Puzz Loop

Puzz Loop is a 1998 tile-matching arcade puzzle game developed by Mitchell Corporation in 1998 In Japan and North America And 1999 In Europe. It was later ported to the Game Boy Color, PlayStation and Samsung Nuon DVD players under the name Ballistic. The original Puzz Loop game was also known by this title. In 2008, publisher Hudson Soft released the game on Apple's App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Puzz Loop
Cover for PlayStation version of Puzz Loop
Developer(s)	Mitchell Corporation
Platform(s)	Arcade, Game Boy Color, PlayStation, Neo Geo Pocket Color, Nuon, iOS
Release	Arcade JP: December 1998 NA: December 1998 EU: January 1999 PlayStation NA: October 31, 1999 JP: March 16, 2000 EU: October 20, 2000 Game Boy Color NA: November 1999 JP: March 17, 2000 Nuon NA: July 2000
Genre(s)	Puzzle
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players alternating
Arcade system	Kaneko Super Nova System

The original Puzz Loop was followed by a sequel, Puzz Loop 2, in 2001.

Gameplay

In the game, marbles of different colors roll down a spiral path towards a central goal, which the player must stop by shooting new marbles using a cannon into the oncoming ones. The marbles disappear if player matches three or more marbles of the same color. In addition, collecting bonus items attached to marbles can, for example, temporarily slow down the rate the marbles advance or cause all marbles of the same color to disappear.

The game is over once the marbles are pushed over the goal threshold.

Sequel

Puzz Loop 2 is an arcade puzzle game by Mitchell Corporation which was released in 2001 on Capcom's CPS-2 hardware.

Gameplay is exactly the same as its predecessor, with the player needing to deplete all the colored balls before they hit the center of the screen. The most popular feature of Puzz Loop 2 was the two-player versus mode.

Clones

The success of Puzz Loop led to a number of clones with identical or nearly-identical gameplay from other companies including Zuma, the Luxor series, Tumblebugs, Potpourrii, Butterfly Escape, Loco, Bonsai Blast, and Bonbon Factory.[1][2] Mitchell alleges that Zuma, one of the more popular clones, directly infringes on their intellectual property.[3][4] In reply, Zuma developer PopCap Games asserts that their game is "not an exact clone", but an elaboration of Mitchell's original idea.[5]

Mitchell itself released a version of the game for the Nintendo DS called Magnetica in 2006. A Wii version of Magnetica was released via WiiWare in 2008.[6]

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed Puzz Loop on their March 1, 1999 issue as being the eight most-successful arcade game of the year.[7] Game Machine also listed Puzz Loop 2 on their April 1, 2001 issue as being the thirdteenth most-successful arcade game of the year.[8]

Jeff Lundrigan reviewed the PlayStation version of the game for Next Generation, rating it four stars out of five, and stated that "OK, so it's an ultimately derivative action puzzler; but give it a shot and we guarantee you won't want to put it down."[9]

See also

• Tokyo Crash Mobs

References

1. "Puzz Loop variants". MobyGames. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
2. "Games". JVL Labs. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
3. "Feature: shokkingu hitofude". Insertcredit.com. Archived from the original on 2006-06-15. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
4. "Soapbox: Ripping Off Japan - Japanese Video Game Copyright Protection & Preservation (Or Lack Thereof)". Gamasutra. 2006-10-24. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
5. "(requires subscription)". Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
6. "Minna de Puzzleloop/Magnetica WiiWare dated". Gonintendo.com. 2008-04-16. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
7. "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - TVゲーム機ーソフトウェア (Video Game Software)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 582. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 March 1999. p. 25.
8. "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - TVゲーム機ーソフトウェア (Video Game Software)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 631. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 April 2001. p. 21.
9. Lundrigan, Jeff (January 2000). "Finals". Next Generation. Vol. 3 no. 1. Imagine Media. p. 97.

External links

• Puzz Loop at the Killer List of Videogames