a good eSport has to be engaging to people who do not play it.
For instance, that's what separates league from sc2. League is not exciting to watch if you don't play actively, sc2 is (to some larger extent at least)
I don't see how SC2 is exciting to the people who don't play it. They never know who's winning, and they don't know what's good.
Not true--one of my good friends IRL got really into watching BW even though he didn't play it. It's really easy to learn enough to be able to know what's going on. Yes, BW and SC2 are different games, but I would be incredibly surprised if SC2 is much less watchable.
hahahah YES i love this game!! i have "pokemon puzzle challenge" for the gameboy advance its pretty sweet , it had 5 difficulty modes: easy normal hard very hard and INTENSE (which was black) i could never beat the last mode
and then i went to PAX one year and saw other people playing a different version of the game, oh my gosh that was a lot of fun everyone was so good hahah
On the N64, which is the version they put on virtual console, they have 5 difficulty modes as well: Easy, Normal, Hard, V-Hard, and S-Hard. I have yet to beat S-Hard, and I only beat V-Hard after hundreds of continues (it maxes out its count at 99, so I don't know an exact number).
The design is simple, fun, and really competitive. I think its easily my favorite puzzle game out there, and there's some really good puzzle games. When Blizzard released Starjeweled as a custom game, I wanted them to make a Puzzle League remake instead. Bejeweled is so... limited.
Garbage chaining (comboing by using the blocks that are made from clearing garbage blocks) is actually not all that hard. You have quite some time to plan something out before the blocks actually fall down. You can always prepare a vertical stack of 2 blocks and just shift it to the right place. Then if you did it right, the triple you just made will clear the next garbage line and you make another triple.
Big combos (10+) without any garbage involved are a lot harder to pull off.
On August 08 2012 16:09 xxpack09 wrote: Does puyo puyo have a competitive scene? I've seen streams of people playing it on some online server but idk how big it is.
Oh yeah, puyo puyo (or imo rather super puyo puyo 2). Lots of fun as well. No idea about competitive scene though. I guess it doesn't have the same skill cap issue, or not as much, since you can't combo with the garbage you get. You can still defend and attack, but since you have to time your defense against the enemy attacks while still trying to build up an attack it should be a bit harder...
On August 08 2012 17:39 ChristianS wrote: On the N64, which is the version they put on virtual console, they have 5 difficulty modes as well: Easy, Normal, Hard, V-Hard, and S-Hard. I have yet to beat S-Hard, and I only beat V-Hard after hundreds of continues (it maxes out its count at 99, so I don't know an exact number).
The design is simple, fun, and really competitive. I think its easily my favorite puzzle game out there, and there's some really good puzzle games. When Blizzard released Starjeweled as a custom game, I wanted them to make a Puzzle League remake instead. Bejeweled is so... limited.
Picture this: Jealous beat S-Hard with a record of eight tries, and his elite four run (ritchie, bruno, lorelei, gary, mewtwo) consisted of 0 deaths. It was unreal when I saw it happen.
I have yet to beat S-Hard myself ><;; shit's impossible.
EDIT: Gary Motherfuckin Oak.
EDIT2: Is it somehow possible to have an online play for this? It seems like Pokemon Puzzle League isn't the only version out there. I mean I could play on my N64 against the computer, but I get owned really fast & there really isn't a serious player base around where I live, so games get boring real quickly. It would be great to play with other players around the same skill level as myself. . .
There is a free game called "Crack Attack" which is pretty much Puzzle League and allows you to play with someone via internet. It's been a while since I last played it (actually over 6 years lol) though so my memory might be off or things might have changed.
I heard that in Puzzle Pirates the sword-fighting puzzle is essentially Puzzle League. But I never bothered to research more thoroughly because I have better things to do than play a puzzle-based MMORPG. But if you're really craving some puzzle league against human opponents, might be worth looking into.
On August 08 2012 12:47 DYEAlabaster wrote: A big thing that you missed is that a game that will become and REMAIN a good eSport has to be engaging to people who do not play it.
