ic-games Review - Puyo Pop Fever GBA - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

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Puyo Pop Fever GBA

Information
Reviewer: James Collins
Developer: Team Sonic
Publisher: THQ
Reviewed: Gameboy Advance
Genre: Puzzle
UK Release: 25th Mar 2005
Article Date: 16th Jun 2005
Difficulty: Medium
Retail Price: £24.99
Price Comparison:
0

Score Breakdown

Experience:
Game Play:
Graphics:
Sound:
Overall Score: 85%

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Pros

Still adictive

Perfect on the GBA

Multiplayer (using link)

Cons

Pointless story

Screenshots

1 of 2

Formally a successful puzzle series on just about every other console under the sun, Puyo turns to the GBA and Nintendo DS to make an impression. Have Team Sonic managed to fit everything in though?

The Puzzle genre is certainly a worn area. Ever since Tetris (and the billions it brought in) developers have tried to re-create the magic and addiction that the grand-daddy of puzzle games brought to gamers everywhere. Even the most enterprising developers have tried and failed to re-create the success with perhaps Temco and the brilliant "Bust a Move" as a noteworthy exception. It’s no surprise then that Puyo Pop Fever is a strange hybrid of these two most successful games. Featuring the dropping aspect of Tetris with the colourful puyo’s and characters of Bust a Move, Puyo Pop Fever has addiction written all over it because, for once, the developers haven’t tried to over complicate the game, one of the main reasons why so many puzzle games have failed in the past.

And that’s because if you need a manual to play a puzzle game you might as well forget it there and then. Puzzle games should be “pick up and play” and Puyo certainly is. Ignoring the story mode’s plot (easily done) Puyo’s rules are as simple as they come. Coloured bead (Puyo’s) fall from the sky in sets between 2 and 4 and it’s your job to align them up in colours as they settle on the bottom of the screen. Match four of the same colour and those particular Puyo’s explode and disappear. This can cause different coloured balls on top of these exploded Puyo’s to fall down in the new space, and if they in turn touch and create four of the same colours, they too will explode and cause possibly even more chain reactions. The more Puyo’s that explode then the more nuisance Puyo’s that you will send onto your opponents screen. These nuisance Puyo’s are colourless and cannot be popped by conventional means. Create enough of these to force your opponents Puyo’s to stack to the top of the screen and you’ve won. Basic enough then.

Of course there are a few more tricks up Puyo’s sleeve; Fever Mode for one is a great addition. Fill the fever gage up by creating spectacular chain reactions and you get to play a series of mini games in an attempt to unleash more nuisance Puyo’s onto your opponent. While you’re in fever mode you have many advantages, the main one being that your opponent no matter how well he is doing cannot drop them back at you. It soon becomes apparent that the idea is to create these chain reactions rather than just trying to match four colours together.

The Single Puyo Pop mode contains the story mode that you’ll probably do well to skip. Once skipped your treated to multiple games against the computer, and whilst they can be frustratingly hard at times, it’s still massively addictive. There is a very basic training mode (emphasis on basic, but with simple rules you wouldn’t expect anything else) then its straight into the action. Each round is played against a character who has a certain style and while more restrictive than playing against a real breathing opponent it’s still great fun. The other game modes are different enough to be worth playing. Original Puyo mode stands you in good stead for future two player battles as here you can practice chain reactions without the distraction of an opponent. Mission based Puyo is a novel twist on the main game and has you completing certain tasks such as creating a certain amount of chain reactions to proceed, to requiring you to pop a certain amount of Puyo’s. Fever Mode allows just that, a full game just playing Fever mode. Even then there are countless more modes to experiment with and refreshingly none are dull.

"a mandatory purchase for puzzle fans everywhere."

As for the question you all want to know, is it all worth the asking price? Then "yes, it certainly is". If you've never tried the Puyo franchise before, then 'Puyo Pop Fever' on any format is an excellent introduction. It's taken the best parts from Tetris and Bust a move and in many ways became a better game because of it. Featuring simplistic and extremely fun gameplay Puyo pop fever certainly gave us the "can't put the GBA down" feeling and we can all love the game for that reason alone. The story mode may feature what is now the obligatory bad plot, but it is certainly nowhere near bad enough to spoil what is a mandatory purchase for puzzle fans everywhere.

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