411 Games Top 5 6.25.09: Week 17 - Top Puzzle Games

Posted by Todd Vote on 06.25.2009

This week the 411 Games staff chime in with our favorite puzzle games. From Portal to Meteos, all the way back to Tetris. Click on in to see what made our lists. Plus a very special mention of Target Terror from someone not named Salmela.

Welcome back to another week of the 411 Games Top 5. Last week we covered what was essentially fantasy crossovers. One on my list was to see Ryu Hayabusa, and Kratos featured in the same game, mainly to settle an argument between a friend and I. I posted a video that featured a stop motion battle between Ryu and Kratos. A few of the commenters had some words about the outcome of the video, thinking it should have went the other way:
i'm calling bullshit on that video! Hayabusa would of so fucking OWN'D Kratos! D:

Posted By: Thomas (Guest) on June 17, 2009 at 11:25 PM

Reader With Electric Fire also called BS on the video and cited his reasoning for his feelings:
The Hayabusa has waged war on countless armies and demons, felled numerous dark gods and interdimensional warships without having to fall back numerous holy weapons or godly-assists. My money's still on the ninja.

We are all entitled to our opinions, and that is what this column is supposed to do, spark a bit of friendly debate in the comments section. But to you both, Kratos would win, and do so in devestating fashion. With that out of the way, let's move onto this weeks Top 5 shall we?






This week we are tackling a subject that is sure to get some feathers in a bunch, no matter where you stand on the subject. This week we are talking about puzzle games. There have been so many addictive puzzle games over the years, it'll be hard to see all of your favorites listed here. But just the same, as has been stated in the past, this column is not so much to determine the best, but more to give our lists of favorites. Please keep that in mind this week when commenting. Nothing was left off of anyones list to spite any fans. By all means, leave your top 5 in the comments section, as I know I love to read what others enjoy.

I know the point system is supposed to be back as a permanent fixture, but after reading everyones list, I am at a loss for handing out any points. I think in the future of the column, the points system will pop in where it can work, but for other lists, we will just exclude the points, as is the case today. There may still be a few comments on others lists, but no points. How do you readers feel about this?

Let's get it going, shall we? Up first this week is Adam Larck. If I had to venture a guess, I would have to say that roughly 50% of the news you read on the games main page is posted by Adam. Adam, what are your puzzle games of choice?

Adam Larck

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Bust-a-Move - I spent a lot of time playing this series with family. Trying all the different level variations and getting pinpoint shooting down was always a fun way to pass the time, but I haven't picked this series up in a while. Which is unfortunate.

Yoshi's Cookie - Whatever happened to this series? It got a rerelease on the Wii's Virtual Console, but never had a true sequel. The sliding puzzle pieces were fun, and it was a great time waster on the NES.

Tetris Attack - I put so much time into this game on SNES. I liked the characters tie-ins to the Mario Universe and the story mode was great for a puzzle game. Not only that, but the multiplayer resulted in many close matches (and hurt pride) with my friends during the time. I would love to see an updated sequel to this on the DS.

5.Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords - Combining puzzle gameplay with RPG elements. Who thought that this combination could ever work. It did though, and it did so greatly. I put a whole summer into this game last year, getting every item and every quest complete. I'm just starting Galactrix, because I'm scared it could take over this summer.


Portable Bejeweled

4.Bejewled - How could I mention two other slider puzzle games without mentioning the biggest one. For such a simple game, it can waste hours at a time for me. I even put the add-on for it in WoW when I used to play, so I would have something to do while flying around. It's been a while since I played Bejewled, but I want to try out the new version. We'll see if it ever happens.

3.Professor Layton and the Curious Village - These are the type of puzzles I really love. Brain teasers. I combed over for every hint coin, every piece of furniture, and even all the DLC that was released for the game. I keep waiting for the sequel to come out in North America, while I see Japan getting the third game in the series. I have to admit, I'm a little jealous there.

2.Portal - Well, I originally overlooked this because I thought primarily of block puzzle games and brainteasers, but figured I better put this one in for the amount of fun I had. I introduced this game around the dorm at college and got tons of people starting to play it. It was just as much as a blast to play it as it was seeing other people play it. I would love to see an expansion or a sequel to this franchise to allow for more Portal fun.
Check out Portal: Still Alive on the XBL Arcade, it has more of the goodness you are after

1.Tetris - Was there every any doubt this would be my top puzzle game. I've spent hundreds of hours playing this game, starting with my Gameboy when I was five. I've seen this game through most of its iterations on the various systems, either playing them myself or watching my family. While the brick matching mode is great fun, it was always the interesting puzzle modes that kept me buying new versions. I wish that developers would bring back a puzzle mode like what was in Tetris Plus. Maybe release something like a greatest hits of Tetris, adding the explorer mode from Plus, the Tetris Blast game, Tetris 2 puzzle mode and more.