For instance, that's what separates league from sc2. League is not exciting to watch if you don't play actively, sc2 is (to some larger extent at least)
I don't see how SC2 is exciting to the people who don't play it. They never know who's winning, and they don't know what's good.
Not true--one of my good friends IRL got really into watching BW even though he didn't play it. It's really easy to learn enough to be able to know what's going on. Yes, BW and SC2 are different games, but I would be incredibly surprised if SC2 is much less watchable.
I don't want to get into an argument about this, because neither side will really ever win. I think the old BW commentators were more exciting to the newbs/people who didn't play BW. The new commentators give better advice from what have seen and heard.
LoL does take less skill to be what people call decent at the game, and at high level play, it's far harder to understand what's going on.
On August 08 2012 15:06 SlowBullets wrote: Jealous @ TL is an absolute monster in this game. . .
I have come to claim the glory of being TL's best Puzzle Leaguer. I will take on all challengers.
How do we play you in it?
Come to New York/New Jersey area. You bring yourself, I'll bring the unholy destruction.
I would consider it if I were ever in the New York area, except...
On August 08 2012 19:06 SlowBullets wrote: Picture this: Jealous beat S-Hard with a record of eight tries, and his elite four run (ritchie, bruno, lorelei, gary, mewtwo) consisted of 0 deaths. It was unreal when I saw it happen.
Now I'm just terrified. I believe the only course of action in the face of such power is complete and unconditional surrender
Puzzle league could definitely be an e-sport. In my opinion, the graphics are fine in any version of the game. Players who love this game know that the visuals don't need to be more flashy or 3D. It's already a beautiful game.
It will never be an E-sport in the same way as LoL or CoD or SC, but it could develop in the same way as the Smash community. Simply a bunch of nerds who love the game and are willing to meet up in person with their CRT's and SNES's to just have fun and share their passion.
Even though puzzle league will never be played on the big stage, there is certainly plenty of room for the game to develop as a community. Players can play a mix of time trial and versus mode and try to find the most optimal settings. Perhaps players could even create a mod similar to Project Melee, that modifies versus mode so garbage blocks drop faster, fewer at a time, or are invisible until they fall.
There doesn't seem to be a unified online community for puzzle league. Maybe we can start right here on Teamliquid. I'll bring a SNES to an MLG event!
On August 09 2012 04:36 SmokeyNagata wrote: Puzzle league could definitely be an e-sport. In my opinion, the graphics are fine in any version of the game. Players who love this game know that the visuals don't need to be more flashy or 3D. It's already a beautiful game.
It will never be an E-sport in the same way as LoL or CoD or SC, but it could develop in the same way as the Smash community. Simply a bunch of nerds who love the game and are willing to meet up in person with their CRT's and SNES's to just have fun and share their passion.
Even though puzzle league will never be played on the big stage, there is certainly plenty of room for the game to develop as a community. Players can play a mix of time trial and versus mode and try to find the most optimal settings. Perhaps players could even create a mod similar to Project Melee, that modifies versus mode so garbage blocks drop faster, fewer at a time, or are invisible until they fall.
There doesn't seem to be a unified online community for puzzle league. Maybe we can start right here on Teamliquid. I'll bring a SNES to an MLG event!
Take a plane, I will pick you up and provide shelter. If you beat me Bo3 Bo5's (so, 3 matches), I will pay for your plane ticket within the continental US. If I win, you must bow to me, change your TL signature to praise me, make it your facebook status, and post in every forum you frequent at least 1 thread proclaiming my divinity. Deal?
On August 09 2012 04:49 Jealous wrote: @Challengers
Take a plane, I will pick you up and provide shelter. If you beat me Bo3 Bo5's (so, 3 matches), I will pay for your plane ticket within the continental US. If I win, you must bow to me, change your TL signature to praise me, make it your facebook status, and post in every forum you frequent at least 1 thread proclaiming my divinity. Deal?
Deal. I'll start training right away. You'll never know what hit you. Also, what version? Pokemon Puzzle League? Tetris Attack? Panel de Pon?
