Before the SNES adaptation, Nichibitsu had actually licensed the Heiankyo Alien game in order to create its Kid no Hore Hore Daisakusen series. Although it features hole digging/enemy trapping mechanic, it's hardly the trap-'em-up that Heiankyo Alien is. The real goal of each level is to collect all the items available to exit the level through a door. With the use of other items such as flame throwers and bombs, you could play through the entire game without once trapping an enemy. The game had several sequels, including Booby Kids for the Famicom and Doraemon Meikyū Daisakusen for the PC Engine. The latter was localized and released on the TurboGrafx-16 under the title Cratermaze, with the Doraemon character removed.
This is a strange game that deals with two cats; a pink and white one (player 1) known as Nyan and a brown and white one (player 2) known as Dodonpa. One day, Nyan questions the Chinese Zodiac and wonders why a cat isn't part of the zodiac while others like the dog and monkey are. Dodonpa isn't really bothered by it so much and sort of teases Nyan but then he too wonders about it and Nyan (feeling inspired) gets optimistic. The story of the game has Nyan and Dodonpa eventually going to meet a fairy after battling 12 animals (specifically of the Chinese Zodiac) in order to make the request that cats be part of the zodiac. Apparently, if you play with player 2 and beat the game, the ending is slightly different or so I hear.
Kokontouzai Eto Monogatari (KEM from this point forward) roughly translates into "Chinese Astrology Story for All Ages". However, the game has a lot of stages for a puzzle game (13 to be exact) and the speed picks up pretty quickly so as childish as it looks, it definitely requires skill on th
Time to take up your paint brush and paint the town Red (or Green or Orange, or whatever color you happen to have on hand)! A pair of fish are out to stop you but you can roll over them at the overpass. There's other items that just try to mess up your paint job; you can run over these folks easily (if you catch them).
An adventure puzzle game similar to Puyo Puyo. The player must combine falling blocks. Longer combinations create additional blocks in opponents screen.
Originally made in 1990 by David Markley under the name of Hextris; Hexion is a game released in 1992 by Konami. Hexion is a puzzle game in the Tetris style; except instead of shapes made out of square blocks laid evenly on a flat surface, the pieces are shapes made out of hexagon blocks laid roughly on an uneven surface. The core goal is still the same; create a horizontal line without leaving gaps.
In the above-cited issue of Amuse World, Ryou Hainam mentioned another puzzle game called Pandora, which supposedly was rather successful in Europe. This seems to have been a revision of Puzzle World, which itself is a sequel to Dolmen, with the same character sprites from Prehistorik 2 or Puzzle Land. So far there's no trace of the 1996 Pandora itself, but there a later adult version called Hot Bubble, which still contains many instances of the Pandora logo.
Pochi and Nyaa is a puzzle game made by Taito (Makers of Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move) and Aiky. The story behind it is that in every 1000 years there is a Tournament held by the animal gods Pochi (the Dog) and Nyaa (the Cat) in decision who will be the top star for the next millennium, although they need the power of Earth's people to do so. The gameplay is similar to Super Puzzle Fighter and Puyo Pop, but with a few differences.
An interesting twist on solitaire mahjong, with movable tiles in certain circumstances. You must clear 2 tiles of the same suit, but they have to be either right next to each other or on the same row.
Shoot coloured blocks at the top of the screen. When 3 or more same colored blocks draw a line, they disappear. By terminating all blocks, the stage is clear.