Top 5 - 2 Player VS Puzzle Games

One of the genres that I enjoy playing with friends is puzzle games. Usually the rules are simple enough for others to grasp, and competitive play is possible with some of them, which I will be focusing on in this Top 5 Ranking of my favorite 2 player VS puzzle games. 

#5: Dr. Mario

Starting back in the NES era, I've played several different kinds of puzzle games. Such as Yoshi, Yoshi's Cookie, Puzzle Bubble/Bust-A-Move, and more recently, Puzzle Quest: Galactrix, Pokemon Trozei, and couple of other puzzle games that may have a 2 player VS mode. I felt that Galactrix came close to being in the ranking, except for the fatal flaw of having some ridiculously broken ship equipments that doesn't even give the opponent a chance. With equipments that can prevent your opponent from being able to move for up to 5 turns, and be able to recharge this move within those 5 turns, the other player can't do anything but just watch you win a horribly one-sided game, until they mess up.

In the end, #5 goes to Dr. Mario for ... well, having the element of sending your opponent some junk pieces when you do a chain or combo. The amount of junk pieces you send really isn't a big deal in this game, but with the main goal of the game being a race to see who can clear the level first, those junk pieces can slow down your opponent enough to get ahead on your own game.

As an added bonus, here's a ridiculous TAS Combo video. I'd like to know how many junk pieces this would send...

#4: Tetris Variants

Tetris is a huge title, and you know it. There are so many different Tetris games out there, and some of them aren't even Tetris anymore. But #4 goes to two of my favorite actual Tetris games, Tetris DS, and Magical Tetris Challenge for the Nintendo 64 / PlayStation. Both these games have several different Tetris VS Modes to offer a different style of playing Tetris with your buddies.

In Tetris DS, I enjoy the Standard and Push Mode in VS. Magical Tetris Challenge has a similar mode to Standard on Tetris DS called UpDown Mode, but I feel that the Magical Gauge that can help you recover from a tough situation gets in the way more when crazy Pentris and Counter pieces aren't involved.

Speaking of the Pentris and Counter pieces, it's a whole new level of Tetris. In Magical Tetris Mode, instead of pushing your opponent's upwards, you send them these often-difficult-to-use Pentris pieces for clearing many lines at once. You can send these pieces back to the sender by clearing lines yourself, which will send them a Counter Piece, starting by 2 x 2 blocks, which can also be countered, resulting in a 3 x 3 block, etc. until you end up with huge, 5 x 5 blocks. When your board is looking crazy, you can try filling your Magical Gauge by clearing multiple lines consecutively with each piece you get in a row. Doing so will ... well, you'll see in this video.

With how hectic the game can be with sending crazy pieces to each other and frantically clearing lines for a recovery makes this game a fun, and fairly competitive game. As far as the ranking goes though, I feel it's a tie between Tetris DS and Magical Tetris Challenge.

#3: Tetris Attack / Panel de Pon

Tetris Attack is one of those games that isn't a Tetris game like above, since it has nothing to do with moving around 4 blocked pieces to create a line, and yet the Tetris name was slapped on to increase sales in the US, similarly to Bust-A-Move and Puzzle Bubble. However, it makes me wonder whether if such a move was all that necessary considering how popular Tetris Attack is in general. It is considered to be one of the best competitive VS Puzzle games. Frankly, I agree. The top 3 in this ranking comes very close to each other IMO, and it's because they share something in common; Chains and Combos. To attack the opponent by sending junk pieces, you must pull off some huge chains and combos, which makes these puzzle games fun and interesting. Why? Because it is one of those games where playing it is easy, but mastering it is difficult. A good game will usually follow this formula, and this game does so fairly well.

The size of your attacks can vary depending on how big of a chain and/or combo you pull off. Naturally, a really long chain will send a really big attack that will greatly hinder your opponent for a good, long time. Of course, pulling off a really long chain is difficult without practice, and even with practice, there's always room for improvement, usually.

A specific title worth mentioning is Pokemon Puzzle League on the Nintendo 64, also available on the Wii's Virtual Console. Aside from the normal 2D Panel de Pon gameplay, a 3D mode looping around can be possible as well as seen in this x64 Chain video.

#2: Puyo Pop / Puyo Puyo

Puyo Pop is another big title when it comes to puzzle games, especially in Japan. It's been on of my favorite puzzle series for a very long time, and it's great that it's been getting newer iterations that adds more to its gameplay.

This is another puzzle game where Chains and Combos make this game so great. With the Puyo Puyo Fever Mode taking in the similar counter/gauge aspect in Magical Tetris Challenge, it adds that hectic come-back gameplay that was shown in the video previously. If you clear some Puyo while junk pieces are looming above you to drop down on you, it fills up your gauge at the center of the screen to go into Fever mode. Fever Mode is similar to how the Magical Gauge in Magical Tetris Challenge sets you up for an easy Tetris/Pentris, it sets you up with many chains to unleash unto your opponent until the time runs out.

Another element that puts this game above others is the character selection. Probably isn't that big of a deal, but it provides some different pieces than usual, like having 3 or 4 puyos dropping down together instead of the usual 2. It's all up to the player's preference, I suppose, but this slight customization of your puzzle pieces is something that we haven't really seen in any of the previous puzzle games listed in this ranking.

Some very competitive gameplay of Puyo Puyo Fever.

Similarly, the newest iteration has Giant and Tiny Fever Transformation Modes. Similar concept, while the Giant option allows for people who don't have a "Chain Brain" to be able to effectively use their Fever Mode by simply clearing giant puyos. Makes it easier for newer players to get an advantage without having to see the chain patterns.

There are quite a bit of variations of modes and rules available, depending on which game you pick up, but usually, the latest releases will most likely provide the best Puyo Puyo experience.

#1: Meteos 

Yes, my favorite competitive 2 player puzzle game is Meteos on the DS. Chains and Combos are still involved, although not as directly important in attacking the opponent, depending on the planet you chose to save.

The reason why I chose Meteos as #1 is because of the great variety of planets to choose from; each with their many unique features that makes them very different from each other. From the width of the board that determines how many blocks can fit horizontally, the ratio of what element blocks will appear, the different behavior with gravity and upward thrust from aligning 3+ blocks in a row, etc. Does that mean that the planets may be unbalanced from each other? Possibly. But the option of a very different play style as well as theme keeps this game fresh at all times, hardly getting stale.

The rules of the game is fairly simple. Make 3 in a row (like Tetris Attack) by swapping pieces vertically (unlike Tetris Attack which swaps horizontally) to launch them into the sky and send the pieces to your opponent.

Aside from the DS version, there is also Meteos Wars on Xbox Live, which I have no experience with, since I don't have an XBox. I wish it could also be on the PlayStation Network, but it's been so long since the game's out, I'm not sure whether if it will ever happen. Perhaps hoping for a new Meteos game is more realistic at this point.

Interesting note: The game designer for Meteos is Masahiro Sakurai, who designed other popular games like Kirby and Super Smash Bros.

So there you have it. My Top 5 2 player Puzzle games, although the top 2 games can be played with more than 2 people as well. Hopefully this list will offer some fun times with other players as much as I have had with people I have played against. Also, if you have any requests for other rankings I could do, drop me a comment or let me know in the chat. Keep on gaming, players.