It's like Puzzle League, but different.
Pokémon Tro-o-zei, move real fast now don't go slow.
Pokémon Tro-o-zei, four in a row and you're good to go.
—The U.S. commercial for the original game.
Pokémon Trozei!, known as Pokémon Link! in Europe, is a puzzle game series developed by Genius Sonority and published by Nintendo. Players use the touch screen to move Pokémon around the playing field, with the aim of making matches. The number of Pokémon required for a match depends on the game and difficulty level, but a successful match triggers a Trozei Chance, a short period of time where fewer Pokémon are required for a match.
The first game in the series, Pokémon Trozei! was released in Japan for the Nintendo DS in 2005, and internationally the following year. It follows SOL agent Lucy Fleetfoot, who has been tasked with rescuing kidnapped Pokémon from the Phobos Battalion. She accomplishes this by using a device called the Trozei Beamer, which teleports groups of Pokémon back to SOL headquarters.
To many people's surprise, a Nintendo 3DS sequel named Pokémon Battle Trozei! was released in March of 2014. In this game, the player battles and captures wild Pokémon. The wild target's hit points are lowered by creating matches, but it may attack the playing field in turn, which lowers the player's health. Once a Pokémon's hit points are reduced to zero, it may be captured.
Another game in the series on 3DS, Pokémon Shuffle, was released in February 2015, with gameplay based primarily on Battle Trozei! but based more on using a limited number of moves and building combos than on clearing the board. The game is also free-to-play, with a hearts system and microtransactions similar to many mobile phone games. Actual mobile versions for Android and iOS were released on late August 2015.
For tropes pertaining to Pokémon Shuffle, please put them in the Pokémon Shuffle page.
The Pokémon Trozei! games contain examples of the following tropes:
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Lucy Fleetfoot does not appear in Battle Trozei! or Shuffle.
- Damn You, Muscle Memory!:
- The games have different methods by which you move Pokémon around the board. In the original, you move them in any of the four cardinal directions and try to line up matches, while Battle Trozei! and Shuffle have you swap their positions instead. Moving from one system to the other can be very jarring.
- Pokémon that have two types in the main games only have one type from Battle Trozei! onwards, which can be disorienting since type matchups play a crucial role in the gameplay.
- Depending on the Artist: The first game makes it rather obvious that Lucy Fleetfoot and the other humans have a rather exaggerated art style compared to the Pokémon who retain their own distinguishable art style.
- Difficulty by Acceleration: The infinite modes speed up as the player reaches higher levels.
- Endless Game: Endless and Forever modes in the original, and Infinite Ruins in Battle Trozei!.
- Excuse Plot: The first game features a SOL agent named Lucy Fleetfoot, who must rescue boxed Pokémon from the evil Phobos Battalion by matching four of the same Pokémon in a row. Battle Trozei! didn't even bother with a plot.
- Gotta Catch 'Em All:
- Or rather, Trozei them all. They're Pokémon games, of course.
- Back to catching in Battle Trozei! and Shuffle, where defeating a Pokémon gives you a chance to capture it, then use it against other Pokémon.
- Interface Screw: Bosses in Trozei! can use a "Jammer" move that temporarily turns all Pokémon shapes into silhouettes.
- In-Universe Game Clock: In Battle Trozei!, Espeon and Solrock only appear during the day, and Umbreon and Lunatone only appear at night. Additionally, the Safari Jungle has a different set of wild Pokémon every day of the week.
- Match-Three Game: Three Pokémon are required to make a match in Battle Trozei!, four in the original, and five in the original's Forever mode.
- Metal Slime: Every level in the original had three "Can you Trozei these?" Pokémon. They were rare enough that it was possible to clear the level without seeing one, they would disappear if you couldn't Trozei them fast enough, and this was the only way to get Pokédex data for them.
- New Game Plus: After completing story mode in the original game, the player can start over with a
greatly increased difficulty level.
- Rank Inflation: Battle Trozei! has D, C, B, A, and S ranks, awarded based on score and combo performance.
- Solar and Lunar: SOL is represented by Solrock, while the Phobos Battalion uses Lunatone as its symbol.
- Super-Deformed: All the Pokémon are represented as chibi face icons.