Pokemon Puzzle Challenge (Game Boy Color)

Titles	Pokémon Puzzle Challenge ポケモンでパネポン (Pokémon de Panepon)
Platform	Game Boy Color (Game Boy Color only)
Developer	Intelligent Systems
Publisher	Nintendo
Directors	Toshihiro Nishii · Hitoshi Yamagami
Producers	Takehiro Izushi · Ryoichi Kitanishi · Tsunekazu Ishihara
Music	Taishi Senda · Minako Hamano
Players	1–2 (Game Link Cable)
Genre	Puzzle (Panel de Pon / Puzzle League)
Based on	Pokémon Gold & Silver (Generation II)
Modes	6 single-player modes plus Training · 3 two-player link modes
Pokémon	26 – 13 playable, 13 used only by opponents
Released	21 September 2000 (Japan) · 4 December 2000 (North America) · 8 June 2001 (Europe) · 15 June 2001 (Australia)
Re-releases	Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console: 6 November 2014 (North America), 27 November 2014 (Europe & Australia), single-player only; off sale since the 3DS eShop closed on 27 March 2023
Rating	ESRB E · ACB G · PEGI 3 (3DS Virtual Console)
Predecessor	Pokémon Puzzle League (Nintendo 64, 2000)

Overview · Quick Answers · Story · Pokémon · Game Modes · Panel de Pon GB · Regional Variations · Glitches · Videos · Trivia · Legacy · Reviews · Media

Overview

Pokémon Puzzle Challenge for Game Boy Color is another spin-off Pokémon game based on Tetris Attack (itself the Western version of Intelligent Systems’ Panel de Pon), in which the player mostly has to clear the blocks appearing on the screen across a number of different game modes. While it’s very similar to Pokémon Puzzle League, the game offers different modes and a different small plot.

The main difference between the two games is that Pokémon Puzzle League was based on the anime, while Pokémon Puzzle Challenge is based on the second-generation Pokémon games, Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver. Most of the game’s music is taken from Gold and Silver, with each Gym battle using the theme of that Gym’s town in Gold and Silver.

The game features animated Pokémon portraits, with the Pokémon laughing if the player wins, or crying if their trainer loses.

Quick Answers

The questions people ask about Pokémon Puzzle Challenge, answered first and explained further down the page.

How do you unlock Super Hard and Intense difficulty?

Clear Challenge Mode on Hard and the game reveals a button code: highlight Hard on the difficulty menu, hold Select and press A to add Super Hard. Beat Super Hard, then highlight it and press Select and A again to open Intense, the toughest setting in the game. More →

How do you play the hidden Panel de Pon game?

On a Game Boy Color, enter Up x2, Right x4, Down, Left x10, Up x4, Right, Down x6, B on the title screen to switch into Game Boy mode. On the ‘Game Boy Color only’ screen that follows, press A 24 times and then B 24 times. On an original Game Boy, only the A and B part is needed. More →

How do you unlock Pichu and the other bonus Pokémon?

Play Challenge Mode on Normal or higher and meet a target before reaching Clair, and a bonus trainer appears; beat them to use their Pokémon. Pichu needs a match lasting four minutes, Bellossom a win inside 25 seconds, Pikachu a 6-block combo, Togepi a 10-block combo, Marill a 4-chain and Sentret a 7-chain. More →

Why didn’t I face Lance or the Elite Four?

How far Challenge Mode goes depends on the difficulty. On Easy the run ends after the eighth Gym Leader, Clair. Normal adds the Elite Four and finishes with Karen, while Hard, Super Hard and Intense carry on to a final battle against the Champion, Lance, and his Dragonite. More →

Is Pokémon Puzzle Challenge on Nintendo Switch Online?

No. As of October 2026 it has not been added to the Game Boy library on Nintendo Switch Online. The nearest option there is Dr. Mario & Puzzle League, which joined the Game Boy Advance library for Expansion Pack members in July 2026 and offers the same block-swapping formula without the Pokémon theme. More →

Can you still buy it on the 3DS Virtual Console?

