Comfort Food

Rediscovering the origins of Tetris Attack

It was Thanksgiving this week here in America! I start with that for a couple of reasons. First to call out that it’s going to be a bit of a shorter post this week (I’m writing this intro first so sorry in advance if this is an absolute lie), all the required prep and travel left less wiggle room for sitting down for a game. But I also wanted to say thank you for reading! When you start a project you never know how it’s going to go, whether anyone will actually read what you write or if you’ll even like the process enough to stick with it. Thankfully, for me, both have been true.

I selfishly have a little call to action for you too. I’d love if you could share other people whose video game writing you enjoy. In the new year I want to include more links to others to further engage in the community, spread some of the fun, and hopefully find inspiration (and more things to add to the backlog). 2024 was about my own personal mission to get back in the groove of writing, but I want 2025 to be about extending past myself. So reach out with your suggestions here.

With that, let’s talk about rediscovering an old favorite with a slight twist.

Panel de Pon

I love to give peeks behind the curtain on how I decide what games to write about for each post. Sometimes there is some foresight - I progressed in a couple titles that will be appearing here later down the line after I’ve made more progress - but often times there’s a game that takes hold of me while I’m walking towards a totally different game. Inspired by all of the Donkey Kong Country music I’ve been consuming on the Nintendo Music app, I was planning to spend time with the actual game - something I haven’t done since I would stay at my grandfather’s house back in the late 90s. So I loaded up Nintendo Switch Online, gave the catalog a quick perusal, and all my plans were thrown out the window when I discovered it contained Panel de Pon.

Now I had never actually played Panel de Pon since it was only ever released in Japan, but a core memory of my childhood is playing the American version, Tetris Attack, with my cousins. Both were developed by Nintendo’s Intelligent Systems team, so gameplay wise the two are identical. Players are faced with a screen of rising colored blocks and are tasked with arranging them in vertical or horizontal matching sequences to make them disappear. There are the usual gameplay modes you’d expect, including a story mode, time attack and multiplayer. I don’t regularly play these kinds of puzzle games, but I still found myself in a trance that only the need for food could break. I primarily played through the Stage Clear mode which has you clearing blocks up to a designated line with the speed of play gradually increasing with the stage number. I found myself in a flow state similar to what I can get into with a game like Hades where my brain starts to operate at a speed that made previously challenging levels seem slow by comparison.

The multiplayer also stands the test of time. I don’t play many video games competitively with my wife, but I wanted to recreate those childhood memories and Panel de Pon provided the ability to make the game fun for both of us. It allows players to add a speed handicap to their respective boards so each can find the best challenging pace for themselves without sacrificing competition. There’s also a balance in the Vs. mode since you can either choose to focus on setting up combos that send garbage blocks to your opponent’s screen or just keeping your pile of blocks as low as possible. There’s a small level of strategy that’s unnecessary, but still incredibly fun.

The big difference between Panel de Pon and Tetris Attack is in the overall cosmetic package. The Japanese game features original fairy characters and settings while the American version replaces them with more familiar faces from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island. I found this video that gives a thorough rundown of the differences, but fortunately the cute and whimsical aesthetic that lodged itself into my brain remains largely unchanged. The charm of the game’s design elements is undeniable. I was in my happy place admiring the beautiful background art and character designs. I’m in full-on hype man mode, but even the colors of the blocks feel locked in to just the right shades to maximize the vibe.

Acting as the cherry on top to this delectable sundae of a game is the music. There are some minor differences here between the two versions with Tetris Attack containing a few tracks based on Yoshi’s other adventures, but the core of what I remember is still in the original version. From the opening notes of the title track you know you’re in for a good time. The tracks blend an airy melody with a driving bass section that perfectly compliments the gameplay. The melodies are what manifest that blissful feeling I’ve come to associate with this game for so many years, but the thumps of the bass are the underlying motivation to clear the level quickly. Each stage track also has an additional “Critical” version that activates when you are close to losing that is equal parts exciting and terrifying.

This is one of those games that is both universally accessible and timeless. It’s also an exercise in the importance of game preservation. I feel like I rarely hear people talk about Tetris Attack, and I think that’s because the name is not really prevalent today. It’s unlikely that Tetris Attack will ever be widely available because of the use of the Tetris name. In an interview over a decade ago it was communicated that since Tetris Attack isn’t really a Tetris game that it was seen as diluting the brand. For now, the Nintendo Switch Online version of Panel de Pon is the best we’ll be able to get. But it’s a game so good I’ll gladly pull up Google Translate when I undoubtedly feel the pull to hop back in.