Puzzling Franchises: Genre-Hopping Games

I’d argue that puzzle games became mainstream to the public with the introduction of Tetris on the Nintendo Game Boy in 1989. While it was originally developed and released in 1984, having the power of the game in the palm of your hands made it an incredibly addictive form of entertainment – not to mention that there was the ability to play against your friends.

Soon after, everyone was trying to get a piece of the puzzle pie. So began an endless stream of developers who would slap their beloved characters onto generic puzzle games in order to capitalize on the craze. Since June 6th is officially “World Tetris Day,” it’s only fitting that we take a look at a few other franchises that also dabbled in the puzzle genre (for better or worse…)!

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Dr. Mario
(1990, NES)

Speaking of hopping… Mario was firmly established in the platforming genre ever since his first appearance in the original Donkey Kong arcade game. By the time Dr. Mario showed up, we already had three solid Super Mario entries on the NES and one on the Game Boy. Suddenly, Mario trades in his plunger for a stethoscope, and a hit puzzle game is born!

Did we question it? No! Did we love it? Yes! Now, bring on the cool groove of that Chill music, and let’s eliminate some viruses!

Yoshi/Yoshi’s Cookie
(1991/1992, NES)

Yoshi quickly became a beloved character as he was one of the prominent new features of Super Mario World for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990. Perhaps he had been dropped off a cliff so many times that he decided to go into the world of puzzling! Despite being the title character, it’s still Mario who is pulling all the strings (wait, now he’s a baker! Gosh, he sure has a lot of hats.).

Wario’s Woods
(1994, SNES)

Wario was the main antagonist of Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins for the Game Boy in 1992 and got his own platforming adventure in the “sequel” of 1994. I don’t think Nintendo knew what to do with him, though, so not only did they throw him into a Bomberman game with Wario Blast, but they also made him the face of Wario’s Woods – both releasing in the same year. Weirder yet is that you don’t even control Wario in this game – you play as Toad who is desperately trying to rid a tree of colorful bombs. Surely Toad is on track to be the new head of the Mushroom Kingdom EPA!

Puzzle Bobble
(1994, Arcade)

8 years after the release of Bubble Bobble, Puzzle Bobble (or Bust-a-Move) made its way into the arcades, and it included the cute dinosaur-esque duo of Bub and Bob. While in the first game you were using bubbles to try to clear away your enemies, now you’re using bubbles to clear away…other bubbles! And suddenly you’re equipped with a giant bubble-launching machine. Technology has really come a long way in the Bubble Bobble universe!

Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
& Kirby’s Avalanche
(1993, Sega Genesis
& 1995, SNES)

Huh. Kirby’s Avalanche sure looks a lot like Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine. Well, that’s because they’re both re-skins of a completely different puzzle game, Puyo Puyo, an arcade game from 1991. The rabbit hole goes even deeper because Puyo Puyo is a puzzle game based on characters from yet ANOTHER game, Madō Monogatari, which is a 1990 RPG for PC! YOU get a Puyo! YOU get a Puyo! EVERYONE gets a Puyo!!!!!!

Mario’s Picross
(1995, Game Boy)

Here’s a strange case where adding Mario to the title didn’t necessarily bolster a game’s sales. (Well, hold on…let me think about this…Mario Teaches Typing… Mario is Missing… Mario’s Time Machine… Hotel Mario…). Ahem. Anyway… This time, Mario dusts off his archaeologist skills to chisel away at square grids a la Minesweeper, revealing a hidden picture at the end. At least, he’s depicted as an archaeologist sporting the traditional explorer’s garb, rope and all. Wouldn’t it make more sense to show him as a sculptor? You know, someone who actually chisels pictures out of stone?

Rampage Puzzle Attack
(2001, Game Boy Advance)

After doing a quick search of Rampage games, I’ve learned that almost all of them are rated an average of about 5/10. So, with that boppin’ success rate and hot off the heels of Rampage Through Time for the PS1, it’s no wonder Midway Games decided to license out their iconic giant monster characters to try their hand in another genre. Thus, Rampage Puzzle Attack is born! But wait, no… no… it’s just another clone of Drop Mania. Oddly enough, the game did score better. I’d rather smash up buildings and eat people, though.

Pokémon Puzzle League
(2000, N64)

Not even Pokémon is safe from the world of puzzles. Could it be? A totally original puzzle game using images from one of our favorite anime series? No, of course not! Tetris Attack (Panel de Pon in Japan) was released 5 years earlier on the Super Nintendo, and it’s the exact style of gameplay. This is like when macaroni and cheese companies put cartoon characters on their packaging to entice children to their buy their product (or adult men, i.e. me).

Energy Converter in Mega Man ZX
(2006, Nintendo DS)

The Energy Converter puzzle game found in Mega Man ZX isn’t actually a full game. Rather, it’s a bonus mini-game that can be accessed via an arcade in one of the main areas of the world. Following the trend that we’ve been seeing on this list already, it doesn’t connect in the slightest to the Mega Man series. The goal is to link falling, colored crystals with a similar color below it, eliminating everything in between (a la Othello). These crystals don’t even appear in the game. By 2006, we’ve had at least four separate Mega Man series from which they could have pulled icons. But, no…we just get generic crystals. A very strange choice for additional content!

Puzzle De Harvest Moon
(2007, Nintendo DS)

Is a life of farming not exciting enough for you? Try Puzzle De Harvest Moon! I watched a few minutes of YouTube footage for this game, and it looked like frantic chaos. Basically, you compete against three other players to try to harvest as many crops as possible, again using a similar setup to Othello to maximize your output. In classic DS style, you spend a majority of the game just rubbing the screen as hard as possible, risking severe hand injuries. I think I would have more fun actually farming!

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Phew – we’ve reached the end! When I first came up with this idea, I invited fellow blogger, Kim from Later Levels, to collaborate with her very own article about puzzle games. You may remember her from our previous collaborations about zombies and another about schools.

Well, she’s in the midst of a complete blog overhaul, and it’s not quite ready yet. So, I invite YOU instead to follow her Twitch channel where she’ll be doing a livestream (TBA) about the topic! She can be found at: https://www.twitch.tv/laterlevels

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Thanks for stopping by to read my article! Can you think of any other puzzlers that pull characters from popular franchises? Leave me a comment, and tell me about it!

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