Famicom World

Intro (Storyline) 2.5

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.

There is no storyline. You...uh...have to destroy Puyos?

Graphics 3.5

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!

Audio 3.0

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.

Gameplay 4.5

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.

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.

Controls 4.0

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.

Frustrations 4.5

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.

Fun Factor 5.0

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!

Overall 3.5

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!