Pokemon Trozei
- March 07, 2006 00:00 AM PST
Does Pokemon Trozei work as a puzzle game for the DS, or does it fail in deterring from its usual RPG norm?
In one fell swoop, Nintendo decided to release a Pok�mon game that wasn't its adventurous norm; instead, they thought a puzzle game would be a genre in which the lovable (or easily hateable) Pok�mon could flourish. Thus the lovechild of Pok�mon, Bejeweled, and Zookeeper was born: Pok�mon Trozei.
Trozei Again, Kid
The premise is simple enough: gargantuan amounts of Pokeballs have been abducted and held in various storages. Your job is to infiltrate these storage areas and free the Pok�mon by Trozei-ing them from their Pokeballs. Using the touchscreen, players slide and match four Pok�mon in order to Trozei them. When this happens, there is a window of opportunity called a Trozei Chance in which you can slide three matching Pok�mon, then two in order to eliminate them more quickly. Collect more than 380 Pok�mon by Trozei-ing them, or play wirelessly to get the more rare ones. There are two single-player modes and two two-player modes, all the more to serve your every Trozei-ing need.
The Multiplayer mode suffers from quick victories or losses; it seems that if one player is not on top of their game, even by a bit, then they will lose quickly, thus making the battle lose its meaning. The team play is a different concept, building on the belief that when two people play together, they can achieve a score greater than they could individually. In practice, it might be fun, but most might agree that the single player mode is more worthwhile.
Gotta Trozei 'Em All!
The game itself can be addicting, as with most puzzle games. The levels and bosses in Adventure mode get naturally more difficult and thus more addicting, planting a seed of competitive I-have-to-beat-this-level nature in any puzzle game enthusiast. The need to capture that one or two rare Pok�mon that just might show up could also add to the addiction factor. The controls are relatively easy too, the touch pad being an optimal choice for a sliding puzzle game.
Overall, Pok�mon Trozei is a fun puzzle game that might surprise most people. Puzzle game fans should try this one out; for everyone else, you might just find yourself wanting to catch them all, too.