Not any more. It arrived on the 3DS Virtual Console in North America on 6 November 2014 and in Europe and Australia on 27 November 2014, but new purchases ended when the 3DS eShop closed on 27 March 2023. Existing owners can still redownload it, though the download never supported two-player link play. More →

Story

Playing as a trainer called Gold (the hero of Pokémon Gold and Silver, officially named Ethan years later), the player seeks to become the Pokémon Puzzle Champion. To do so they have to defeat the eight Johto Gym Leaders, the Elite Four and the Champion, Lance – although how far the journey goes depends on the difficulty. The player will also battle other trainers along the way, who might allow the player to use their Pokémon if they manage to score a win.

The player takes the role of the young hero of Pokémon Gold and Silver, setting out across Johto with Chikorita, Cyndaquil or Totodile in a bid to become the Pokémon Puzzle Champion. Rather than Pokémon battles, every contest is settled with a race of rising blocks, and Professor Oak is on hand at the start of the adventure. The journey takes in the eight Johto Gyms in their familiar order: Falkner in Violet City, Bugsy in Azalea Town, Whitney in Goldenrod City, Morty in Ecruteak City, Chuck in Cianwood City, Jasmine in Olivine City, Pryce in Mahogany Town and Clair in Blackthorn City. Each leader fights with a single Pokémon whose health bar drains as the player builds combos and chains. Playing especially well along the way can tempt a hidden trainer into a challenge, and beating them adds their Pokémon to the player’s team. How the story ends depends on the difficulty chosen. On Easy the adventure closes with victory over Clair. On Normal the player travels on to the Pokémon League and stops after Karen of the Elite Four. On Hard and above, the player defeats Will, Koga, Bruno and Karen in turn, then overcomes the Champion, Lance, and his Dragonite to claim the title of Pokémon Puzzle Champion.

Pokémon

Pokémon Puzzle Challenge features a total of 26 Pokémon, 13 of which can be used by the player, while the other 13 can’t and will only be faced as opponents.

Starter Pokémon

At the start of the game, the player is given free use of the three starter Pokémon from the Johto region, which are Chikorita, Cyndaquil and Totodile. Plenty of other Pokémon are unlocked as the player progresses in the storyline.

• Chikorita#152
• Cyndaquil#155
• Totodile#158

Pokémon acquired through Egg hatching

During the game, the player will acquire a number of Pokémon Eggs, which hatch into four different Pokémon: Igglybuff, Elekid, Magby and Cleffa. In the second-generation games, too, all four of these Pokémon can only be obtained through Eggs. Once hatched, they can only be used in Marathon Mode.

• Igglybuff#174
• Elekid#239
• Magby#240
• Cleffa#173

Pokémon obtained by defeating Bonus Trainers

Within Challenge Mode (the main story mode), the player may encounter additional trainers after fulfilling certain conditions, on Normal difficulty or above and before reaching Clair. Each of these Bonus Trainers will battle the player in a Puzzle Match, allowing them to use their Pokémon if the player wins. If the player loses, they won’t encounter the trainer again during the same campaign, and will have to start it all over again in order to acquire the Pokémon.

• BellossomLass
• PikachuGentleman
• TogepiPokéFan
• MarillGentleman
• SentretBeauty
• PichuPokéFan

Pokémon that cannot be acquired

The other 13 belong to the Gym Leaders, the Elite Four and the Champion, and can only be faced: Pidgey, Kakuna, Clefairy, Gastly, Primeape, Steelix, Seel, Dragonair, Jynx, Crobat, Hitmontop, Murkrow and Dragonite.

