Pokémon Trozei!

I first played Pokémon Trozei on a friend's DS while at a sleepover while I was still in elementary school. I didn't have much time with it, but I loved Pokémon and I was into puzzles, so I just couldn't get this game out of my mind. The 3DS received a digital-only sequel that I bought pretty early on, but it never hit quite the same. Now, closing in on two decades later, I finally buckled down and played the whole campaign. I think my conclusion is that I moderately enjoyed Pokémon Trozei. It has a lot going for it, but it definitely wasn't the juggernaut my nine-year-old brain made it out to be.

As a puzzle game, Pokémon Trozei had the opportunity to be mind-numbingly basic and it still would have sold on the Pokémon name alone. Instead, Genius Sonority developed a unique take on the falling-block genre that cleverly took advantage of the still-new Nintendo DS hardware. Using the touch screen, you'll be sliding Pokémon in the bottom five rows as you try to make matches and clear the board. While that sounds pretty similar to other matching puzzle games, the novelty of Trozei comes in how the Pokémon are able to be moved.

When you use the DS stylus to drag a Pokémon, you may expect it to follow the genre standard and move independently. Instead, its entire row or column will shift in step. This means that moving a Pokémon horizontally will move its whole row as well, wrapping the Pokémon on the edge back to the other side of the board. Because gravity is in effect and new Pokémon are constantly dropping down from the top of the screen, you can drag a column down and the bottom Pokémon will just drop from the top again. However, if you try to move a column up and it doesn't complete a match, gravity will pull it right back down again.
 
To beat a stage, you'll need to take advantage of this Rubik's-like control scheme to meet the quota of matched Pokémon before enough drop from the top of the screen to fill up the board and cause a game over. The best way to accomplish this is by creating massive combos with the Trozei Chance mechanic. While Pokémon are falling, you'll need to make a horizontal or vertical match that's at least four Pokémon long. After that, you have a short window to make another match of at least three. If successful, the board will start to glow and Pokémon will stop falling from the top. This is your chance to really whittle away at that match requirement because Pokémon can be cleared in pairs as long as you keep the combo going. Big matches can even spawn a Ditto that will pair up with anything, massively helping to clear the board. Once your combo ends, the loop begins again.

Normally, with a game like this, you'd want to start instinctively recognizing and reacting to patterns so you can act without wasting time thinking. I've had that sort of flow with a few games before, but I never got anywhere close in Trozei. I'm sure it's possible to do, but I had a lot of trouble, likely as a result of the game's theming. Instead of being the same endless loop every time you play, Trozei is broken into stages with different Pokémon to match and collect. I would usually try to match Pokémon faster by exclusively focusing on their colors, but a different lineup of monsters every stage meant I never got used to any specific pattern. However, I didn't stick with this game because I wanted to get better; I stuck with it because there was a campaign to complete.

Pokémon Trozei has a story that screams middle-schooler fan-fiction. The monologues are especially rough, but they're all in service to what's actually important to me. While I'd prefer a narrative that engages me, for a puzzle game like this, all I need is a reason to keep playing. I was content with the loop of saving Pokémon from warehouses of stolen Pokéballs so I would get noticed by a leader of the criminal organization and engage in a boss stage. I'm disappointed there wasn't more to it, and I wish the writing didn't feel so juvenile, but I did a end up playing through the whole game, so I guess it worked out.

Despite its flaws and the unfortunate shattering of my rose-tinted glasses, I found Pokémon Trozei to be a competent puzzle game. The row and column focused structure still stands out to me, and I'm disappointed it was dropped for the game's follow-ups. I think this style has merit, it just needs some refining. I know I'm not very experienced with the genre, so maybe the game I'm imagining is already out there somewhere. For now, though, Trozei was enough of what I was seeking for me to leave the game with a positive association, but I don't think I'll ever return to it.
Although the game is no longer being distributed, you can learn more about it here (as of 4/20/25): https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Trozei!

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