Play Columns - Tezuka Osamu Characters (japan) Online

Columns GB: Tezuka Osamu Characters was a Japan-exclusive release for the Game Boy Color in 1999, developed by Sega and published by Nintendo. It arrived late in the handheld's life, offering a distinct visual style amidst a sea of more conventional puzzle games on the platform.

You control the descent of colored jewel stacks, maneuvering and rotating them to form lines of three or more matching gems horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. The main objective is to clear these lines before the playfield fills up, with characters from Osamu Tezuka's works like Astro Boy and Black Jack appearing in the background. Signature mechanics include the ability to swap the positions of the next jewel in line with your current one for better planning, and a special item mode that can clear entire rows or columns under certain conditions. The game starts gently but the speed increases steadily, demanding quicker decisions. It feels like a familiar puzzle system dressed in a charming, personal art style.