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We’ve covered a number of entries in Sega’s Puyo series before, but they all had one of
two things in common: They were either A) Import titles, or B) Re-branded with some
other franchise character, be it Kirby or Dr. Robotnik. Only four games in the series
ever stood on their own in America: Three different handheld versions of varying quality,
released for the Neo-Geo Pocket Color, GBA, and the Nokia N-Gage, and Puyo Pop Fever on
the DS and GameCube. These latter offerings hit in that magical sixth-generation window
when you could have a very quick-and-dirty translation, get some receptionists to say
some lines in a makeshift sound booth fashioned from a storage closet, and try to convince
someone that ”From the Makers of Sonic the Hedgehog” is a cogent argument as to a puzzle
game’s credentials. I’m not one to complain. I’m just grateful to have version of Puyo
in English. Or, befitting my whims, a strange amalgamation of Japanese and Italian.
It’s the same blob-matching action you’ve come to know and love, complete with the usual
gauntlets of opponents ready to school you in the ways of the puyo. Where Fever deviates
from its predecessors is in the inclusion of three- and four-puyo configurations mixed
in with the usual falling pairs, as well as an all-new Fever mode. We all know that if
your opponent has successfully popped puyos and is threatening your side with a rain of
trash, you can buy time by offsetting their attack with combos of your own. In Fever,
doing this also charges a gauge in the middle of the screen, which when filled replaces
your existing board with pre-built, chain-ready constructions, to punish your opponent fast
and furiously. You’ve only got a limited time with fever mode, though, and you only
get one reaction per construction, so if you accidentally pop something without chaining,
you’re out of luck and have to wait while the next board is set. Betcha he’ll feel
that one in the morning.
In addition to the standard single-player campaign are a couple Endless modes, featuring
either the classic Puyo gameplay, a Fever-blitz mode where longer chains and more complete
clears buy you time as you race against a clock, and a slightly-slower-paced mission
mode where completing certain goals.... buys you time as you race against a clock. You
can take on a friend head-to-head, or set up a grudge match against a CPU player whose
particular playstyle seems to defeat you constantly. You can say what you want about the cartoony,
Super Bust-A-Move-2-eqsue presentation, but just like that version, if you can actually
pay attention to anything aside from the puyos in your stack, you’re doing something wrong.
Puyo is a dangerous, addictive substance. I now understand why it’s been kept so tightly
controlled on these shores.