Immersed myself into Nintendo Puzzle Collection (the game that Nintendo Power teased me with for the longest time and never localized) and did a 1cc run (AKA: No continues) of Yoshi's Cookie Story Mode on Hard mode. The AI from Stage 5 onward gets pretty smart. They wait for the special attack to cycle for something that benefits them, and they can still attempt to clear rows when they're under Blind status. Two things I didn't expect in this video was the gauntlet in Stage 6 (Which was a first in any puzzle game I've played but it didn't really change much in progression), and the FT3 on Stage 7--which I've also never seen before in a puzzle game campaign. That threw off guard and the AI was incredibly smart that it was a rough battle to win. Plenty of close calls for sure. To explain the general gist of Yoshi's Cookie, you move your cursor on a 5x5 grid and you can push rows of cookies in all 4 directions. You make rows of 5 identical cookies to clear them. To create chains, prepare rows of identical cookies that connect after first row is cleared. In VS. Mode, it's a race to 25 points per round. You gain a point for each row of cookies you remove. The Yoshi cookies serve a special purpose. Underneath your character portrait, several messages will cycle. These are your special attacks. Depending on what attack is displayed, they'll either hinder or support both yourself or your opponent. The attack activates upon clearing a row of Yoshi cookies, so you have to keep track of that message (or X/O sign) close to your portrait before clearing Yoshi cookies to ensure a better victory. Attacks range from boosting/decreasing points, covering a part of the grid, shuffling the grid, and taking control of the other player. It's another element of observation that you have to keep track of. Overall, I had a lot of fun with this, and my hands were shaking during that last fight cause damn the FT3 was unexpected--in other words, I beat the final stage on my first try. This game was pretty nostalgic cause I played it quite a bit growing up, and it was awesome to discover that it had a campaign mode in Nintendo Puzzle Collection. Yes Nintendo, I'm still mad that you didn't localize this but oh well.