Alright, thanks Adam. Up next is the one and only Drew Robbins ( or so he claims) Drew has returned to the games section with a veangance. Drew, what do you got for us?

Drew Robbins

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Yoshi's Cookie (GB) - Most people probably don't remember this puzzler for the original Gameboy, and for good reason, it isn't truly anything special. However, it was the first puzzle game I played, so it holds a special place in my heart.

5.Bust-a-Move (ARC) - Arcades are most well-known for the fast-paced antics of Street Fighter or the blatant kick-assery of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but beyond those games was another gem of a game. Bust-a-Move starred Bub and Bob, from Bubble Bobble, trying to match three blobs of the same color, but with a twist. Instead of falling down, you were shooting them up, bouncing them off walls. While not as good as most color matching puzzle games, it provided for a great change of pace to a well established formula.

4.Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (GEN) - Much like Arcades, Sonic used to be cool. He was so cool, in fact, that he transcended into several genres he had no business in. Cartoons, pinball games, and even this beloved puzzle game. It was pretty much a clone of puyo pop, but with you going head-to-head with the doofy looking robots from the original Sonic cartoon. My personal favorite part was the face the robot's made when you defeated them, which was the most pathetic looking frown I've ever seen. Their tears are delicious.
Poor Sonic... Nobody loves him anymore.

3.Tetris (Everything) - Of course, what would a puzzle list be without Tetris. Everybody has played Tetris, and if you haven't, where the hell have you been? This game is on every format imaginable. You'd be pretty hard pressed to find something that doesn't have Tetris on it. I have it on my calculator, my cell phone, pretty much every piece of technology in my house. Except for my Game Gear…but I try to forget that exists



2.Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS) - I have a love-hate relationship with Professor Layton. What I love is the Professor's hat. Man, that is some hat. I challenge you to find a cooler hat in any game. Also to love is most of the puzzles, which are challenging and can easily occupy several minutes just to figure out, which leads into what I hate. At one point in the game it required me to find out how many ducks would be in a shed, using the rate of reproduction, if one duck was left in the shed for a set amount of time. So I put together a long ass equation and went to work, even spending time that should have been devoted to class work just to solve this problem. I returned home that day and, even with all of that work, the answer was wrong. Then I tried again, thinking I had made an error. But, no, that wasn't the problem. As my brother pointed out, only one duck is in the shed at the start, and as ducks cannot reproduce asexually, there would still only be one duck in the shed. What followed, my friends, was rage.

1.Meteos (DS) - Meteos is the only puzzle game I've ever actively anticipated, even reserving a copy of the game. Why? Was it such a groundbreaking, life-affirming experience that I absolutely had to try it out? Well…partly, but I didn't know that when I reserved it. If you had a DS at that time, what else would you play. I had already beaten Mario 64 and Kirby Canvas Curse, so this was the only game coming for months. And it did not disappoint, giving probably the coolest game element ever found in a puzzle game. When you would match up three blocks of the same color, they rocket up towards the atmosphere and go on to destroy an entire planet. Sadly, this is one of three games I've ever owned that I can't find my copy of…so my years of destroying planets with tiny blocks are behind me.
I like blowing up planets... it sounds fun.

Thanks Drew, and welcome back to the team. I'd like to say you were missed, and it would be kind of true, since Mark and I had nothing to joke about in your absence. Our next contributor is Mathew Sforcina. Mathew handles Ask 411 for the Wrestling Zone here on 411, and does one hell of a job to boot. I guess we had a subject that finally persuaded him to come over to the dark side for a visit. So he must like puzzle games.

Mathew Sforcina

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Target Terror - Why everyone is so insistent that this get in every week is the puzzle, you see.
Oh very clever... and the one week we could have went without a Target Terror reference due to Salms being on hiatus, and Sforcina fills the quota... Mark would be proud.

The Phoenix Wright Series - I love it, but it's kinda sorta not REALLY a puzzle, so it's not really on the list, alas.

Professor Layton and the Curious Village - I LOVE this game (hate the princess puzzles, but love the game), but it doesn't get on the list for the simple fact that the sequels Japan's had for yonks aren't here, in my hand, right now. That pisses me off.


Puzzle Game Gods!