On August 09 2012 04:49 Jealous wrote: @Challengers
Take a plane, I will pick you up and provide shelter. If you beat me Bo3 Bo5's (so, 3 matches), I will pay for your plane ticket within the continental US. If I win, you must bow to me, change your TL signature to praise me, make it your facebook status, and post in every forum you frequent at least 1 thread proclaiming my divinity. Deal?
Deal. I'll start training right away. You'll never know what hit you. Also, what version? Pokemon Puzzle League? Tetris Attack? Panel de Pon?
PPL N64. PPL on GameCube is available also (less lag when dropping huge chains) but the gold standard is PPL on N64 IMO.
On August 09 2012 04:49 Jealous wrote: @Challengers
Take a plane, I will pick you up and provide shelter. If you beat me Bo3 Bo5's (so, 3 matches), I will pay for your plane ticket within the continental US. If I win, you must bow to me, change your TL signature to praise me, make it your facebook status, and post in every forum you frequent at least 1 thread proclaiming my divinity. Deal?
What's your place like? Can we get pics? Last time I did something like this, it turned out being kind of awkward.
On August 09 2012 04:49 Jealous wrote: @Challengers
Take a plane, I will pick you up and provide shelter. If you beat me Bo3 Bo5's (so, 3 matches), I will pay for your plane ticket within the continental US. If I win, you must bow to me, change your TL signature to praise me, make it your facebook status, and post in every forum you frequent at least 1 thread proclaiming my divinity. Deal?
What's your place like? Can we get pics? Last time I did something like this, it turned out being kind of awkward.
Ummm it's kinda awkward to ask for pics of my place too, especially since 1. I don't have any and 2. it's so much trouble to take pics, upload, etc. but I'll give you a basic rundown: there are 7 guys living in a 2 story house with 5 bedrooms, I live in my own bedroom, you can sleep in it (alone), 2 full bathrooms, 2 living rooms, 2 flat screen TVs, N64, Xbox, internet, etc. I live in New Brunswick NJ right next to central Rutgers campus - decent amount of things to do and see beyond PPL. Very socially active location. 5 minute walk from the New Brunswick trainstation, so arrivals in Newark would be easiest but JFK airport in NYC is also legitimate. We smoke cigarettes and bud, I drink beer, if that's what you meant by awkward. Otherwise I don't see any issues, it never gets awkward here and we have lots of people coming in and out on a regular basis...
On August 09 2012 04:49 Jealous wrote: @Challengers
Take a plane, I will pick you up and provide shelter. If you beat me Bo3 Bo5's (so, 3 matches), I will pay for your plane ticket within the continental US. If I win, you must bow to me, change your TL signature to praise me, make it your facebook status, and post in every forum you frequent at least 1 thread proclaiming my divinity. Deal?
What's your place like? Can we get pics? Last time I did something like this, it turned out being kind of awkward.
Ummm it's kinda awkward to ask for pics of my place too, especially since 1. I don't have any and 2. it's so much trouble to take pics, upload, etc. but I'll give you a basic rundown: there are 7 guys living in a 2 story house with 5 bedrooms, I live in my own bedroom, you can sleep in it. I live in New Brunswick NJ right next to central Rutgers campus - decent amount of things to do and see beyong PPL. Very socially active location. 5 minute walk from the New Brunswick trainstation, so arrivals in Newark would be easiest but JFK airport in NYC is also legitimate. We smoke cigarettes and bud, I drink beer, if that's what you meant by awkward. Otherwise I don't see any issues, it never gets awkward here and we have lots of people coming in and out on a regular basis...
Sorry to be so personal, but last time was really crazy. I don't feel comfortable with drugs, drinking, and prostitution. Like if I come up, then there can't be any of that, sorry. I just don't feel right around it.
On August 09 2012 04:49 Jealous wrote: @Challengers
Take a plane, I will pick you up and provide shelter. If you beat me Bo3 Bo5's (so, 3 matches), I will pay for your plane ticket within the continental US. If I win, you must bow to me, change your TL signature to praise me, make it your facebook status, and post in every forum you frequent at least 1 thread proclaiming my divinity. Deal?
