LordelX

With the Gamecube far behind us and the Wii's problems with playing import games, you may be wondering if it's worth your time importing this game. While you may think it boils down to the question"...how much do I like Yoshie's Cookie?"....there are several other features that make this package triple A material.
First of all, the graphical presentation is top notch. Everything is 2D sprites, but it all looks extremely vibrant and colorful. Each game seems to have it's own unique art style, which really goes a long way to make you feel as if you are playing three very different games. Dr. Mario has a sort of Paper Mario presentation to it, Yoshie's Cookie has a Yoshie's Story art style. Panel de Pon is definately the most unique art style of the three games and consists of young super deformed anime girls. Obviously here, Nintendo was trying to appeal to a younger female demographic. The music and sound effects are all fitting to the themes of the games.
Eah game has a story mode, which is a nice diversion from bare bones vs computer play, but unless you have a fairly good understanding of Japanese, you're not going to find much here that will entertain you. The matches in story mode against various characters are interesting, but can become a bit repetative after some time.
One of the best featues of this package are the multiplayer options. Each game has a 4 player vs mode and this is where Puzzle Collection really shines. The 4 player gameplay is one of the most enjoyable multiplayer experiences to be had on the Gamecube, and there are plenty of options to make it enjoyable for players of all skill levels.
This game also has best use of GBA to Gamecube connectivity that I have ever seen. Basically, you simply download the games into your GBA and play them for as long as your batteries can last, or you switch off the system. Unfortunately, there is no way to transfer your high scores back to the Gamecube. While Dr. Mario and Yoshie's Cookie look like the NES version of these games, Panel de Pon doesn't look very much diferent than it's Gamecube counterpart. While it can be time consuming and a little troublesome to hook your GBA to your Gamecube, it is a great way to practice anytime, anywhere for any upcoming 4 player matches you may be planning.
Some other features include a 3D mode in Panel de Pon and the training mode in Dr. Mario. The training mode in Dr. Mario is more in depth than the simple tutorials of the other two games, providing advanced strategies and helpful tips. The 3D mode in Panel de Pon has you turning a cylinder full of blocks, having you keep track of far more blocks than the 2D mode as the cylinder fills up. At first this comes across as quite gimmicky, but it's actually a nice feature if you are looking for a new twist on the familiar gameplay mechanics.
Puzzle Collection isn't without it's problems, but almost all of these problems stem from the fact that it's an imported game. The text in Yoshie's Cookie is displayed as incoherent garbage on American systems, so it's difficult to understand the full potential of the modes. Also, it will lock up once in a while due to the fact that it's an import. These are minor quibbles.
If 4 player multiplayer, Yoshie's Cookie and Gameboy connectivity are things you can live without, then you might want to go for the GBA version of Dr. Mario/Tetris Attack (Panel de Pon). If you decide to take the risk of importing it you will most likely be very happy with this game. It is the best puzzle game on the Gamecube, and perhaps the best puzzle game of it's hardware generation.

Bubble Bobble Old and New for the GBA is an excellent adaptation of the original arcade game, and superior to the popular NES version. I'm not sure if this game was released in North America, as I am reviewing the Japanese version. Even so, this is an extremely import friendly game. Only the game menus are in Japanese (Katakana) and are very self explanitory. You don't need any knowledge of Japanese in enjoy the game, as all of the in game text is written in English.
As the name suggests, there are two versions on this cart...old and new. The old version is the arcade classic. The graphics are spot on, and the music comes close to the quality of the arcade original. The new version is the same game with a 16-bit quality update to the graphics and the music. Both versions play exactly the same. It should be noted though, that in the original "old" version, you only get one "credit" to go through the entire game. In the "new" version, the are quite a few continues available. While the two versions share the same tremendously enjoyable gameplay, they also share a few minor problems.
To anyone who enjoyed playing any previous version, the hardest aspect to adjust to is the fact that the entire playing feild is not visible all at once. The default setting of the game is "zoomed in" and you can see a fair amount of the playing feild but not all of it. This can make for some very annoying deaths with enemies dropping in from above, or flying up from below outside your field of vision. While this can be rectified with the simple press of the "R" button to view the entire playing field, the games graphical quality takes a tremendous hit when zoomed out in this way. Since the GBA's screen is wider than that of the arcade original, when zoomed out the image is centered on the GBA's screen. On the GBA's small screen, this can be a little taxing on the eyes. A Gameboy Player is the best way to play this game if you have one available. The DS, DS Lite and the Gameboy Advance SP also provide a comfortable playing experience. The original Gameboy Advance and the Gameboy Micro are not the best way to play this game.
What you really need to ask yourself is...how badly do you want a portable version of Bubble Bobble? The game is also available on the NES and PS1, not to mention the Wii's virtual console. If you really want to take Bubble Bobble with you on the road, this version is a good one. The screen dimensions just may take some getting used to.