It's hard to find reasoning for the existence of Trozei
when Tetris DS and Meteos
are available too. Trozei's simplistic chain/combo system is its downfall,
allowing for screen-clearing explosions by barely moving the Pokemon to line them up in
rows of four. Once lined up and four disappear, any three combined Pokemon go, and then
finally two. After beating the story mode, this changes so that chains can't start until
you have five Pokemon lined up, then four, and so on.Unlike the countless other games of this type, you need to move an entire line of Pokemon not just the one you're looking to eliminate from the field. This does change things up slightly, though not enough to completely avoid the comparison to other game that this directly mimics. In all actuality, with the combo system as it is, moving an entire line ends up making things easier. Pokemon line up in places you didn't even see beforehand while you continue to clear the monsters you were aiming for.
All of this action happens on the bottom screen. The field actually takes up both screens, and it's frustrating that the player can't line up combos on the top screen. You could fill the entire top screen with a single type of Pokemon and have nothing happen. Given that's the area where the game can end, it's rather inexcusable not to offer some way to create chains above the touch screen. Too many concessions are made on the bottom screen (moving Pokemon up briefly to create a chain, pushing them to the other side of the screen, etc.) while the upper playfield sits there.
To collect all Pokemon, you'll need to play through the same modes repeatedly. It's not hard to see how grating that could become. You also have the opportunity to trade with friends locally since this does not support Nintendo's Wi-Fi connection.
That could be for the best since multi-player doesn't have a lot going for it. The versus mode is basic with very little new or interesting to keep people playing. Co-op sounds interesting, but each player only plays their own game and is then given an overall score. That's hardly a great feature.
Pokemon Trozei ends up as one of those games that relies on its license. It didn't need the famous monsters filling its screen, and the story mode hardly needs any of the characters to work. For its target audience, it will seem like a classic. For anyone else, they'll find a puzzle game that fails to provide the challenge needed for it to be necessary on the DS.
