Pet Alien: An Intergalactic Puzzlepalooza is a Puzzle Game based off the Pet Alien series. It was developed by Shin'en Multimedia, published by The Game Factory, and released in 2007 for the Nintendo DS. When the aliens get abducted by a race of evil robots called the Robotix (who want them and Tommy for their zoo), they must escape and rescue Tommy using their unique abilities.
Pet Alien: An Intergalactic Puzzlepalooza contains examples of the following tropes:
- Anti-Frustration Features: In the Marathon mode, most levels have strict time limits that frequently give you just enough time to get through. The exception to this are the five boss levels, which have an extremely generous ten minute time limit; this is likely because several of the bosses are very tricky to deal with as-is and can instantly kill your alien.
- Block Puzzle: Swanky can push and pull crates, and often has to move them to block hazards or keep switches activated.
- Bullfight Boss: One boss is a giant robotic ant that repeatedly charges forward. Dinko has to use his Super-Speed to trick it into running into the electric barriers around the arena.
- Demoted to Extra: Tommy Cadle, the main protagonist of the show, is demoted to a few minor, voiceless cameos in the opening cutscene, credits and Marathon menu.
- Distressed Dude: Tommy spends most of the game held captive by the Robotix. The aliens escape their own imprisonment pretty quickly, but they refuse to leave without him.
- Fartillery: The robot turtle attacks by spraying gas from its rear. Gumpers calls it "rude" upon defeating it, despite his own flatulence.
- Flight: Flip can temporarily hover over obstacles like mines or switches.
- Human-Focused Adaptation: Inverted. The original show primarily focused on the human Tommy Cadle and his interactions with the aliens and other humans in his life. Meanwhile, Puzzlepalooza focuses exclusively on the aliens to the point where Tommy is Demoted to Extra and none of the other human characters show up at all.
- Killer Robot: The Robotix are robot animals who kidnap species from different planets to use for their intergalactic zoo.
- Mighty Glacier: Gumpers is the only alien capable of smashing boxes and walls. However, he's also the biggest and slowest of the group, meaning he can't fit into small spaces. Multiple puzzles are built around using the other aliens to open up a route for him.
- Oblivious to His Own Description: One cutscene has Dinko comparing the Robotix to aliens, feeling creeped out by them. Swanky then points out that to the people of Earth, they're all aliens.
- One-Hit Kill: Touching hazardous objects (such as robots, lasers, or mines) instantly kills your alien and boots you back to the start of the level.
- Overly-Long Tongue: Scruffy can use his long tongue to collect items and touch switches from far away.
- Puzzle Boss: Being a puzzle game, none of the bosses can be defeated by merely attacking them. All of the bosses require your alien to use the nearby switches strategically to make them vulnerable.
- Shell Game: One of the bonus minigames tasks the player with helping Swanky find a crystal in one of four barrels while avoiding the bombs.
- Super-Speed: By charging up, Dinko can briefly run fast enough to outrun treadmills.
- Super-Strength: Gumpers can smash glass boxes and breakable walls the other aliens can't.
- Teamwork Puzzle Game: The game requires you to switch between Dinko, Gumpers, Swanky, Flip, and Scruffy to solve puzzles, all of whom have their own unique abilities and attributes.
- Timed Mission: The unlockable Marathon mode has you go through the Adventure mode again, only now every level has a time limit you have to beat in order to move on to the next level.
- The Voiceless: None of the aliens vocalize in-game. They speak in cutscenes, but have no voice acting.
- A Winner Is You: Beating the Adventure mode results in a short cutscene of Dinko congratulating the player for rescuing Tommy, before Tommy and the aliens escape in the go-getter as the Robotix ship blows up. Cue credits. The credits also play once you complete Marathon mode.
