The focus of this review is the Gameboy Advance port of this title
Overview
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, at the time of its initial arcade release, represented a surprising deviation for Capcom. For nearly half a decade Capcom had milked the fighting game genre that it had virtually created by serving up update after update of Street Fighter 2. Puzzle Fighter however, took many of the more popular characters that Capcom had created in the Street Fighter and Darkstalkers series and placed them in, of all things, a puzzle game. The result was an intriguing arcade experience.
Capcom’s foray into the puzzle game genre has now made its way to the Gameboy Advance, courtesy of the development expertise of Atomic Planet Entertainment. Does the game live up to its arcade variant? Happily, not only is the Gameboy’s version just as good as its arcade variant, it actually manages to be even better.
Graphics 8/10
This game looks quite good on the Gameboy Advance. The sparkling effects of the crash and power gems have translated well to the smaller screen of the GBA. The fields of play are set in front of various backgrounds taken from the Street Fighter Alpha and Darkstalkers games. In addition, the two players’ selected characters will square off in a small space set between the two fields of play. The character representing your actions are drawn in the ‘super-deformed’ anime style, and will taunt, look worried, or even execute trademark super moves based upon how well or poorly you play the game. This can be fun to watch – but it can also be distracting to a newer player. (After all, how can you be concentrating on your gem structures if you’re watching your character clown around?)
There is one additional area of the game’s graphics which I must comment upon. The GBA version of Puzzle Fighter has a gallery where gamers can view the initial sketch and color art used to create the game. Many of these sketches were done by Capcom artist Edayan (who also handled the game's character design along with the artist Goidanokei). I was impressed with the ability of the GBA to represent these art pieces well on such a tiny screen.
Gameplay/Controls 9/10
In Puzzle Fighter, the screen is split into two fields, one for the player and his opponent, be it the game AI or another human. The match starts with the computer dropping a pair of small square gems for both competitors. The gems come in four different colors: red, yellow, blue and green. The aforementioned pairs that the computer will drop can come in any combination of these colors. These gems will drop from a designated spot at the top of each player’s field, and must then be stacked and arranged across the player’s field. Any four gems of the same color which are stacked together in the shape of a larger square will merge together to form a ‘power gem.’ If the collection gems ever fill any competitor’s field so completely that the computer is unable to add any new gems to that side, that player loses the match. Naturally, that makes one concern the proper arrangement of gems so that the ‘drop slot’ is never blocked. Of course, things aren’t quite that simple.
This is because Puzzle Fighter also has ‘crash gems’ – little circles which come in the same colors and the normal gems. These crash gems are dropped in the same manner as the normal gems. Whenever a crash gem and a normal gem or power gem of the same color come together, they explode, obliterating each other. Any gems of the same color which touch the detonated normal gem will also explode. This make the field of play a bit more manageable. However, the destruction of gems on one side also acts as an attack upon the field of the other player. This attack comes in the form of counter gems. These have the color and shape of normal gems, but drop the turn after other player has detonated his gems. The counter gems are so named because they have a number in the center which ‘counts’ down from 5 until zero.
The number of counter gems which drop depends upon how many normal gems were detonated. Detonating power gems sends more counter gems to the opponent than the destruction of a single or even a few normal gems. Hence, it is vitally important to build power gem structures. These structures can even be arranged so that combos occur; careful placement of differently colored crash gems and power gems can result in a massive chain of detonations. Since counter gems are essentially an attack, their position cannot be manipulated by the player in whose field they fall. Rather, they drop according to the attacking character’s specific counter gem pattern -the odd collection of colored squares which appear beside your character when you select them. Also, the counter gems cannot be detonated in the same manner as normal gems. A counter gem can be destroyed in only one way - if a normal gem which touches it and is of the same color is detonated. However, once the internal counter reaches 0 (indicating that 5 turns have passed since the initial attack which created the counter gem took place), the counter gem will transform into a normal gem, and will merge into a power square if normal gems of the same color have been arranged around them. The top of each players’ field indicates the number of counter gems which the opponent is sending after an attack has been made. This gives one a single turn to prepare for the incoming attack. Capcom makes things a bit more interesting and dangerous for both players by including one final type of gem – the super gem. This rarely appearing diamond shaped gem can be directed to land upon any color normal or power gem. It will then destroy all gems of that same color on the entire screen. Needless to say, the appearance and wise use of a super gem can turn an entire match around.
In Puzzle Fighter, timing is everything. Attack too soon and with too little, and you will merely add easily managed counter gems which a skillful opponent will use to destroy you. Attack too late while trying to build the perfect combo structure, and the opponent may send a large attack whose counter gems fill your screen and block your drop slot. Winning consistently requires a knowledge of the counter drop pattern of the opposing player’s character, a good understanding of the mechanics of power gem combo structuring, and a ‘feel’ for the timing of the appearance of the super gem. The resultant game play is a surprisingly enjoyable and addictive experience. I'm generally not a fan of the puzzle game genre…but this game had me hooked.
The game’s controls are simple, identical in fact to those of the classic puzzle game Tetris. Button A rotates the falling gems clockwise, while pressing button B rotates them counterclockwise. The D-pad is used to position gems, and gems can be made to fall instantly rather than at their ordinary leisurely pace by down on the D-pad. The control’s responsiveness is a faithful duplication of the arcade original, meaning that a gamer should have no problems sending gems exactly where he wants them to go.
Sound/Music 8/10
Puzzle Fighter has excellent music and sound effects. Just like the game’s backgrounds, it's music comes from Street Fighter Alpha and Darkstalkers, and has in my opinion some of the finer pieces used in those games (Sakura’s, Donovan’s, and Gouki’s themes spring to mind). The ‘shattering crystal’ sound effect that detonating gems makes is immersing without being overly annoying, and the character voices are fine reproductions of the original arcade game’s.
Replay Value 9/10
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo shines in this area. Ironically, it has more replay value than quite a few of Capcom’s recent efforts. A ‘Training Demo’ mode teaches newer players the basics of the game. There are three different levels of difficulty, from Easy to Hard. The game’s AI plays quite well on Medium, and can be fiendish on Hard. The game also has a versus mode if you’re looking for more warm-blooded competition, and a link battle mode for warm-blooded competition who also happen to own a GBA and a copy of Super Puzzle Fighter II.
Puzzle Fighter for the GBA adds to its replay value with the inclusion of an ‘unlocking’ mode, aptly named ‘Street Puzzle.’ Playing through this mode allows you to unlock additional features such as the gallery, the game’s music selection, and extra color selections for the characters. There are even three hidden characters present in the game who can be unlocked: Dan and Gouki from the Street Fighter Alpha series, and Devilot from the Cyberbots series. Trying to win with Dan can be an amazing challenge in and of itself, as he only drops counter gems of one color on his opponents. Needless to say, that is NOT good. Finally, a ‘Master Puzzle’ mode can also be unlocked and enjoyed by puzzle fanatics. The difficulty of this mode is best described as torturous. Experts at gem combo structure and attack pattern recognition only need apply.
Overall 9/10
If you like puzzle games and you have a GBA, then definitely give this game a try. And even if you don’t like puzzle games – give it a try. As I’ve stated above, I am not a fan of the puzzle genre. However, the total package embodied in Puzzle fighter had me hooked nearly from the first time that I laid eyes on the machine years ago at a local university game room. Give this ‘gem’ a whirl. You’ll be happy that you did.
- By Kain Maxi
