Review: Puyo-Puyo Tetris
At a Glance
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
How to Save and Pause:Your progress is always recorded after a level. If you need to pause a single player game, press ESC to bring up the pause menu. Time needed per session:If it wasn't for the flashy menus and intros, you'd be able to play this game whenever you had free time. To compensate for this, give yourself at least ten minutes for each game.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Does this game pose issues for Christian players?
 | No - this is a great game for Christians During the story segments, players will encounter and "battle" a large cast of characters, some of whom have magical abilities or appear to be "demonic". However, none of them are actually evil; like everyone else in this game, they're really just overdramatic and goofy. |
Screenshots
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/puyo_puyo_tetris_0.jpg)
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/puyo_puyo_tetris_1.jpg)
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/puyo_puyo_tetris_2.jpg)
Game Overview
Take a cast of silly cartoon characters, an epic tale that determines the fate of two worlds, and two of the world's most popular puzzle games and mix them all together. The result is Puyo Puyo Tetris, a fun and silly game that just about everyone can enjoy. There's just one small problem: Puyo Puyo isn't very well known in the Western world.
Part of the reason people in the US or Europe aren't familar with this series is that most of the Puyo Puyo games are exclusive to the Eastern market (ie, countries like Japan and China), but another reason we don't immediately recognize it is because the few times it was brought over here, it was repackaged under a different (possibly more marketable) brand.
Older gamers have seen this sort of thing before, the most famous example being Doki Doki Panic. When this game was released in America, it was rebranded as Super Mario Bros. 2, with the original cast replaced by Mario and his friends. A similar thing happened with Puyo Puyo. It was released on the Sega Genesis as Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, and on the SNES as Kirby's Avalanche. Both garnered favorable reviews, but since they didn't use the Puyo name, and only one other Puyo game has been released in the West since then, the brand has remained a bit of a mystery.
Now, Puyo Puyo Tetris obviously contains both Tetris and Puyo Puyo. Everyone already knows how to play Tetris, so let me explain how you play Puyo Puyo. Just like in Tetris, groups of colored blobs (aka "Puyos") will fall from the top of the play field. You need to arrange them so that they'll settle into groups of four or more. It doesn't matter if they are in a straight line or not; two puyos will link together whenever they are touching and are the same color. When four or more puyos link up, they'll pop, and the puyos on top of them will fall down into the now empty spaces. Should this result in another group of four or more, a chain reaction will begin, popping even more puyos. The game ends when no more puyos can be dropped into your play area.
In "battle" variations of the game, clearing puyos quickly (or in long chains) will generate "stone puyos" that fall in your opponent's play field. Stone puyos can't be matched with anything, so they cause trouble for your opponent by blocking potential matches and hopefully causing their play area to run out of space. You can clear stone puyos by popping colors puyos next to them.
If this sounds interesting to you, then you might want to check this title out. There's an elaborate story mode that walks you through both styles of gameplay, and explains what in-universe events led to Tetris and Puyo crossing over into a single game. It's a fun way to introduce new players to the Puyo Puyo franchise, and it's a solid game overall.
Part of the reason people in the US or Europe aren't familar with this series is that most of the Puyo Puyo games are exclusive to the Eastern market (ie, countries like Japan and China), but another reason we don't immediately recognize it is because the few times it was brought over here, it was repackaged under a different (possibly more marketable) brand.
Older gamers have seen this sort of thing before, the most famous example being Doki Doki Panic. When this game was released in America, it was rebranded as Super Mario Bros. 2, with the original cast replaced by Mario and his friends. A similar thing happened with Puyo Puyo. It was released on the Sega Genesis as Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, and on the SNES as Kirby's Avalanche. Both garnered favorable reviews, but since they didn't use the Puyo name, and only one other Puyo game has been released in the West since then, the brand has remained a bit of a mystery.
Now, Puyo Puyo Tetris obviously contains both Tetris and Puyo Puyo. Everyone already knows how to play Tetris, so let me explain how you play Puyo Puyo. Just like in Tetris, groups of colored blobs (aka "Puyos") will fall from the top of the play field. You need to arrange them so that they'll settle into groups of four or more. It doesn't matter if they are in a straight line or not; two puyos will link together whenever they are touching and are the same color. When four or more puyos link up, they'll pop, and the puyos on top of them will fall down into the now empty spaces. Should this result in another group of four or more, a chain reaction will begin, popping even more puyos. The game ends when no more puyos can be dropped into your play area.
In "battle" variations of the game, clearing puyos quickly (or in long chains) will generate "stone puyos" that fall in your opponent's play field. Stone puyos can't be matched with anything, so they cause trouble for your opponent by blocking potential matches and hopefully causing their play area to run out of space. You can clear stone puyos by popping colors puyos next to them.
If this sounds interesting to you, then you might want to check this title out. There's an elaborate story mode that walks you through both styles of gameplay, and explains what in-universe events led to Tetris and Puyo crossing over into a single game. It's a fun way to introduce new players to the Puyo Puyo franchise, and it's a solid game overall.
Points of Interest
Multiple ways to play
As mentioned above, there's a lengthy story mode that introduces the Puyo Puyo cast and a new group of characters based on the Tetris franchise, but there's a lot more to see. There's the solo arcade mode, which lets on player play the six different styles of Puyo Puyo and Tetris available, but there's also an online multiplayer arcade so you can play with your friends.
Easy progression option
One of the problems with story modes in puzzle games is that you run the risk of stumbling into a level that's just too difficult for you. This creates an artificial wall, blocking off the rest of the game until you either improve or manage to get very lucky during a round. To prevent this from happening, this game will offer the option to skip a level if you're having trouble with it.
Many things to unlock
As you complete levels in the story mode, you'll unlock new backgrounds, characters, music tracks, and even new designs for the puyos and tetrominoes. Some of these need to be "purchased" from the in-game store using credits earned during the adventure, but some are just rewards for doing well.
Steam community features
There is a set of Steam trading cards available, but you're probably going to be more interested in the 42 achievements that are up for grabs. Surprisingly enough, only a few of these achievements are releated to your progress in the story. Most of them revolve around completing specific actions a given number of times, so with a little patience, you'll eventually earn them all.
Puyo Puyo is pushed at the expense of Tetris
While there are a number of Puyo Puyo variants, there aren't many options for playing Tetris. In particular, there's no "Endless" or "A-Type" mode like Tetris fans will be expecting. I'm not really surprised by this, just a little disappointed. After all, Puyo Puyo Tetris was published by SEGA, which is also the company that owns the Puyo Puyo franchise. Given that this is the first game to be released under the Puyo Puyo name in the West, they probably want to showcase their own product as much as they can.
Concerns and Issues
Very Mild Violence
When characters lose a game, they'll be shown being hit by falling tetrominoes or puyos. This is clearly just for comic effect, as nobody is actually hurt during the story.
Monsterous characters
Some of the characters have magical origins, most noteably the Dark Prince, who is supposedly this evil overlord. In reality, he's more of a large ham and just as silly as everyone else in this shared universe.