If you only play games on a console you may get the impression that puzzle games are dying out. We've seen a few of them on the Cube, but none of them were really any good. In Japan gamers can play Nintendo Puzzle collection, but we don't even have a solid release date for that one yet. Puzzle fans don't have to buy a GBA or a mobile phone yet though, because Puyo Puyo Fever is here! Puyo Puyo is Sonic Team's puzzle series that has lasted for quite a few years and has appeared on multiple platforms. Even if the names Puyo Puyo and Puyo Pop don't ring a bell there's still a good change you've played the game though, since Sonic Team also released it under the terrible name of Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine. Nintendo even nicked it and released it as Kirby's Avalanche and Kirby's Ghost Trap. But enough history lessons, you want to know what a Puyo is, why we need two of them, where this fever thing came from and maybe a thing or two about how Puyo Puyo Fever plays.

 

Graphics:

Sonic Team don't exactly have a reputation for making beautiful Cube games, and they won't get one after Puyo Puyo Fever either. Since this is a 2D puzzle game you don't really need nice graphics, but Sonic Team tried to make Puyo look special anyway. This resulted in colourful backgrounds and 3D effects. The 3D effects are nice, it makes your combos feel even more spectaculair, but the backgrounds are often quite irritating. It's hard to tell the difference between a green puyo and a transparent one if the background is green, this is especially unfair to the second player in multiplayer since his background has more grass in it. The puyos themselves look very nice, they never lie completely still after you've placed them somewhere, their animations are quite funny. Not that you'll have time to look at them too much while playing, but it's nice anyway.

Sound:

It seems puzzle games can't go without funky Japanese popmusic. Puyo Puyo Fever too is filled with compositions that sound strange but work incredibly well with the frantic puzzle action the game offers. You won't hum the songs in the shower every morning but they fit the game nicely. Apart from the music though the sound isn't really noteworthy, there's some extremely cheesy voice-acting and a few sound effects but they don't really add anything to the gameplay.

 

Gameplay:

3D combo animations and J-Pop are very nice, but a puzzle game is nothing without good gameplay, and fortunately enough Puyo Puyo Fever has plenty of this. A Puyo is a small coloured blob that pops as soon as he is connected to a group of three or more of his same-coloured friends (hence the name Puyo Pop). Puyos usually come falling down the screen in groups of two and it's your job to arrange them in a convenient way. These basics and the way you have to think ahead to plan your combos are the same as in all the old Puyo games, but new in this version is the Fever mode. If your opponent pulls off a good combo, your screen gets a few transparent Puyos that only disappear when you pop a few coloured puyos next to it. Before these transparent troublemakers fall though you get a warning above your playfield. If you pop some Puyos quickly before the warning is gone you can prevent the transparent blobs from coming. Every time you negate a warning like this your Fever meter increases, if it's full you go into Fever mode.

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In Fever mode you get a few quick puzzle situations that allow you to do huge combos if you drop your Puyos in the right place. Since countering warnings requires much smaller combos than making warnings it is often wise to play on defense to get to Fever mode first and obliterate your opponent. If your opponent counters warnings you created though your Fever mode timer increases, this timer tells you how long your Fever mode will last when you enter it. The Fever meter and the Fever mode timer combined make Puyo Puyo Fever an incredibly balanced puzzle game, especially in multiplayer mode. If your opponent is very offensive you'll get more chances to go into Fever mode, if he's defensive you get the chance to increase your Fever mode timer so your Fever mode will be more worthwhile than his. It's also quite simple to learn, so after a couple of rounds your friends can change from beginners to worthy opponents. There are single player modes as well but as with any puzzle game the fun doubles along with the number of players.

 

Playability:

It doesn't take much effort to control Puyos, so the controls of Puyo Puyo Fever are very simple. You move them around with the control stick and turn them with A and B, that's pretty much all there is. Every once in a while you'll get a square block with four Puyos of the same colour, A and B then switch the colour of the block, that's about all the variation you'll get in controlling Puyo Puyo Fever. That's a good thing though, the controls are very responsive and within seconds you're able to forget about them and play the game on feeling.

Lifespan:

Puyo Puyo Fever will last you as long as any good puzzle game. If you like puzzling a few hours away every now and then this game can keep on entertaining you for a very long time, especially if you share the fun with some friends. If you're not really into puzzle games you'll probably get bored with it very soon, but then again, if you're not into them you probably won't be reading this review.

 

Final Say:

Puyo Puyo Fever is without a doubt the best puzzle game on the Cube at the moment. It's not as accessible as a Game Boy with Tetris, but that's simply because you can't carry your Cube with you all the time. Extras like a GBA linkup would've been nice, that way you could also play it on the go, but overal Puyo Puyo Fever is a pretty solid puzzle title. It's also nice to see developers throwing new things in puzzle games not just as an excuse to put "new features!" on the box, the Fever mode really adds to the gameplay. Untill Nintendo Puzzle Collection hits Europe this is the only puzzle title you'll need.