What's your place like? Can we get pics? Last time I did something like this, it turned out being kind of awkward.
Ummm it's kinda awkward to ask for pics of my place too, especially since 1. I don't have any and 2. it's so much trouble to take pics, upload, etc. but I'll give you a basic rundown: there are 7 guys living in a 2 story house with 5 bedrooms, I live in my own bedroom, you can sleep in it. I live in New Brunswick NJ right next to central Rutgers campus - decent amount of things to do and see beyong PPL. Very socially active location. 5 minute walk from the New Brunswick trainstation, so arrivals in Newark would be easiest but JFK airport in NYC is also legitimate. We smoke cigarettes and bud, I drink beer, if that's what you meant by awkward. Otherwise I don't see any issues, it never gets awkward here and we have lots of people coming in and out on a regular basis...
Sorry to be so personal, but last time was really crazy. I don't feel comfortable with drugs, drinking, and prostitution. Like if I come up, then there can't be any of that, sorry. I just don't feel right around it.
Lol... What's wrong with a man enjoying a few beers? It's not like we live in a crackden, it's just a few guys who smoke weed. There's no violence and no tension here. But ultimately, it's up to you. I'm not going to make everyone go straight-edge because you had one bad experience.
EDIT: I mean, simply based on my post history, you can tell that I am a functional addict at worst. I don't break shit, don't yell (sometimes at Fifa maybe haha), don't get angry. Same story for everyone in this house. I'm turning 23 and I work with children!
Sorry, It's not about being straight edge, it's more about just having a safe environment. Sure people say weed has never hurt them, but it has hurt others. I don't know the medication that everyone is on, and I definitely don't care really. It's easy to get anti psychotics/antidepressants, to get bipolar highs when mixed with weed/alcohol. When the number of mentally sound people are outnumbered by the other, it becomes hard to prove things.
I had two guys trying to pimp me out one night over a fighting game, while a group of other guys cheered them on. There was really nothing I could do, I ended up wrapping up tightly in a blanket, and kept telling him how impressive his drinking skills were.
After he had done 18 shots of vodka, he was passed out on the couch on top of me, where I couldn't move. He was covered in drool, and I was worried if he would survive the night.
Really sorry. I just don't feel comfortable with this. One time is enough for me.
Woah, this blog just took a dark turn. Well, that's one less challenger for TL Puzzle League Champion. I hope at some point to have the means and skill to challenge the title myself, at which time I will PM you, Jealous.
Side note: wouldn't it be cool if there were official TL Champions for various video games? I mean presumably winner of TSL is the TL SC2 Champion, but where's my Street Fighter x Tekken TL Champion? Or even TL Random Monobattles Champion?
I know I can get money for a cash tourney, but it would have to be online. I mean we could do it over skype or something, but I'm sure since most of the people who still play puzzle fighter are older, we all prob have jobs, and are willing to put up money for entry fees.
I used to know a guy who would make $800 a night from this tetris like site.
Rofl damn dude. Obviously I have to say that none of us are like that, but I'm sure that's what those people would say too so I understand your trepidation. Just want to put it out there that we don't pimp anyone out and we don't do shit like that LOL. We are just regular people with regular jobs/academic careers and no one here is on any anti-depressants or whatnot haha.
On August 08 2012 16:09 xxpack09 wrote: Great blog man, I love Tetris Attack/Pokemon Puzzle Challenge.
Yeah, PPL as an e-sport doesn't really work well--I once played a game of PPL 3D mode that was over half an hour, lol. It was exactly as you described--infinite garbage chaining until someone screws up.
What is interesting to do however is speedrunning the single player modes. The SDA record for Tetris Attack is crazy good (8:06 using standard RTA timing--my PB is like 18:00 RTA, lol)
Does puyo puyo have a competitive scene? I've seen streams of people playing it on some online server but idk how big it is.
In Japan, the competitive scene is massive. To give you an idea of how popular it is, Japanese fighting game tournament sometimes include Puyo Puyo. At its height, the Puyo national tournament had the audience size of OGN Starleague finals.