A few months ago, QuByte Interactive re-released both The Humans and The Immortal as the first in a line of old school games they are calling QuByte Classics. Fast-forward six months and they are back with their next release – Zero Tolerance. This Genesis first-person shooter was a technical marvel when it first came out and showed gamers everywhere that the 16-bit systems still had a little life left in them. It's cool that this old school oddity is finding a second life on PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and Switch, but is this game actually worth playing in 2022? To answer that question, I decided to flip through the pages of Electronic Gaming Monthly, GamePro, Mean Machines Sega and more classic magazines to see what the critics said about Zero Tolerance back when it first came out. Join me for another action-packed episode of QuByte Classics Review Crew.


When Tetris became a smash hit on both the Game Boy and Nintendo Entertainment System, it proved that, even without a lot of star power, gamers will flock to a foreign puzzle game with a crazy title if it's good enough. Unfortunately, that is not the lesson Nintendo learned from that experience. Instead of trusting the audience, Nintendo chose to cram their beloved characters into pretty much every puzzle game going forward. Puyo Puyo suddenly became Kirby's Avalanche, Dr. Mario stepped in to write a few prescriptions and Panel de Pon morphed into Pokémon Puzzle League. While the rebranding feels cynical (and maybe even a little unnecessary), that doesn't change the fact that Puzzle League is a great puzzle game that will appeal to everybody, even though of us who couldn't care less about Pokémon.

In fact, when we look at the reviews, a lot of them hope you'll completely ignore the involvement of those pesky pocket monsters. Electronic Gaming Monthly's Chris literally starts his review saying: “Forget the fact that this game's got the Pokemon characters and is a nearly spot-on update of the SNES puzzle classic Tetris Attack. Quite simply, this is the best two-player puzzle game I've ever played. It takes really mastering the game to understand the nuances of the combo and chain system. But watching two experienced players face-off can be a knuckle-biting experience. To ignore this game because of its Pokemon façade would be a crime.”

While EGM may view it as one of the greatest multiplayer games of all time, GamePro had a somewhat different take. With the Pokemon trappings, they viewed this as a game aimed directly at small children: “Puzzle League is designed for young gamers, encouraging problem solving – something parents will love. Older puzzle fans who have a high Jigglypuff tolerance will also enjoy this well-structured offering.” As Cam Shea over at Australia's Hyper magazine points out, Jigglypuff doesn't have a lot to do in this game: “For all the Pokemon fans out there, the Pokemon theme has been relatively well integrated into the game, but only at the level of garnish. For instance, throughout the championship, you're awarded a plethora of badges, but these have absolutely no functional value whatsoever. Likewise, at the start of each bout, you have the option to select one of three Pokemon. Your choice makes no different to the gameplay whatsoever.” They gave it an 88 out of 100.

That score is largely in line with the other magazines around the world. The UK's N64 mag gave Pokemon Puzzle League an 89%, while it scored a slightly lower 8.1 out of 10 from Nintendo Power. The lowest score I could find came from Next Generation, but I suspect that has more to do with the fact that they had a rigid 5 star scale that didn't allow for a half-point. “Nintendo is certainly the master of spinning franchises out until they cover every conceivable genre, so it comes as no surprise to see that the popular Pokemon characters are now championing a puzzle game. Overall, it's a surprisingly fun experience, if a little on the cute side. It may not be up to Puzzle Fighter II Turbo standards, but it's one of the best puzzlers on the N64.” What's even more frustrating is that it's your only Nintendo 64 puzzle choice on the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack, so you really have to grin and bear the unnecessary Pokemon trappings. At least the puzzling is worthwhile, especially with two-players. Give it a look.