• PidgeyFalkner
• KakunaBugsy
• ClefairyWhitney
• GastlyMorty
• PrimeapeChuck
• SteelixJasmine
• SeelPryce
• DragonairClair
• JynxWill
• CrobatKoga
• HitmontopBruno
• MurkrowKaren
• DragoniteLance

Notable Pokémon

Twenty-six Pokémon appear. Thirteen can be played: the Johto starters Chikorita, Cyndaquil and Totodile from the outset, six more won from hidden bonus trainers in Challenge Mode, and four baby Pokémon that hatch from Eggs for use in Marathon. The other thirteen belong to the Gym Leaders, the Elite Four and the Champion, each of whom fights with a single Pokémon. Pikachu is the only playable Pokémon from the first generation; everything else on the playable roster debuted in Gold and Silver.

• Pikachu – The only Generation I Pokémon on the playable roster; won from a Gentleman after a 6-block combo
• Pichu – Unlocked by lasting four minutes in a Challenge Mode match and beating a PokéFan
• Elekid – Egg hatch, usable only in Marathon
• Primeape – Chuck’s Pokémon; also has unused menu portrait graphics in the game data
• Dragonite – Champion Lance’s Pokémon and the final opponent on Hard and above

Game Modes

Pokémon Puzzle Challenge offers three game styles at the start menu: 1-Player, 2-Players and Training. The 1-Player option features most of the game modes, while the 2-Players option lets players challenge each other in three modes – VS, Time Zone and Line Clear – by linking their games with the Game Link Cable. As for the Training option, it teaches the player the basic game mechanics and how to move the blocks around.

All the modes in 1-Player have three difficulties, which are Easy, Normal and Hard, except for Challenge Mode, where two additional difficulties can be unlocked. The Super Hard difficulty is unlocked upon clearing Challenge Mode on Hard, while the Intense difficulty becomes available after finishing the mode on Super Hard. The different game modes available in single player are as follows:

Challenge Mode

It is the mode where the story takes place, and where the player will face the eight Gym Leaders, the Elite Four and the current Pokémon Champion (the full route is played on Hard and above, while Easy ends with Clair and Normal with Karen). All of these characters use one of the Pokémon they use in the Gold and Silver games. To win against an opponent in this mode, the player has to make combos out of four or more blocks, as well as chains, causing damage to the enemy Pokémon and reducing their HP bar.

On the other hand, the enemy Pokémon will periodically spawn random blocks on the player’s puzzle screen. Once the opponent’s HP bar is depleted, the player is announced as the winner and can move on to the next opponent. Furthermore, there are additional Bonus Trainers who can be encountered, as mentioned above.

The Gym Leaders battled in Challenge Mode and their Pokémon:

Violet Gym: Falkner

Flying · Violet City · Zephyr Badge

Pokémon: Pidgey

The first opponent on every difficulty. His Pidgey is the first Pokémon Falkner sends out in Pokémon Gold and Silver, setting the pattern of each leader bringing one Pokémon from their original team.

Azalea Gym: Bugsy

Bug · Azalea Town · Hive Badge

Pokémon: Kakuna

Second on every difficulty. Rather than his star Scyther, Bugsy fights with Kakuna, one of the two cocoon Pokémon he opens with in Pokémon Gold and Silver.

Goldenrod Gym: Whitney

Normal · Goldenrod City · Plain Badge

Pokémon: Clefairy

Third on every difficulty. Whitney brings Clefairy instead of the notorious Miltank that held up so many players in Pokémon Gold and Silver, giving Goldenrod’s leader a friendlier face here.

Ecruteak Gym: Morty

Ghost · Ecruteak City · Fog Badge

Pokémon: Gastly

Fourth on every difficulty. The Ecruteak leader’s Gastly is the first of the Ghost-type line he uses in Pokémon Gold and Silver, where his team builds up to Gengar.

Cianwood Gym: Chuck

Fighting · Cianwood City · Storm Badge

Pokémon: Primeape

Fifth on every difficulty. Chuck fights with Primeape, the Pokémon he leads with in Pokémon Gold and Silver alongside his ace, Poliwrath.