5.Every Popcap Game Ever - I suppose I could call this "Every Flash Puzzle Game Ever", but to me, for better or worse, Popcap IS Puzzle Games. Well, modern simple puzzle games with cute characters and gameplay that you swear you'll just play for 10 minutes before a TV show starts and 8 hours later you're still trying to get that last bloody peg below the big bumper thingy that you have to get for 100% completion but the BLOODY BALL NEVER BLOODY HITS IT! STUPID BLOODY PEG! GET HIT FOR... Oh, I do beg your pardon.
Breathe.... just breathe... it'll be okay.

4.Dr. Mario - You know what? I could discuss this game. I could discuss how Dr. Mario was a great character in SSBM, but I won't. Instead, I give you this, which indicates the real reason I love this game.



3.Puzzle Quest: Challenge of The Warlords - Combine puzzle gameplay with RPG elements? Why wasn't this thought of before? A game that's simple but complex, a great, great game, not just a puzzle game. Even if the computer is a cheating bastard.

2.Tetris - You have played this game. Your brother and/or sister has played this game. Your parents have played this game. Everyone in your town, state and country has. Almost everyone on the planet has, at some point, played this simple little game that was only invented in 1984 and yet now is so ubiquitous in pop culture that most people don't even consider it a video game! It's a keyring, it's just there. It's Tetris. Everyone's played it. The fact that's it's still a game you can pick and a play on any system known to man today and lose yourself in it is a major plus.

1.Portal - With any sane, rational, logical approach, Tetris is the #1. Hell, it's my pick for Greatest Video Game Ever due, once again, to just how ubiquitous it is. However... I. Fucking. Love. Portal. The puzzle element would be enough to get it on my list, but then you add in GlaDOS, a sprinkling of Johnathon Coulton brilliance... My word. Just, just... Excuse me, I gotta go.. uh.... Make a cake.... On my 360....
Beating Portal will make you feel smarter than you may actually be.

Thanks Mathew, nice list of puzzle games you got there. next up, Armando Rodriguez. Armando, what have you got for us?

Armando Rodriguez

Honorable Mentions:

CSI- Any of the CSI PC games. Yes, they are simple, but I love them all.
I played the CSI game for the Xbox 360. I couldn't get past the second case to save my life.

Bookworm Adventures- Combine Scrabble with RPG combat and you have the basic idea. I believe this little gem is very underrated.



Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo- I still love this game. Fighting game characters with competitive multiplayer goodness? I am so there!


5.Peggle: It does not matter which version, Peggle is incredibly addictive. The first time I played it I said "well, here is something I can play in between TV shows". Next thing I knew 4 hours had gone by and I was still playing trying to become the next Peggle Master.

4.Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords: An odd combination of Bejeweled and RPG, Puzzle Quest kept me playing for months. It took the tired Bejewled formula and gave it new life by combining it with stat-crunching level-ups and magic spells. Too bad Galactix failed to live up to the original's greatness.

3.Tetris: I remember when I was little and I hated Tetris. I despised it and found it boring as hell. One day my uncle got me one of those tiny electronic handhelds as a birthday gift and lo and behold, it was Tetris. I forced myself to play it and guess what? I loved it. Maybe I was not mature enough back then, but Tetris is just freakin' great and something I enjoy to this date. Who knew something so simple could become an addiction?
How could you hate Tetris? So simple... yet so addicting, glad you came around.

2.Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine: I still love this game and it is one of the reason's I got Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection. I know it is a Puyo Puyo clone, but the Sonic characters give it a lot of charm and the game is fantastic in competitive multiplayer as well. Why we have yet to see a sequel/remake is beyond me.

1.Portal: The reason I bought The Orange Box for. Seriously, this game is funny as hell and the puzzles are extremely well done. It showed that there is a lot of ground-breaking stuff that can be done from the First-Person perspective and who can forget GLADOS? Seriously, GLADOS is going to live forever as one of the grestest characters in the history of gaming.
It appears we all like cake

Thanks, Armando. Our last contributor this week is Scott Simpson. Scott, you're up.

Scott J. Simpson

*Puzzle games can be a tricky genre. Many games today have puzzle solving elements, which means almost anything could fall under the puzzle umbrella. In order to keep with tradition, and in order to make my list less confusing, I am simply going to stick with traditional puzzle games that I own.*



5.KLAX - If you are looking for a cross between tic-tac-toe and Tetris, than KLAX is your game. The object of KLAX is to organize tiles into rows of three, which can be stacked vertically, horizontally or even diagonally. Sounds simple enough right? Wrong. Things get complicated when the game starts spiting out different colored tiles and the tiles start marching down the conveyer belt at a faster pace. You will only have a short amount of time to strategize the placement of your tiles before you drop them into the playing field below and catch the next batch of tiles coming down the conveyer belt. The game is a nice alternative to Tetris (although not nearly as fun).
I still remember the oddly shaped hand from the box art of this game.

