249. Kururin Pa! (Sky Think Systems, Playstation, 1995)

Kururin Pa! is the first game developed by Japanese developer Sky Think Systems. During their short lifespan, Sky Think Systems only made 3 games, the last of which was game #17, Harmful Park, and the other 2 were Kururin Pa! and its sequel. Kururin Pa! is a straightforward versus puzzle game where the objective is to chain together rope segments and then lighting them on fire. 

Like many other puzzle games, Kururin Pa! gives you randomized pieces that here have different rope patterns on on them. After a certain number of rope pieces, you get a flame that you can use to light the rope, clearing it from the playfield and sending a corresponding amount of junk tiles (shaped like snowman heads) to your opponent. The junk tiles can be cleared away by burning anything next to them. In addition to rope, junk, and fire, there are also bomb tiles that light anything next to them and are crucial for executing longer chains. The gameplay takes a little getting used to, but I was having a good time once I started to wrap my brain around it, though the story mode got tough pretty quickly.

Each character also has their own special tile that has its own very different effects, though most are useful for clearing junk. The 8 playable characters are all very outlandish in their designs, ranging from a tiny kid with a huge cartoon bomb for a head, to a military man with gigantic cartoon lips, to a beast boy riding a lion, the humor seen in Harmful Park really only has a chance to come across in the characters of Kururin Pa! The music is also a real highlight (and has a ridiculously low number of views on Youtube).

4/5, a Pipe-Dream-like falling tile puzzle game with some real wacky characters