Puzzled[a] is a falling-block puzzle video game developed and published by SNK that was released for Neo Geo arcade hardware in 1990, the Neo Geo home console in 1991,[1] and the Neo Geo CD in 1994.[2] The game was ported to mobile phones in 2005, then was re-published by D4 Enterprise on the Wii Virtual Console in June 2011,[3] and it is also one of the twenty games that came pre-loaded on the Neo Geo X console released in 2012.[4] It was also ported in August 2017 to Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 as part of Hamster Corporation's ACA Neo Geo series.
Puzzled | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | SNK |
Publisher(s) | SNK |
Producer(s) | Eikichi Kawasaki |
Composer(s) | Yoshihiko Kitamura |
Platform(s) | Arcade, Neo Geo AES, Neo Geo CD |
Release | |
Genre(s) | Puzzle |
Mode(s) | |
Arcade system | Neo Geo MVS |
The visuals of Puzzled look a lot like Tetris and the core gameplay is the same:[5] the player controls tetrominos falling from the top of the screen, and filling a horizontal lines clears it.[6][7] However, the objective is to clear a vertical path for a hot air balloon initially trapped at the bottom of each level, enabling it to fly off the top of the playing field and moving up to the next level of a tower.[8][9]
The tower is divided into multiple floors, with 10 levels per floor, totaling 60 different puzzles.[10][11] Some levels feature varied obstacles like robots floating around the puzzle to attack the balloon, regenerating blocks, and gold blocks that need to be cleared multiple times before disappearing.[8] The player can also use a power-up called an "L-Ball": a meter fills up as lines are cleared, and once ready, the player can trigger a lightning ball to explode outwards from the balloon's current location, removing surrounding blocks.[8]
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
GameRankings | (Switch) 30%[12] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Nintendo Life | (Switch) 3 / 10[13] |
AllGame | (Neo Geo) [14] |
Hobby Hi-Tech | (Neo Geo CD) 6 / 10[15] |
Joystick | (Neo Geo) 90%[16] (Neo Geo) 91%[17] |
Mega Fun | (Neo Geo) 76%[18] |
Micom BASIC Magazine | (Neo Geo) [19] |
Neo Geo Freak | (Arcade) 13 / 20[20] |
Player One | (Neo Geo) 92%[21] |
Tilt | (Neo Geo) 14 / 20[22] |
In Japan, Game Machine listed Puzzled on their December 15, 1990 issue as being the most-successful table arcade unit of the month, outperforming titles such as Carrier Air Wing and Raiden.[23]
The graphics of Puzzled were described as being simplistic and unremarkable but well-designed and efficient.[6][10] The sound effects were also considered minimalistic but enjoyable for a game of this type.[6][10]
The game's multiplayer portion was criticized for not featuring any interactions between the two simultaneous players.[10][11]