Tetris Attack / Panel de Pon

Sometimes an unassuming little game turns out to be one of the best competitive puzzlers of all time. That's exactly what happened with Tetris Attack, which in the West hid the Japanese original Panel de Pon beneath a colourful Yoshi coat.

The principle is brilliantly simple. On the playing field you shift adjacent blocks horizontally, trying to line up three or more of the same colour in a row and clear them. The real fun, however, begins with chaining combos and so-called combos and chains: a cleverly set-up fall of blocks triggers a cascade of clearing that dumps a heap of unclearable rows onto your opponent's screen. On top of that the blocks keep rising from below, so you play under permanent time pressure.

Although the name refers to Tetris, the game has practically nothing in common with the traditional falling of tetrominoes. It's its own original system that emphasizes quick planning and anticipating cascades. That is precisely where its depth lies, which the simple rules don't reveal at first glance.

The absolute peak is the two-player duel. The versus mode against a live opponent is among the most thrilling things the puzzle genre has to offer: one well-executed chain can turn a seemingly lost match around, and the duels become an adrenaline-fuelled battle of nerves and reflexes. No wonder the game received a whole string of reincarnations and sequels in a series that later continued under the Puzzle League brand.

Recolouring it into the world of Yoshi from Panel de Pon made the title more accessible to a Western audience, but the gameplay core remained untouched and still ranks among the best in the genre.

Why play it: For one of the best competitive puzzlers ever, whose combo chaining and two-player duels offer surprising depth and adrenaline.