Olivine Gym: Jasmine

Steel · Olivine City · Mineral Badge

Pokémon: Steelix

Sixth on every difficulty. Jasmine sends out Steelix, the ace of her Olivine Gym team in Pokémon Gold and Silver, making her one of the few leaders to bring their strongest Pokémon.

Mahogany Gym: Pryce

Ice · Mahogany Town · Glacier Badge

Pokémon: Seel

Seventh on every difficulty. Seel is a pure Water type, but it opens Pryce’s Ice-themed team in Pokémon Gold and Silver ahead of Dewgong and Piloswine.

Blackthorn Gym: Clair

Dragon · Blackthorn City · Rising Badge

Pokémon: Dragonair

The eighth Gym Leader and the final opponent on Easy. Her Dragonair comes from the trio she fields before Kingdra in Pokémon Gold and Silver. Bonus trainers can only appear before her match.

The Elite Four and the Champion:

• JynxWill · Elite Four
• CrobatKoga · Elite Four
• HitmontopBruno · Elite Four
• MurkrowKaren · Elite Four
• DragoniteLance · Champion

Marathon Mode

It’s a game mode with infinite time, where the player tries to get the highest score possible. The higher the player’s score gets, the more the game speed increases, causing the mode to become more and more challenging. The two-player equivalent is VS mode, in which the players spawn extra blocks on their opponent’s side each time they make a combo. If the blocks reach the top of a player’s screen, their opponent is declared victorious.

Line Clear Mode

The Line Clear Mode features six rounds of five stages each, where the player has to clear all the blocks above a white line drawn on screen. This can be done either by clearing the blocks with combos, or by dropping them underneath the line. Once all blocks above the line are cleared, the player moves on to the next stage, and clearing all 30 stages leads to one final battle.

Time Zone Mode

It’s a time-limited mode, where the player tries to get the highest score possible within two minutes.

Puzzle Mode

In Puzzle Mode, there are several rounds, with each round having ten stages. In each stage, the player is presented with a different puzzle, with the goal of clearing all the blocks appearing on the screen using a limited number of moves. Clearing the blocks faster results in a better score. Once all the stages within a round are clear, the player may proceed to the next one. Professor Oak can offer up to three hints to the player during each round if they press Select.

Garbage Mode

Another infinite time mode, where the player tries to get the highest score, with garbage blocks falling from the top of the screen and increasing in number as the Garbage Level climbs (the speed at which the stack rises never changes). The player loses once the blocks stack up and reach the top.

In depth: the fine print

Playfield and core rulesBlocks rise steadily from the bottom of a 6×9 well, noticeably shorter than the 6×12 field of the console Puzzle League games. A two-block cursor swaps neighbouring pieces sideways, and lining up three or more of a kind clears them. Clearing four or more at once counts as a combo, while a clear set off by blocks dropping into place is a chain. Big combos and chains briefly pause the rising stack. In battles the rival’s field is never shown; a small gauge simply warns how close they are to topping out.

Hidden difficultiesChallenge Mode starts with Easy, Normal and Hard. Finishing Hard reveals the input for a fourth setting, Super Hard: highlight Hard, hold Select and press A. Beating Super Hard reveals the same trick for Intense, the hardest level in the game, entered by highlighting Super Hard and pressing Select and A together. Neither setting appears on the menu until its input has been entered, and both follow the full thirteen-opponent route through the Gyms and the Pokémon League to Lance.

Eggs and MarathonFour baby Pokémon, Igglybuff, Elekid, Cleffa and Magby, start out as Eggs on the Pokémon select screen. An Egg cannot be played at first, but it hatches as the player keeps playing, after which the baby becomes selectable. Unlike the rest of the roster, the four hatchlings can only be used in Marathon, the endless high-score mode. Marathon’s Easy setting uses five block types, while Normal and Hard add a sixth, the dark blue triangle.

