Obscure Games You May Not Have Heard Of - Episode 18 - PS1 Puzzle Games

Ah, the puzzle genre. And when I say puzzle, I mean very specifically what I call “Action Puzzle” games. Games like your Tetris or your Puyo, where you have kinda arcadey action and must react to patterns and hazards in order to keep playing. It’s a genre that has faded with time, though everyone still does love and play at LEAST one. I don’t know anyone who goes “Tetris sucks, all my homies hate Tetris”.

But Action Puzzlers are possibly my favorite genre of all time, and there are a LOT of them out there. During their height in the 90s, countless obscure ones slid out the door, often into arcades, but also on the home consoles of their day. And I love playing and finding these games, especially in a multiplayer setting. These are my Fighting Games. But then again, Action Puzzlers are basically fighting games, just you’re fighting in a different way. Anyways, story time.

So, PS1 emulator Duck Station released a version that allows for rollback netcode netplay earlier this year. Me and the rest of the puzzle community popped the fuck off at this. In excitement, I began compiling a list. I spent like two days hunting for every single PS1 multiplayer action puzzler I could possibly find. And then, once I did, I played everyone of those games. Most are not good! Most are terrible Puyo Puyo clones, but some are GEMS, and I wanna talk about all the coolest most obscure ones today. This will be a special episode of this series, where I do little mini reviews of a bunch of games. If that seems up your alley, keep on readin’!

(Note: mostly gifs from here on out to better show the gameplay. Some of these gifs are Big)

If you’re curious, here’s my personal curated list of every PS1 multiplayer puzzle game I could possibly find. This is missing a few that are already on Fightcade, like Cleopatra’s Fortune or Super Puzzle Fighter, where the PS1 version isn’t significantly different in any way. These are all unique PS1 only experiences. I’mma go over pretty much only good ones. Maybe I can do a post about all the terrible ones I found some other time.

Joshikousei no Houkago… Pukunpa - I mentioned terrible Puyo clones, but I think since Puyo is one of the most popular puzzle games, I should start with a few good puyo clones. This game is literally just puyo puyo with a different style of anime girl, but it has a few unique bits to it that set it apart from regular Puyo. You have the bubble pieces, which are kinda like trash in that you need to clear blobs near them in order for them to open up, but they can contain TWO blobs in there, which then push out to change up the stack as you clear. It makes for some really big brain twisting puyo play, and a good way to rexperience a game that you may have played so much it’s become stale. Re-learn a whole new set of combos!

Tokimeki Memorial - Taisen Puzzledama 2 - There are two of these! Both are worth playing. Tokimeki Memorial is an EXTREMELY popular dating sim you might have heard of, but it also got a puyo clone side series, which is really wild to think about. I dunno. Platformers get spin off racing games, dating sims get spin off puzzle games? It’s another puyo clone, but this one kinda became its own thing people would clone. Its main innovation is the same as Pukunpa, with the blocks you need to clear next to, and they’ll turn into normal pieces. But it’s a little less interesting to me, cause it’s just a simple clear turning into a normal blob. Still a good game though, good for a twist on the usual Puyo format.

Tokimeki Memorial - Taisen Tokkaedama - This is the exact same thing, essentially, but with a different dropping mechanic. Instead, you have a cursor and you swap your blobs out. It’s an even more different twist, and I actually think I prefer it.

Kuru Kuru Twinkle - I’ve mentioned this one once before on here, because I ripped the OST and uploaded it to Youtube. It’s a solid ost. Anyways, this one is kind of like a twist on Panel de Pon, or Tetris Attack, but instead of swapping between two on one line, you swap between four on two lines, and you can swap up and down too. This is one of the most hectic puzzle games I have ever played in my life. Games can seriously last like, 15 seconds. There’s also magic attacks that can choose from, and there’s a LOT to this game I don’t understand cause it’s all in Japanese. It’s still a pretty enjoyable time, though, and is fun to explore around and figure out what everything does :3

Otenki Kororin - Weather Tales - This is another spin on Panel de Pon, this time you can only swap between blocks on a single line, but the blocks clear like it’s poyo, and the goal isn’t to fill the enemy’s stack with trash but to dig downwards and reach the goal first. This game is ADORABLE. It has an AMAZING claymation style, and fantastic soundtrack. The sounds are a bit much sometimes, and the gameplay is hectic and overwhelming at times, but it’s another great twist on the Panel de Pon formula! One of my absolute favorites I discovered doing this.

Noon - Okay, I’ve been showing mostly clones of other puzzle games. How about something COMPLETELY unique? This is Noon, the “New Type Action Game”. In Noon, both players are on the same top down field, where orbs spawn. You can push and then fling the orbs. If you fling an orb and create a line of three, it will clear, and make a “noon”. This spawns bombs in your opponent’s field. The goal is to fill up your opponent’s field, while stopping them from filling up your’s. And yes, you can kick your own bombs into your opponent’s field. You can push blobs together to break them instead, and kick around and throw shit at your opponent. It is MASSIVELY hectic, and though I haven’t been able to play this with people yet, I really want to. There’s even a style of play for four players! It’s absolutely wild, and very unique. The art style and vibe of it is also really great.

Puzzle Star Sweep - Another pretty unique one. In Star Sweep, you can… spit(?) these star blocks out anywhere on the board, though they will fall with gravity. They clear by having the star part of each block touch the star part of a block of the same color. It is… SO HARD to figure out, it’s like learning another language. I’m so used to things like Tetris or Puyo, but this is so weird, I wouldn’t even know how to handle it. It’s pretty neat, though!

Tripuzz - I’ve talked about this one before, but imagine Puyo, but with triangular pieces. 4 matching nearby clears, combos hit harder, and if you get a diamond of air surrounded by the same color that also clears for a good amount. This is yet another game that is impossible to figure out without some practice, it’s very weird, but pretty unique and fun! And the characters are cute too.

Tall Twins Tower - Also talked about this one before. A lot. This is my favorite puzzle game of all time, this is Tall Twins Tower. Spin blocks around and match colors to grow blocks. Combos cause more and more blocks to spawn across the level. Create ten whole layers of blocks, and you move onto the next level! It also has two characters with their own unique powers, slide and crane. And of course, there’s multiplayer. It is hectic, requires a lot of focus, and LOADS of fun at high levels. This game is also hard as shit. The unfortuante thing is this game is so obscure, and I’ve played so much of it, that there’s a single person I know who can play this close to my level, and that’s @Ratttz. I want more friends to play this with ):

There are some others, but these are the best ones. If y’all found this interesting, absolutely check some of these out :D NONE of them are available like, anywhere (I THINK Twins Tower is available on the JP PS4 shop but I have no way to tell. Also, if y’all found this interesting, let me know! I could totally do more, including some Bad Ones.

Thanks for reading. Play and enjoy some puzzle games <3