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[No cartridge image available]
THE
DATA
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NAME |
Puyo Puyo |
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PLATFORM |
Famicom
/ Disk System |
|
DEVELOPER |
Tokuma Shoten |
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PUBLISHER |
Compile |
|
PLAYERS |
1/2 player |
|
RELEASE DATE |
1993 |
|
GENRE |
Puzzle |
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SAVING OPTION |
No |
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NES NTSC |
No |
|
NES PAL |
No |
THE RATINGS
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STORYLINE |
 |
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 |
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2.5/5
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GRAPHICS |
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3.5/5 |
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AUDIO |
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3/5 |
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GAMEPLAY |
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4.5/5 |
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CONTROL |
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4/5 |
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FUN FACTOR |
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5/5 |
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FRUSTRATION |
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4.5/5 |
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OVERALL |
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3.5/5 |
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The Puyo Puyo series has to be one of those
where everyone talks about how addictive a puzzler
it is, but for whatever reason it's still largely
unknown. Those little guys have been everywhere: in
multiple systems and handhelds -- there was a game
released for the DS -- in Kirby tie-ins (Kirby's
Avalanche, anyone?), and even cloned for Sega (Dr.
Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine). It's up there
with Tetris as one of the most addictive
puzzlers of all time, it's just so much fun to play.
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There is no storyline. You...uh...have to destroy Puyos?
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The graphics are cute and all, but with the game made as late as 1993,
so some of what goes on disappoints me. You've got colorful blob-looking
Puyos with wide eyes and a sometimes scared expression, plus some other
dynamic characters on occasionally on screen. But the title screen is
bland, and so are the option screens. No Puyo animations at all!?
Nowhere!
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The sounds are barely noticeable. I like the sound effects better than
the ones used for the SNES's Kirby's Avalanche, but the music
isn't much to write home about. This pales in comparison to the music
used in Tetris. Puyo Puyo's music feels more like the
generic leftovers from unused music in other games.
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The object of the game is to put four or more of one color of Puyos
in a line -- that's what destroys them! You can put the four
together vertically, horizontally, diagonally, in a square shape --
actually in any way that has four of them connected.
The game will have a set time limit in which you destroy as many
Puyos as you can, have a set number of Puyos to destroy, or like in
Tetris, play until you fuck up so much that Puyos reach the
top of the screen. I guess it's almost like a cross between
Tetris and Dr. Mario.
There are two items that you can choose between to help you in your
Puyo killing quest. One is for a gigantic Puyo to randomly appear.
You pick two rows that are full of useless Puyos for him to destroy.
Another is this tiny creature that can turn all of the Puyos next to
it to the same color, for easy combos, which sounds similar to what
you can do in Hacker's Soap Panic (see
the Soap Panic review).
One of the most thrilling feats to accomplish in the game is a
domino combo, in which you destroy one set of Puyos, and Puyos that
were above the destroyed set fall and combine with those below to
form more sets of Puyos, giving you bonus points as they're
destroyed. Try to make a ripple effect!
My horrible overview of how the game is played doesn't do the game
justice. This game is DAMN good. It's addicting as hell.
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The controls are pretty simple. Since Puyos appear from the top two at a
time, you can move Puyos the same way as you would in Tetris.
When you press down on the D-pad, it makes them go really fast. This is
great, but even the slightest tap of down makes it go down WAY too fast,
so if you're used to doing this on Tetris, it's not easy to
master in Puyo Puyo.
Other than that, the controls are fine.
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You'll want to play this again and again; there's no doubt about it.
It's super fun. The game is just fantastic and addictive. Playing
two-player competitive mode is, in my opinion, even more exciting!
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Like Tetris, the
frustration level is high. "Ugh, I put it in the wrong spot!" is
going to be squeezed between your tense teeth numerous times. Also,
Puyos unexpectedly speed up for short periods of time, so you have
to really use your brain for thinking through a strategy.
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This is a great little game. You MUST pick this up if you find it.
Puyo Puyo is an underrated 8-bit gem that I wish would be talked
about today as much as its counterpart, Tetris. It may not be as
fun as Tetris, but it certainly is a damn good alternative during
those early gaming days when putting basic shapes into neat rows didn't
seem all that fun. Three thumbs up here!
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