Two-player link modesWith two cartridges and a Game Link Cable, friends can play three head-to-head modes. VS is a straight battle in which combos and chains send garbage across to the rival; Time Zone becomes a two-minute contest for the higher score; and Line Clear turns into a race to empty the field first. Matches are played over sets rather than single rounds. The 3DS Virtual Console release drops all link play, because the emulator cannot reproduce the cable connection.

Power-on codes and extrasA few button tricks are entered on the opening screen while Pikachu smiles. Left, A, B, Up removes the pause that normally follows a combo or chain, and B, A, Left, Left lets Marathon’s speed climb past its usual cap of 50 when it is set to 99. Elsewhere, holding Select and pressing A on the options screen reveals extra settings below the Gallery, and the same input on the records screen shows detailed combo, chain and block-clear statistics.

Panel de Pon GB & Hidden Extras

Pokémon Puzzle Challenge began life as a Game Boy version of Intelligent Systems’ Panel de Pon, and an almost finished build of that game – Panel de Pon GB, complete with the original fairy characters such as Lip – is still tucked away on the cartridge. It can be played on real hardware:

1. On a Game Boy Color, enter Up ×2, Right ×4, Down, Left ×10, Up ×4, Right, Down ×6, B on the title screen. The game switches into Game Boy mode.
2. The ‘Game Boy Color only’ warning screen appears. Press A 24 times, then B 24 times.
3. Panel de Pon GB starts. On an original Game Boy the warning screen appears straight away, so only the A and B part is needed.

The hidden build is unfinished: its VS. Com option runs a broken Garbage mode in which no garbage falls, and a Time Zone mode can only be reached by memory editing (see Glitches below).

Panel de Pon GB in action (video: LarviStar).

Left in the data

Data miners have found plenty more that never made it into the finished game:

• Three songs, track IDs 01, 04 and 1C, sit in the sound data without ever being played, alongside a large bank of unmapped Panel de Pon music including character themes, danger themes, game over and credits tracks.
• Four digitised voice clips, ‘Nintendo!’, ‘Congratulations!’, ‘Here we go!’ and ‘Hooray!’, survive in the ROM together with a playback routine that the game never calls.
• A debug screen and graphics viewer, reachable only with a cheat device, lets developers browse stage backdrops, character and Pokémon portraits, garbage block sets, Challenge Mode maps, the Pokémon League hallway, ending screens and Egg portraits.
• The Japanese ROM holds an unused title screen reading Pokémon Puzzle League, made by removing Lip’s sprites from the Panel de Pon GB title screen.
• Menu portraits for Primeape, Jynx and Hitmontop exist but never normally appear, and redrawn Panel de Pon character artwork and stage themes also remain in the data.

Regional Variations

Pokémon Puzzle Challenge changed a little from region to region, and the European cartridge saw the most changes:

• In Japan the game is called Pokémon de Panepon (ポケモンでパネポン), a play on Panel de Pon, the Intelligent Systems puzzler the series grew from; the Western title drops the reference, just as Tetris Attack had done.
• The European cartridge is multilingual, offering English, French, German, Spanish and Italian from a language select screen, whereas the North American cartridge is English only.
• The European cartridge also hides a Japanese language option, complete with its own flag, behind its language select screen; it can only be reached by memory editing, and much of its text has been replaced with English.
• In the hidden Panel de Pon GB mode, the European version renames the ‘FIREWORKS’ option to ‘SCROLL’.
• On the 3DS Virtual Console, North American systems receive only the English game, while European systems get the five-language version, even though Nintendo’s European eShop listing and website advertised English only.
• Japan received the game first, on 21 September 2000; North America followed on 4 December 2000 and Europe in June 2001, while Japan never received the 3DS Virtual Console release.

Glitches, exploits and oddities

A chain counter that gives up, a warning screen with leftovers, and a hidden game that was never finished:

Question-mark chain counter

The chain counter has a ceiling. When a player manages a chain of 30 or more links, the indicator stops showing a number and displays a question mark instead. Reaching that length takes enormous skill or very careful set-up play, so most players never see it, but recordings of 30-chains have circulated online for years as proof that it can be done on real hardware.

