Alolan_Apples
“Assorted” Collector
Today, I'm gonna talk more about the two mini-games added to ACNL and how well they do in the game. One of them is based on a mini-game for the spin-off amiibo Festival, but the other is based on an even older (but minor) Nintendo franchise that was modernized. One is only accessible on any 3DS system in-game, but the other is only playable on the Wii U in-game. One is a puzzle game, but the other is an adventure and strategy game. But both games give you prizes, MEOW coupons, and can be obtained by any amiibo or fortune cookie.
Puzzle League:
The first one, which is the 3DS game, is the most recent variation of Puzzle League. Believe me, it's an old Nintendo franchise. Even Pokemon had its variation. And I'm no stranger to this game. I knew how to play all along since 2001.
In case if you want to know how to play, you have a 6x12 grid with a 2x1 cursor you can move around with the control pad. Pressing A switches the blocks. If there are three or more of the same block in a row, vertically or horizontally, they clear out. And every block over the cleared blocks drop. There are also combos (which 4 or more blocks are being cleared at once), chains (where blocks clear themselves after each clearout), and skill chains (where you set up for chains while they're clearing out). But there's one important rule. The stack gradually rises. Holding down L, R, B, or X makes it scroll faster. But when the blocks hit the ceiling, the game is over. In fact, when it's approaching, you are given a warning that it's about to hit.
The Animal Crossing Version is no different when it comes to the basics, but there are interesting forms of gameplay I never seen in a Puzzle League game. There is an amiibo feature where you can import amiibo characters, clearout techniques, and this candy clearout.
The game has five different modes, with four of them having different difficulties.
The other mini-game is a mini-game seen in amiibo Festival that you cannot play in ACNL unless if you have a Wii U in-game. It is an interesting game where you have to find the four main raft pieces on any deserted island in a limited time. But while you are there, you have to hunt for more food. You may also want to explore more of the island while spending less time. You have one to three animals to work with.
Every species of animals have their own special abilities, but also have a weakness. For example, ostriches and horses can walk even further than some of the other species, but do not clear out the clouds until they get to the space. Dogs and chickens are good at identifying nearby objects, but can only move three moves. Cats can catch fish, even without a fishing rod. And there's still more.
When gathering food, trees can hold between 1 to 3 or 2 to 4 fruits, depending on the fruit. If it's a favorite fruit, it can hold between 4 to 7 or 5 to 8. When you are at a fruit tree, beehive, or near a fish, you have some wheel you want to press the A button to stop. Whatever it lands on is how many portions of food you get. You also have the same randomizer when fighting a beast or getting out of a pitfall.
You can also gather objects to make tools in order to make your quest easier. Shovels remove pitfall seeds, nets scare bees a lot easier, fishing rods catch fish, and slingshots defeat enemies like centipedes and snakes a lot easier.
Once you escape the island, the scores tally up. You get bonus points for more exploration, more food leftover, and more days to spare. If your score beats the target score, you get MEOW Coupons.
Strengths:
I prefer Puzzle League more. Not only Desert Island Escape is more frustrating, but Puzzle League games tend to be more fun. Plus, it requires no amiibo or play coins to play.
Puzzle League:
The first one, which is the 3DS game, is the most recent variation of Puzzle League. Believe me, it's an old Nintendo franchise. Even Pokemon had its variation. And I'm no stranger to this game. I knew how to play all along since 2001.
In case if you want to know how to play, you have a 6x12 grid with a 2x1 cursor you can move around with the control pad. Pressing A switches the blocks. If there are three or more of the same block in a row, vertically or horizontally, they clear out. And every block over the cleared blocks drop. There are also combos (which 4 or more blocks are being cleared at once), chains (where blocks clear themselves after each clearout), and skill chains (where you set up for chains while they're clearing out). But there's one important rule. The stack gradually rises. Holding down L, R, B, or X makes it scroll faster. But when the blocks hit the ceiling, the game is over. In fact, when it's approaching, you are given a warning that it's about to hit.
The Animal Crossing Version is no different when it comes to the basics, but there are interesting forms of gameplay I never seen in a Puzzle League game. There is an amiibo feature where you can import amiibo characters, clearout techniques, and this candy clearout.
