A falling block puzzle game, Teki-Paki is based around creating strings of 5 or more blocks vertically, horizontally or diagonally. The player drops L-Shaped 3-block pieces onto the game field. If the screen is filled, the game is over.
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Who knew shmup epitome Toaplan had their puzzle game as well and after a lot of you seem to have enjoyed looking at Cave's Puzzle Uo Poko and Puzzle! Mushihimetama with me, I think it's about time to review this exceptional genre manifestation . Teki Paki - Sennô Gêmu, translated for the west as "The Brainwashing Game", fell right into place after the impact of Tetris and its first epigones, though despite being reported a favorite to play at the developer's office wasn't among the most successful arcade cabinets for the company.
Ports for the Sega Mega Drive and Super Nintendo had been canceled just as a planned sequel was never finished. Teki Paki was made available for home consoles for the first time more recently, so if interested, you will find conversions for PS4, Nintendo Switch and Evercade.
One reason Teki Paki was overlooked back in the day could be that it doesn't appear to be more than Columns at another angle. And that's not entirely wrong. Instead of the greek framework the design was more like retro futuristic and it can't be denied that the player has to organize groups of three falling blocks in random colors. Beginning with those three blocks coming in an L-shape though, the game mechanics make Teki Paki an entirely different game at an advanced level.
It's not as obviously set apart like Dr. Mario, Panel de Pon or Puyo Puyo from Tetris, but just as you have to wrap your head around the system freshly, even coming from Columns a new way of thinking is required to even start mastering Teki Paki. The reasons are simple as they should be in a puzzle game.
First, the three combined blocks always come in three different colors, unlike in Columns, where there can be doubles. And then, whilst the L-shape makes it actually increasingly challenging to place your blocks, in Teki Paki it's not enough to combine just three blocks to make them pop out of the way.
It has to be an incredible amount of five blocks, but it gets more interesting by the fact those just have to be neighbors vertically, horizontally or diagonally, so you could clear a whole labyrinth spiraling through your pile should you be able to place a block accordingly.
On my first credit at Teki Paki I managed to hit like 8000 points and thought "WTF?!", because I used to make quite decent scores on Game Boy Tetris, GBA Puzzle League and Game Gear Columns a while ago. I must admit though, having played the Columns arcade for comparison directly, that the cabinet started out at a more challenging level, but I still could keep up with the pace for a while.
Now, Teki Paki doesn't hold back for long, adding two colors swiftly and only offering the smiley block (can connect with any color) for help and tries to lure you in with the promise to clear the screen for 100k should you be able to combine five dynamite blocks, which I never did yet, just as I haven't seen any silver or golden blocks the Toaplangames website says will give bonus points.
It doesn't matter to me that much for this review though, as Teki Paki soon turned out very addictive to me and the feeling of an existing chance to beat more of the 999 possible levels, but probably never actually finishing the game adds to that as much as I will unlikely ever report from a master's perspective. I leave that to the pros and just enjoy whatever I will accomplish.
Raving to the driving score by Tomoaki Takanohashi (published together with the Vimana OST by Scitron/Pony Canyon), who was also introduced into programming on Teki Paki, the game sounds quite different to the typical allaying music of the puzzle genre. Thinking ahead for rather complex combos is crucial to not end up filling the screen completely without any remaining chance. Though you can proceed on another credit, this alternative is reflected in your points and doesn't turn out as an option for me.
Still focused too much on the gameplay, Teki Paki in my case also doesn't qualify for the versus mode yet, like I particularly enjoy with Puyo Puyo Tetris and Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, but if you're into it, it's there. You'll probably just have to get your opponent on the couch for the conversions just like you would have to stand next to at the arcade.
I don't know why a fully grown puzzle game wouldn't be considered for a stand-alone release by today's standards, but included with the M2 Kyukyoku Tiger-Heli compilations for Switch and PS4 or the Toaplan Arcade 1 Evercade collection getting your hands on Teki Paki is ensured to be a bang for your buck.
