Nintendo Puzzle Collection

Nintendo Puzzle Collection is a conglomeration of puzzle games for the Nintendo GameCube. It features Yoshi's Cookie, Dr. Mario, and Panel del Pon. I'd never played Yoshi's Cookie or Panel del Pon before. An update to Dr. Mario was enough for me.

First, this game requires a FreeLoader unless you have a Japanese GameCube. It's worth it if you're willing to import a game. In all honesty, I was a little disappointed with the port of Dr. Mario. I can't put my finger on it, but it just doesn't feel "right." I keep coming back to Yoshi's Cookie though. The controls are perfect, and it's a lot of fun. Panel del Pon is disappointing. It looks like a SNES game. They definitely paid more attention to Dr. Mario and Yoshi's Cookie.

The single player is exactly what you'd expect: multiple skill levels of all three games. The multiplayer is fantastic though. Four player Dr. Mario or Yoshi's Cookie is great. And you can take all three games with you on the GBA via link cable.

OVERALL: 8/10, (6/10 if you have don't already have a FreeLoader)

The multiplayer and portability seems interesting. Could you go into a little more detail about the updates they did? Even with if you already have the means to play Japanese imports, $50+ seems a lot for 3 very old puzzle games... the price is mainly what has kept me from getting this.

Is Panel del Pon the Japanese version of Tetris Attack, or something similar?

I've not played Tetris Attack, but I know Pokemon Puzzle League is a derivative of Panel del Pon.

The updates were all graphical (as far as I can tell). Gameplay is exactly as you remember it. The only addition to gameplay is that all 3 games now support 4 player multiplayer instead of just 2. I don't like the new graphics for Dr. Mario as much as I thought I would, but it plays just like it did on my NES.

The graphics in Panel del Pon are some inferior to those in Tetris Attack, but there is a 3d mode where you play the game regularly, but the blocks are contained in a 3-dimensional cylinder. The Dr. Mario port is the N64 version (superior graphics/sloppy audio remixes). I've never played another version of Yoshi's Cookie, so I have nothing to compare it to, but it's a great game. The multiplayer is awesome and the linked games are fun as well. On the GBA, you play the original Dr.Mario, the SNES Panel De Pon (which almost looks better than the Gamecube game), and the original Yoshi's Cookie. The Japanese doesn't cause much of a problem, but you mind find yourself lost when trying to select a mode in Panel De Pon. I was also dissapointed that the Puzzle mode in Panel De Pon (not to be confused with the main game or the stage selection mode) is exactly the same as Tetris Attack's, which means that if you've already completed the Puzzle mode in Tetris Attack, you know the solution to every puzzle in the Puzzle mode in Panel De Pon.

[quote name='_heretic']Is Panel del Pon the Japanese version of Tetris Attack, or something similar?[/QUOTE]

It's the Japanese version of Tetris Attack, but the Yoshi's Island characters and chalk style are gone and in their place you have these "anime princess" type characters with a more plain style. The music is the same and so are most of the sound effects.

[quote name='_heretic']Is Panel del Pon the Japanese version of Tetris Attack, or something similar?[/QUOTE]

Well, Tetris Attack is actually the AMERICAN version of Panel De Pon.

Seriously tho, the Panel De Pon series is my favorite series of all time and I have EVERY version (Panel De Pon for Super Famicom, Tetris Attack SNES, Tetris Attack GB, Pokemon Puzzle League N64, Pokemon Puzzle Challenge GBC, and Nintendo Puzzle Collection GC).

As for the Nintendo Puzzle Collection, it is hands down my favorite Gamecube game all because of the 4 player version of Panel De Pon. The graphics don't matter! It is simply the most addictive and fun puzzle game ever and playing it with 3 of your friends is amazingly fun. Get it, you have no idea what you're missing!