Videogames can leave lasting marks on society. But few become
adjectives.
The best thing to ever escape Russia, Alexey
Pajitnov’s puzzler Tetris, can claim adjectival fame. Just ask
anybody trying to pack a pile of crap into any small space. Hey,
just ask Homer Simpson!
OK, so we all know what Tetris is.
But what the fuck is a ‘Puyo Puyo’?
It too is a puzzle game,
that while let out to play in the west variously as Puyo Pop,
Kirby’s Avalanche or even Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, is
something altogether more supernova in its native land. Spawned from
dungeon crawler Madou Monogatari, it’s basically a blocky
colour matching game too, but as the pairs that continually drop are
made up of blobby characters, they split rather than staying as a
whole when hitting an immovable object.
As anybody with even half
an IQ point should have gathered by now, Puyo Puyo Tetris is a
collision of the two classic puzzle games. It takes the utilitarian
Tetris, gives it a wonderfully Japanesey anime makeover, adds its
own kick-arse puzzler and results in one of the best puzzle releases
ever.
Yes, ever.
While different – one game demands
line clearance, the other chains of colour clears - the two games are
complimentary enough to make head-to-head play relatively fair. If you have a preference, there are enough modes
where you can avoid the other game altogether. But that’s a total
waste.
You want modes? Where we’re going we don’t nee- hang on, yes, we
do need modes! Luckily, PPT delivers – and for up to four players
locally, too. There’s an adventure mode numbering 100 stages, six
challenge modes, five arcade levels and a couple of lessons. There’s
also online play, although beware of Puyo pros hanging
around just waiting to make you feel like a big blobby ball of
useless crap.
Trust us puzzler fans, Tetris this one into your life,
or you’ll feel like Pu, yo!