Game Boy Color-only screen leftovers

Switching the game into Game Boy mode, or running it on an original Game Boy, brings up the usual warning that the cartridge needs a Game Boy Color. That screen appears to reuse leftover code from Tetris Attack’s title screen, and a second, linked copy of the game may wrongly treat it as being ready for multiplayer. The same screen doubles as the gateway to the hidden Panel de Pon GB mode.

Broken modes in Panel de Pon GB

The hidden Panel de Pon GB build is unfinished, and it shows. Its VS. Com option loads the right graphics but runs a broken version of Garbage mode in which no garbage ever falls. A Time Zone mode is also present but can only be reached by memory editing; some of its graphics are damaged, the game hangs if the mode value is wrong, and it is the only mode able to end in a ‘winning’ game over.

Videos & media

Check out these Pokémon Puzzle Challenge videos, including the intro, the Virtual Console trailer and the music that went unused.

The intro / opening video for Pokémon Puzzle Challenge.

Trailer for the Virtual Console re-release.

Three different unused pieces of music which are present in the data files for Puzzle Challenge but never made it to the final release version.

Trivia & facts

• 

  The game was re-released on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console in 2014, with the same modes except for the multiplayer feature, since the Game Link Cable isn’t available on the 3DS.

• If the player manages to make a very long chain (30 or more), the game stops counting the chain number, showing ‘?’ instead.
• There’s a hidden, unfinished Game Boy version of Panel de Pon within Pokémon Puzzle Challenge. To reach it on a Game Boy Color, enter Up ×2, Right ×4, Down ×1, Left ×10, Up ×4, Right ×1, Down ×6, B at the title screen, then press A 24 times and B 24 times on the ‘Game Boy Color only’ screen that follows (see Panel de Pon GB above).
• The game was supposed to be released as Pokémon Attack, a working title that made it even more clearly based on Tetris Attack. It was then briefly called Pokémon Puzzle League, before that name went to the Nintendo 64 game.
• There are three songs within the game’s data files that are not used at any point in the game. Click here to listen to them at TCRF.

Further trivia

• The North American release on 4 December 2000 fell on the 35th birthday of Veronica Taylor, the English voice of Ash Ketchum at the time.
• Before details emerged, IGN guessed that Nintendo’s new Pokémon puzzle game might be an English version of Puyo Puyo Sun.
• Every Gym Leader, Elite Four member and the Champion fights with a single Pokémon, so Whitney turns up without her infamous Miltank and Lance brings one Dragonite rather than the three he uses in Gold and Silver.
• Nintendo of Europe’s own product page for the Virtual Console release lists Game Freak and Creatures as the developers, even though the game was made by Intelligent Systems.

Legacy

What came after

• Japanese release as Pokémon de Panepon (Game Boy Color) – 21 September 2000. The first release, three months ahead of North America.
• North American release (Game Boy Color) – 4 December 2000. Launched as Pokémon Puzzle Challenge after the working titles Pokémon Attack and Pokémon Puzzle League.
• European release (Game Boy Color) – 8 June 2001. Multilingual cartridge with English, French, German, Spanish and Italian text.
• Australian release (Game Boy Color) – 15 June 2001. Rated G.
• Dr. Mario & Puzzle League (Game Boy Advance) – 2005. The next handheld Puzzle League game, pairing the block-swapper with Dr. Mario; no Pokémon theme.
• Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console, North America – 6 November 2014. Single-player only; the Game Link Cable modes are disabled.
• Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console, Europe and Australia – 27 November 2014. Priced at £4.49 / €4.99 in Europe; European systems receive the five-language version.
• Nintendo 3DS eShop closes to new purchases – 27 March 2023. The Virtual Console version can no longer be bought, though existing owners can redownload it.
• Dr. Mario & Puzzle League added to Nintendo Switch Online (Game Boy Advance library) – 8 July 2026. The closest thing to Puzzle Challenge on a current Nintendo system; Puzzle Challenge itself has not been added.

