Panel de Pon dressed in Pokemon colors, and it is every bit as clever as it is addictive. Block chains, solo challenges and local versus with anime characters and music make for a fresh, charming puzzler. A great underrated pick.
Your verdict
Category
Puzzle2 players3+
Description
Characters from the Pokémon animated series compete in block alignment and chain puzzle challenges in this original entry. Published by Nintendo, released in Europe in February 2001. Block alignment and chain puzzles, solo challenge and multiplayer versus modes, animated series characters and music. Multilingual version.
Pokemon Puzzle Challenge review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
1/5
Story
★★★★★
"Anecdotal"
The blocks borrow their symbols from the creature types, replacing plain colour with an icon recognisable even as the stack speeds up. In the side column, the portrait of the trainer being faced and their creature react to the run of play, a grimace of dismay or of triumph, giving a face to a genre that usually does without one.
At every chain threshold, a rising fanfare layers over the piece already playing without interrupting it, so that a long combination is heard as a stack of rewards rather than a change of track. The timbres chosen are crystalline, bells and short notes, a choice that lets the creatures' digitised cries cut through the mix without muddying it.
Gameplay
"Masterful"
Behind the Pokémon trappings hides one of the best swap-based puzzlers: you line up tiles, set off chains and bury your opponent under the blocks. Execution speed and anticipation create an addictive tension, alone or in a duel. The Panel de Pon concept has lost none of its finesse and remains a snappy treat even today.
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
Behind its cute looks hides one of the twitchiest puzzles around: swapping blocks to line up three colours and set off cascading combos. The versus against trainers quickly turns into a breathless duel, where one chain reaction flips everything. Easy to grasp, bottomless to master, it hooks instantly.
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Swapping blocks on the fly to line up three colors and set off cascading combos imposes a nervy rhythm you struggle to leave. The stack rises, the urgency climbs and each successful chain pushes back the deadline by reviving the tension. Beneath its Pokémon dressing hides one of the machine's most demanding puzzles, as gripping solo as in versus.
Pokémon adaptation of Nintendo's Panel de Pon engine, released in November 2000 in the United States and in February 2001 in Europe. Often mixed up with its Nintendo 64 sibling Pokémon Puzzle League, it actually uses a distinct combo system. Collector appeal hinges on its role as the portable, localized take on Panepon and on its relatively quiet commercial profile, which keeps it less exposed today than the mainline RPGs.
Better with friends
A Pokémon dressing on a stacking puzzler where you flip blocks to line up colors and drown your opponent under garbage. The competition rests on execution speed and the art of setting up big combos before you strike. The cable-linked versus needs two units, but the crystal-clear mechanic and last-second reversals make every duel addictive and ripe for back-to-back rematches.
Is Pokemon Puzzle Challenge still worth playing in 2026?
This handheld take on Panel de Pon dressed in Pokemon colors caught far less attention than Pokemon Puzzle League on N64, and that feels unfair. The Intelligent Systems engine offers exemplary clarity and demand, the chains turn hypnotic in no time, and the Pokemon layer adds a real progression to unlock rather than mere window dressing. The local versus mode across two Game Boy Color units remains a fine arena even today. An unjustly overlooked puzzle game well worth rediscovering.
