Puzzled | |
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Developer(s) | SNK |
Publisher(s) | SNK |
Producer(s) | Eikichi Kawasaki |
Composer(s) | Yoshihiko Kitamura |
Platform(s) | Arcade, Neo Geo AES, Neo Geo CD |
Release | Arcade
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Genre(s) | Puzzle |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Arcade system | Neo Geo MVS |
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 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.
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] but 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]
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Aggregator | Score |
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GameRankings | (Switch) 30% [12] |
Publication | Score |
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Nintendo Life | (Switch) 3 / 10 [13] |
AllGame | (Neo Geo) ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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) ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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]