Puzznic
The late 80s were a very good time for
puzzle games of all kinds.
Half-forgotten BASIC games like
MaxIt were dug out again, and arcade
machine vendors tried hard to invent new ones. One such example
is Tamtex' Shisen-Sho, another is
Taito's Puzznic.
While Shisen-Sho tried to capitalize on the success of solitaire MahJongg games, Puzznic combined elements of Columns and Soko-Ban. You can push the blocks around, but only horizontally. They are subject to gravity. Two or more blocks with the same symbol will vanish when they come into contact. Goal is to clear each level completely. This is especially tricky if there are three of a type, since you have to make them all come into contact at the same time.
In 1990, Puzznic was ported to most of the platforms of the day. The ports were done by different companies and are therefore of different quality. One of the best ports, surprisingly, is for the Amstrad CPC. The Atari ST graphics, on the other hand, are among the worst. The original arcade machine rewarded the player with erotic pictures. The only other version that has something similar is the one for the Turbografx-16, but the pictures here are cutesy (and fully dressed) anime girls.
Year: