Every console needs a good Tetris knock-off at some point early in it's life. Sadly, that time never really came for the Geo. One of the earliest releases for the console, Puzzled has an interesting premise. Sadly, it's so brutally difficult, most people would have a better chance playing through Magician Lord with one life than beating this one. Playable by one or two players (though never against each other or cooperatively; just split screen), Puzzled has players trying to clear away blocks to release one of the games characters trapped by them. Lines are eliminated Tetris style, by making straight lines. Some blocks take multiple lines to actually disintegrate, some power-up players, and everything leads towards one big blast when a meter fills at the top of the screen.
The problem with the entire experience is that even die-hard Tetris players won't get anywhere. Blocks are laid out in some ridiculous patterns and trying to form lines around them is at time nearly impossible. Time is limited and within 2 minutes, everything speeds up. It becomes impossible to keep your mind straight and it only takes one misplaced block before it's pretty much game over.
Adding to the games troubles, there is nothing very engaging about the visuals or the music. The looping music tracks grate on your nerves and the chintzy voice samples only ad to the
nausea factor. Special effects are nowhere to be found and the Genesis could've handled this game with little trouble.
The Geo would come into it's own much later as far as puzzle games are concerned with the outstanding Magical Drop series. This is one of the few Geo games that deserves to be completely forgotten and wiped from most peoples memory. You can take up precious shelf space in your game room with much better than this.
