Puyo Pop Fever – NDS – Review

"It’s just
another game of multi-colored goo," I told myself. "You’ll play it and be done
with it. You won’t get addicted like in the late 90s when you checked yourself
into rehab. Your thumbs won’t blister, your eyes won’t water. You won’t walk
around town with a DS attached to your fingers. You will play it and be done
with it."

So much for
that theory.

Puyo Pop
Fever is the latest, feverishly addictive addition to Sega’s long-running Puyo
Pop series. It’s a game of quick strategic planning; a puzzle game with
pizzazz. It’ll drive you nuts, make you smile, and in the case of this
version, it’ll bring back fond memories of the nine-year-old Nintendo classic,
Tetris Attack.

Many gamers
have seen but never played a Puyo Pop game. First impressions tell you it’s a
Tetris-style puzzler. Another variation of Nintendo’s classic, which we
already have several of. That’s not the case, however. Puyo Pop’s gooey puzzle
pieces (they look like circular blobs with eyes) love to cling to one another.
However, they only have affection for blobs of their own color. Red clings to
red; blue clings to blue. They’ll stick to almost anything, but it’s the
clinging that you want. It takes at least four blobs to make a spectacle. And
believe me, you’re going to want to make a spectacle.

Puyo Pop
Fever is not a line game. You don’t need to have several blobs in a row to
start gaining points. Although it may have come from the same inspiration that
led to the births of other classic puzzle games, its intense battles and
fast-thinking puzzles have more in common with Tetris Attack than they do the
original Tetris. When four blobs of the same color are touching, it’s possible
to make a spectacle akin to the insane chains and combos introduced in Tetris
Attack. Release green, knock blue into place, drop yellow on top and lead the
way for a red and purple entry.

Confused? I
guess I forgot to clarify that when I said "spectacle" I meant "disappear."
These blobs might have big eyes, but it’s their destiny to disappear. Don’t
think of it as their death so much as a way to celebrate life. Every time one
of the blobs evaporates, you get to go on living in the game.

Puyo Pop
Fever works on a competition system. In other words, with the exception of the
new endless modes, you’re always in competition with someone. It could be your
friend, your next door neighbor – even your dog (why should humans have all
the fun when Rufus could hit pause with his paws?). Multiplayer games are NOT
restricted those who buy the game. As long as one player has it, simply
download the content (wirelessly) from the host DS to your DS and start
playing.

Multiplayer
madness.

The
single-player modes were, as always, designed to give you a competitive
multiplayer experience. Computer-controlled characters attempt to play faster
and more efficiently than a real person can, but in the end you learn that,
once you become a master of the title, there’s no replacement for real
competition. Nonetheless, this is the best place to get to that point. Some of
the computer-controlled opponents are easy; some are pretty tough, but all of
them are entertaining, and all of them are worth facing multiple times.

This is
primarily due to the inclusion of Tetris Attack-inspired elements. The chains
move so much faster, and it seems to take more thought to connect them. Combos
are equally challenging.

You’ll see
even more of the influence Tetris Attack had on this game when you enter Fever
Mode. It’s a mode within all other modes and lasts for only a few seconds. All
existing puzzle pieces disappear (temporarily) are replaced by a pre-made
puzzle that can be wiped out entirely in one swift move. This is unbelievably
tricky because you have a limited amount of time to think and decide which
piece to eliminate (red, green, yellow, etc.).

Your goal is
to eliminate the right color. Doing so creates a chain that eliminates all of
the blobs and drops a plethora of clear blobs (duds) on top of your opponent.
Clear blobs take up space and prevent you or your opponent from getting to the
blobs below. There’s only one way to eliminate them: by eliminating the solid
blobs that are touching them.

If you fail
to eliminate the right blob in Fever Mode, at least one blob will be left when
the chain is finished. You’ll have failed, and your opponent won’t be damaged
as severely as he would have if you had succeeded.

I
take that back. THIS is multiplayer madness!!

Since Puyo
Pop Fever came from the Land of the Rising FUN, don’t be surprised (or turned
off) by the quirky, cutesy characters and the too-annoying-for-words story
elements. They weren’t necessary, but Japanese game developers disagree. Our
only option is to pass on a great game, which is something I’ll never do.
Besides, the sound can be turned off and the story segments can be skipped
very easily. Other developers could learn a lot from this.

Review Scoring Details for Puyo Pop Fever

Gameplay: 8.6
Puzzle fans can
pop puyos with either the directional pad or the Nintendo DS touch screen.
Drag the stylus across to line up the blobs. Tap the screen left or right of
the blobs to make it spin in that direction. Push on the screen and stroke
down (and hold that position) to make the blobs fall down quickly.  It’s a fun
and unique way to control the game, but it takes a while to get used to it. As
of this writing, I still hadn’t gotten completely used to it! But I know that,
like any new control scheme that works, it all becomes natural in time, and
eventually becomes the better way to game.

In the
future, we may not use the D-pad at all.

Graphics: 6.9
Simple and
blob-filled. They shine, they disappear, and they have colorful effects that
are decent for the kind of game this is, but are still 100 times below what
the DS is capable of.

Sound: 5.0
The soundtrack
would be pretty good if the music wasn’t so quirky! It goes to a good place,
then jumps back to that kiddie cartoon sound.

Difficulty: Medium
Step right up for
a decent challenge. No need to push, there’s enough blobs for everyone.

Concept: 8.0
Wonderful
additions like faster gameplay and Tetris Attack-inspired gameplay features.

Multiplayer: 8.5
For up to eight
players!

Overall: 8.5
A happy-happy
joy-joy must-buy for puzzle fans. It’s got several challenges, three endless
modes, and more speed than any Puyo Pop game before it. And it has
touch-screen enabled gameplay, which in time will replace the need for a D-pad
(at least with puzzle games).