The game has five different modes, with four of them having different difficulties.
- Story Mode - in this mode, you have seven characters to challenge, but only six that are basic. Your goal is to raise your approval rating to 100% in four stages, with the maximum of 60% of the first three stages. In the first three, you have a clear line, where you want all blocks under to finish. In the Pokemon version, this was called Spa Service, where Team Rocket steals every pokemon except Pikachu, and you want to defeat Team Rocket with the same type of clear puzzles.
- Score Attack - this was more like free mode, where you practice your puzzle clearing skills. The only focus is generating a high score while playing as long as possible.
- Time Attack - this was a timed mode, where you have two minutes to generate a high score.
- Garbage Attack - this was similar to Score Attack, but only with garbage blocks falling onto you occassionally. This was the main mode in Pokemon Puzzle League (except that it was two-player), but not in the Animal Crossing version. When you clear a set of blocks while touching the garbage blocks, it converts the garbage blocks to other blocks. But garbage blocks count as regular blocks as you reach the top.
- Candy Attack - this was rather a new and unique mode to Puzzle League in general. The scores are only calculated for each candy you collect. When a candy block is next to a series of blocks cleared, the candy blocks are cleared. If three or more candy blocks are on the same row like the regular blocks, yellow candies may appear, which is worth even more.
- Candy Attack - new gameplay is always appreciated. I even like this mode next to Score Attack.
- The amiibo techniques on clearing blocks is a good idea. But as a pro of Puzzle League, I don't really need this move, but I know that not everyone is as good as me.
- You get prizes after completing a mode or round. You can also get MEOW coupons for scoring a x5 chain.
- The hard mode's difficulty was set too high. They didn't just make the blocks drop harder and clear more quickly. They also had a starting speed really high.
- There wasn't a vs-player mode where you inflict garbage blocks on others. In fact, the Garbage Attack mode was rather disappointing.
- Chains are a lot harder to score. I could only get a x10 chain, but I'm trying for a x14 or x15 chain. Even the x6 chain is hard to achieve.
The other mini-game is a mini-game seen in amiibo Festival that you cannot play in ACNL unless if you have a Wii U in-game. It is an interesting game where you have to find the four main raft pieces on any deserted island in a limited time. But while you are there, you have to hunt for more food. You may also want to explore more of the island while spending less time. You have one to three animals to work with.
Every species of animals have their own special abilities, but also have a weakness. For example, ostriches and horses can walk even further than some of the other species, but do not clear out the clouds until they get to the space. Dogs and chickens are good at identifying nearby objects, but can only move three moves. Cats can catch fish, even without a fishing rod. And there's still more.
When gathering food, trees can hold between 1 to 3 or 2 to 4 fruits, depending on the fruit. If it's a favorite fruit, it can hold between 4 to 7 or 5 to 8. When you are at a fruit tree, beehive, or near a fish, you have some wheel you want to press the A button to stop. Whatever it lands on is how many portions of food you get. You also have the same randomizer when fighting a beast or getting out of a pitfall.
You can also gather objects to make tools in order to make your quest easier. Shovels remove pitfall seeds, nets scare bees a lot easier, fishing rods catch fish, and slingshots defeat enemies like centipedes and snakes a lot easier.
Once you escape the island, the scores tally up. You get bonus points for more exploration, more food leftover, and more days to spare. If your score beats the target score, you get MEOW Coupons.
Strengths:
- The idea behind Desert Island Escape is a good idea in general. If there was a real board game like this, I would like that.
- Each species has their own special abilities, which makes exploration, food gathering, and surviving easier. It's nice to have some advantage like this.
- You are given prizes for every 6 islands you escape.
- The target score was set too high on some of the islands, which made me think Nintendo's expectations are too high.
- The wheel you can press A to stop ususally has a higher chance of getting the undesirable outcome (such as staying in the pit or getting less fruit), which makes scoring even harder.
- Some species of animals seem to be more useless, judging by their special moves.
I prefer Puzzle League more. Not only Desert Island Escape is more frustrating, but Puzzle League games tend to be more fun. Plus, it requires no amiibo or play coins to play.