Where to play it today

The original Game Boy Color cartridge remains the most complete way to play, as only it offers link-cable multiplayer, and it runs on Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance hardware. Owners of the 3DS Virtual Console release can still redownload it, but it has not been on sale since March 2023. As of October 2026 it is not part of Nintendo Switch Online; Dr. Mario & Puzzle League in the Game Boy Advance library is the nearest substitute.

How it was made

Pokémon Puzzle Challenge was made by Intelligent Systems, the studio behind Panel de Pon, and it started life as a Game Boy version of that game: a nearly complete Panel de Pon GB is still hidden inside the cartridge. Toshihiro Nishii and Hitoshi Yamagami directed, with Takehiro Izushi, Ryoichi Kitanishi and Tsunekazu Ishihara producing, while Taishi Senda and Minako Hamano wrote the music. Game Freak’s Ken Sugimori, Junichi Masuda and Kazuhito Sekine supervised the Pokémon content. Nintendo’s Peter Main revealed the project in a webcast on 13 January 2000 under the working title Pokémon Attack, a nod to Tetris Attack. It was then briefly renamed Pokémon Puzzle League, a name that went instead to the Nintendo 64 game, before settling on Pokémon Puzzle Challenge. Nintendo considered holding it back until 2001, but the delay of Kirby Tilt ‘n’ Tumble opened a slot for a December 2000 launch in North America. Bill Trinen handled the English localisation.

Pokémon Puzzle Challenge elsewhere

Sales & reviews

Sales

No official sales figures have been published for Pokémon Puzzle Challenge, in Japan or elsewhere, so how many copies it sold is unknown. The reviews tell a clearer story.

Review scores

Pokémon Puzzle Challenge was very well received, managing to get very high scores on major review websites. Let’s take a look at these scores:

• Craig Harris from IGN, very fond of Tetris games, stated that “The overall design is an amazingly addictive and maniacal puzzle game”, rating the game 9/10, the equivalent of ‘Amazing’ on the IGN scale, along with an Editor’s Choice award.
• Frank Provo from GameSpot was also amazed by the game and gave it 8.9/10, which equates to ‘Great’ on the GameSpot scale, as a game “that does the Pokémon license proud”, in his words.
• On GameRankings (which closed in 2019), Pokémon Puzzle Challenge earned an astonishing score of 90.20% from 10 reviews. Metacritic doesn’t cover Game Boy Color games, so it has no Metacritic score.
• Timmy Petersson reviewed the title on behalf of Pokémon Dungeon, scoring it 4.5 stars out of 5. ItsJiv also reviewed it but wasn’t quite as impressed, and scored it 3 stars out of 5.
• Overall, and as the scores show, the game successfully brings the Puzzle League formula to the Game Boy Color, with fun, challenging and very addictive gameplay.

Critics broadly agreed that Intelligent Systems had squeezed the Tetris Attack formula on to the Game Boy Color with little lost. IGN’s Craig Harris found it as compulsive as ever and handed it an Editor’s Choice award, though he missed the puzzle editor of the console game. GameSpot’s Frank Provo praised the generous spread of six single-player and three link modes and felt the game honoured the Pokémon name, docking only a little for the absent Nintendo 64 extras. Nintendo Power gave it full marks and Electronic Gaming Monthly a 9, while a few voices, including the Associated Press, pointed out that it broke no new ground and that the Pokémon dressing was only skin-deep. Reviewing the 2014 Virtual Console release, Nintendo Life still rated it a strong buy for puzzle fans despite the loss of two-player play.

Awards and honours:

Media & artwork

• Box art from Pokémon Puzzle Challenge, including numerous regional variations and editions
• Screenshots from Pokémon Puzzle Challenge

Further reading

More puzzle and Game Boy Color links on the site: