169. Puzslot (Sammy, Famicom, 1992)

Puzslot is a puzzle game with a slot machine released late in the Famicom's life. Gameplay is basically identical to Puyo Puyo, where you are stacking 2-tile pieces that are falling from the top of the screen and you clear them by matching 3 or more horizontally, vertically or diagonally. The twist is that each piece is a mini two-reel slot machine that is cycling through until you hit the B button (two times per piece to stop each reel). you can also rotate the piece with the A button.

While the core gameplay is pretty basic, the scoring mechanic brings the slot machine nature of the game into the forefront. Like a real slot machine, certain symbols are worth much more than others, so matching three 7s will get you way more points than matching three cherries. This is crucial because you have a limited number of pieces to use to get to a certain score, so you can't just match low valve tiles, or you won't clear the level. You can see the individual reels go through their patterns about 3 times before they reach the bottom of the screen, so it's possible to stop one on a symbol that you want, but it's challenging enough that you can't count on it. Especially when the screen starts to fill up and you can't watch the reel run through its pattern as many times, the game starts to get hectic.

Another nice feature is that there are 5 selectable music tracks: "pops", "classic", "samba", "waltz", and the clear winner, "China". You can also turn the music off if you want. Puzslot is not a very deep game, it really feels more like a side mode on a different puzzle game, but it runs with its idea pretty well, and I think I'm starting to get a little bit better at Puyo Puyo-style games.

4/5, it's like you're playing Puyo Puyo with mini slot machines