Forgotten Retro Games: Puzzle De Pon!

Another new feature: Forgotten Retro Games. I play a lot of video games so, might as well do some features on it. This post looks at games that are largely forgotten, underplayed or rare. All games in the feature are guaranteed to be good games and offer the gamer something to make  playing them worthwhile.

Today it's Puzzle De Pon! an arcade game that ran off  Neo Geo's awesome MVS system. It was made by Visco\Taito.

What is it about?
Puzzle De Pon! was released in 1995. It is very similar to Puzzle Bobble in terms of gameplay. It features no cutesy dinosaurs though. You play a girl who has to release a Zodiac sign by firing coloured balls and matching the colours making them to pop and release it. As far as Puzzle Bobble clones go, this is one of the better ones, much better than Bubble Popper.

Why you might not have played it?
The game didn't appear in many arcades. I'm not sure about in the US or other countries, but certainly in the UK; Neo Geo cabinets were hard to find back in the day and most featured Magician Lord or King of Fighters. Puzzle De Pon! is not necessarily rare, it was just overshadowed by other games.

What's good about it?
Nice, bright (and I mean bright), colourful graphics. A slightly different gameplay style makes it stand out from other bubble pop games. The game is challenging, but not hard. If you played it in the arcade and put a few coins in, you would never walk away feeling ripped off unlike if you played, Dragon's Lair. 

What's bad about it?
Cheesy music that grates after a while. Like Puzzle Bobble it's maybe a bit too cute for its own good. Also, if you don't like puzzle games this won't convert you. It's not as good as Puzzle Bobble or Tetris.

Where can I find it?
If you're a serious collector circuit boards turn up on eBay occasionally. Otherwise it is emulated for Mame. A version was planned for the underrated handheld Neo Geo Pocket, but it was unreleased. A sequel called Puzzle De Pon! R also exists featuring new levels and maybe slightly improved graphics (I can't tell).

Links
Puzzle de Pon at KLOV