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Alexei Pajitnov's blockbuster Tetris spawned many clones, but Puyo Puyo is one of the more worthy derivatives of the whole falling-blocks craze in the early 80s. First released on the Mega-Drive console by Compile, Puyo Puyo has all the qualities that keep puzzle fans hooked to the screen: bright, colorful graphics and great gameplay that not only gets you addicted, but also gives you a sense of accomplishment upon defeating your adversary, be it computer or human. As a testament to the game's excellence, the series has taken on a life of its own, with many sequels, and is today no longer labelled a "Tetris clone". As with all great puzzlers, the concept of the game is very simple: the basic goal is to get four or more jellies/blobs (called "puyo") of the same color to be next to each other. Two puyos of random color are dropped each time. You can rotate these and move them freely. Puyos are considered touching if they are directly connected either horizontally, or vertically. Comboing multiple chains at once is riskier and more difficult, but is also rewarded with more points. Although this game was released amidst a flurry of Tetris clones, the gameplay in Puyo Puyo is fresh enough and addictive enough for the series to stand on its own. The Two-Player mode in particular deserves special mention as the first successful implementation of multiplayer in a Tetris-style game. Two thumbs up, way up for this addictive underdog! Note: the game is in Japanese, but it shouldn't be hard to guess how to play. Many games in the series have been fan-translated into English. [url=https://puyonexus.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=35]Check here[/url] for info on that. Also check out Candy Crisis, an unofficial Puyo Puyo game in English, created by John Stiles and now distributed as freeware with optional donations. Reviewed by: Underdogs | 
Puyo Puyo 