4.Yoshi - Not to be confused with Yoshi's Cookies, Yoshi for the NES was the green dinosaur's first foray into the puzzle genre. You see, about seven years ago a GameStop opened up a few blocks away from my house, and every weekend I would head down to the store and spend some dough on video games. I would only buy classic games on the NES or Genesis since these games typically only cost about $3.00. While I was rooting around the store's collection of NES games I came across a title called Yoshi. I was pretty amazed to come across the game, especially for the NES since I knew that Yoshi made his debut on the SNES. So I bought the game, peddled home, plopped the cartridge in my NES and was set to play an awesome platforming game. "WHAT THE PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY!? This isn't a platformer, it's a puzzle game!" These were my exact thoughts as the gameplay commenced. I was very disappointed to find out that Yoshi was a puzzle game, and a bland one at that. Nowhere on the cartridge did it indicate that it was a puzzle game, nor did the game's title screen hint that Yoshi was going to be about puzzle solving. Although I was very disappointed that the game was not a platformer, Yoshi is still a fun way to blow some time. The object of the game is to hatch baby Yoshi eggs by collecting the bottom and top halves of a Yoshi egg (in that order) as they fall from the top of the screen. In addition, you will also have to match up enemies from the Super Mario Bros. series by stacking two like enemies on top of one another with Mario's help. Although I said the game was bland, I still enjoy playing the game from time-to-time, which is why Yoshi is higher on my list than KLAX.

3.Zuma - This is a fun game to play. It is available for download on cell phones and gaming consoles, and it came with my Xbox 360 when I first acquired the system. I have played the cell phone version, but the game truly shines on a video game console with better graphics, music and sound effects. The object of Zuma is to maneuver a frog in the middle of the playing field while shooting balls out of its mouth (stop giggling) at a conga line of balls that are slowly making their way across the screen. The balls come in an assortment of different colors, and you will have to match up three or more similar colored balls in order to make them disappear. Each level is complete when all the balls on the playing field are gone, but you must complete this task before the balls plummet into the hole at the end of their journey, or it is game over.
Now we are talking, this game was a blast

2.Tetris - Pretty self-exclamatory, so I will not bother describing the gameplay of Tetris since most people on this planet are probably already familiar with the game, and if you are reading this you have more than likely played this game at least once in your life. Tetris is THE puzzle game to play, so I will just leave it at that while I move on to my favorite puzzle game of all time, which is not from Russia with fun.

1.Dr. Mario - Quick! Princess Peach has contracted Rhinovirus and it is up to Mario to save her! I am actually surprised this was not the premise of the game. After all, Princess Peach is always finding ways to get herself into trouble and Mario ends up having to come to her rescue. Stupid Peach! Now although Dr. Mario borrows the gameplay formula from Tetris, I chose Dr. Mario as my top puzzle game because of the fun factor. I enjoy Dr. Mario more than Tetris. Do not have a heart attack now, Tetris is awesome, but I find killing viruses with vitamins more enjoyable. That may be blasphemous and wicked for me to say, but tough, deal with it.

Todd Vote

5. Puznik:My dad had a cabinet for this game in his bar for years, and aside from Tetris on the original Gameboy, this was one of my first puzzle game experiences. The best part of this game was clearing a level would open open up a rather revealing picture of some random Asian chicks. Sounds like a win to me.

4. Dr. Mario: Sitting around the NES fighting for pill poppin dominance. That's what my memory of Dr. Mario was. For us it was like Tetris on crack.

3. Portal: I mentioned above that beating Portal could make you feel pretty smart. That is true, the puzzles in this game were innovative, and at times downright challenging. Add in the humor of GLADOS, and it's no suprise to see this one gracing several lists.

2. Zuma: Shoot the colored balls. Do you suppose there is some connection to the creators of these games and psychadelic drugs?

1. Tetris: I wanted to place something else here, but there really isn't a better puzzler out there, is there? Tetris is the OG, and to this day still holds up as an addicting game.

Bonus Video:
Human Tetris!



Be sure to follow 411 on Twitter.
TWITTER

http://www.twitter.com/411mania
http://www.twitter.com/411wrestling
http://www.twitter.com/411moviestv
http://www.twitter.com/411music
http://www.twitter.com/411games
http://www.twitter.com/411mma


There you have it another week of the 411 Games Top 5 in the books. Are any of your favorites missing? If so let us know in the comments section below. We will see you back here next week for a new edition of the 411 Games Top 5 where we will discuss our favorite arcade games. We're not talking about XBL, or PSN here, we are talking old school cabinet arcade games. We'll see you in Seven.