Teki Paki might have been one of too many in its day, but as a fan of falling blocks, especially if you wipe your ass with Columns or Tetris 2, it's exactly the different of the same you want and by addressing the similar 1cc ethos of Shoot'em'up players it's actually a more than adequate addition to Toaplan's ludography.
Ports for the Sega Mega Drive and Super Nintendo had been canceled just as a planned sequel was never finished. Teki Paki was made available for home consoles for the first time more recently, so if interested, you will find conversions for PS4, Nintendo Switch and Evercade.
One reason Teki Paki was overlooked back in the day could be that it doesn't appear to be more than Columns at another angle. And that's not entirely wrong. Instead of the greek framework the design was more like retro futuristic and it can't be denied that the player has to organize groups of three falling blocks in random colors. Beginning with those three blocks coming in an L-shape though, the game mechanics make Teki Paki an entirely different game at an advanced level.
It's not as obviously set apart like Dr. Mario, Panel de Pon or Puyo Puyo from Tetris, but just as you have to wrap your head around the system freshly, even coming from Columns a new way of thinking is required to even start mastering Teki Paki. The reasons are simple as they should be in a puzzle game.
First, the three combined blocks always come in three different colors, unlike in Columns, where there can be doubles. And then, whilst the L-shape makes it actually increasingly challenging to place your blocks, in Teki Paki it's not enough to combine just three blocks to make them pop out of the way.
It has to be an incredible amount of five blocks, but it gets more interesting by the fact those just have to be neighbors vertically, horizontally or diagonally, so you could clear a whole labyrinth spiraling through your pile should you be able to place a block accordingly.
On my first credit at Teki Paki I managed to hit like 8000 points and thought "WTF?!", because I used to make quite decent scores on Game Boy Tetris, GBA Puzzle League and Game Gear Columns a while ago. I must admit though, having played the Columns arcade for comparison directly, that the cabinet started out at a more challenging level, but I still could keep up with the pace for a while.
Now, Teki Paki doesn't hold back for long, adding two colors swiftly and only offering the smiley block (can connect with any color) for help and tries to lure you in with the promise to clear the screen for 100k should you be able to combine five dynamite blocks, which I never did yet, just as I haven't seen any silver or golden blocks the Toaplangames website says will give bonus points.
It doesn't matter to me that much for this review though, as Teki Paki soon turned out very addictive to me and the feeling of an existing chance to beat more of the 999 possible levels, but probably never actually finishing the game adds to that as much as I will unlikely ever report from a master's perspective. I leave that to the pros and just enjoy whatever I will accomplish.
Raving to the driving score by Tomoaki Takanohashi (published together with the Vimana OST by Scitron/Pony Canyon), who was also introduced into programming on Teki Paki, the game sounds quite different to the typical allaying music of the puzzle genre. Thinking ahead for rather complex combos is crucial to not end up filling the screen completely without any remaining chance. Though you can proceed on another credit, this alternative is reflected in your points and doesn't turn out as an option for me.
Still focused too much on the gameplay, Teki Paki in my case also doesn't qualify for the versus mode yet, like I particularly enjoy with Puyo Puyo Tetris and Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, but if you're into it, it's there. You'll probably just have to get your opponent on the couch for the conversions just like you would have to stand next to at the arcade.
I don't know why a fully grown puzzle game wouldn't be considered for a stand-alone release by today's standards, but included with the M2 Kyukyoku Tiger-Heli compilations for Switch and PS4 or the Toaplan Arcade 1 Evercade collection getting your hands on Teki Paki is ensured to be a bang for your buck.
Teki Paki might have been one of too many in its day, but as a fan of falling blocks, especially if you wipe your ass with Columns or Tetris 2, it's exactly the different of the same you want and by addressing the similar 1cc ethos of Shoot'em'up players it's actually a more than adequate addition to Toaplan's ludography.