Puyo Pop

Developer: Sonic Team | Publisher: THQ | Release Date: 2002 | Genre: Puzzle | Website: n/a | Purchase: Amazon

There is something wonderfully dangerous about a puzzle game whose basic rules can be explained in about thirty seconds. Pairs of coloured blobs called Puyos fall from the top of the screen. Players move and rotate them before they land, with four or more connected Puyos of the same colour disappearing from the board. Anything sitting above those Puyos then drops into the newly created space, potentially connecting another group and starting a chain reaction.

Then Puyo Pop asks players to deliberately construct five or six of those reactions in advance while an opponent is simultaneously trying to bury them alive under garbage. Which means things escalate rather quickly. This Game Boy Advance entry was originally released in Japan as Minna de Puyo Puyo before becoming Puyo Pop internationally. Rather than simply offering the basic puzzle game on a handheld, Sonic Team packed a surprising amount of content onto the cartridge.

The heart of Puyo Pop remains competitive puzzle battles. Clearing a few Puyos keeps the board tidy, but chains are what actually win matches. Creating consecutive clears sends transparent garbage Puyos onto the opponent’s board. These cannot be matched normally and instead disappear when coloured Puyos are cleared alongside them. Large chains therefore serve two purposes: clearing our own board while simultaneously making the opponent’s situation considerably worse. The first player whose Puyos reach the top loses. It is incredibly easy to understand and considerably harder to play well.

Simply matching whatever colours happen to arrive will work for a while, but stronger opponents quickly demonstrate why Puyo Pop has such an enormous skill ceiling. Building chains requires players to look several moves ahead, arranging colours so one clear causes another group to fall together, which causes another, and hopefully another after that. Pulling off a large chain is enormously satisfying. Watching several rows of garbage drop onto the other side immediately afterwards is even better. We also found that most matches are effectively decided very early. Those first few pairs can be incredibly important because they establish the foundation for everything that follows. A clean opening gives players room to construct larger chains, while a few badly positioned Puyos can leave them spending the rest of the match trying to repair the damage.

That does not mean a bad start guarantees defeat. It is still possible to claw your way back. Garbage can be cleared, an opponent can make a mistake, and a well-timed chain can suddenly reverse the pressure. Those comebacks are some of the most satisfying victories in the game. They are just not easy.

Story Mode provides the main single-player attraction and is considerably more substantial than we expected. Arle Nadja chases her companion Carbuncle through a mysterious gate and travels through several areas battling the wonderfully strange cast of Puyo Puyo. Progress involves collecting Runes that open access to new locations, eventually leading through five main areas with an additional Trial Labyrinth available beyond them. The story itself is mostly an excuse to make colourful anime characters challenge each other to Puyo matches. And that is perfectly fine.

Characters have different personalities and AI tendencies, while later opponents become considerably more capable of constructing dangerous chains. There are 46 battles across the main Story Mode, giving solo players plenty to work through before considering the other modes. There is also a surprising amount to collect. Story Mode awards various items, including character cards that can be viewed in the Gallery. These feature character artwork and allow their voice clips to be played. Other items unlock additional options and content, while repeated trips through the campaign can therefore reveal things missed previously.

For players who just want to pop things without somebody trying to ruin their day, Endless Puyo Pop contains two variants. Tokoton is the straightforward survival mode. There is no opponent and no incoming garbage; players simply keep clearing Puyos and chasing a higher score until the board eventually fills.

Kesubesi is more interesting, giving players specific tasks to perform against a 99-second clock. These can require particular clears, chains, or other objectives, providing a useful way to practise techniques instead of simply surviving indefinitely.

Multiplayer is where the underlying competitive design really shines. Double Puyo Pop supports two players, while Everybody Puyo Pop expands things to three or four. Link Cable multiplayer supports both multi-cartridge play and the GBA’s extremely welcome Single Game Pak functionality, although using only one cartridge comes with restrictions compared with everyone owning the game. With multiple cartridges, players can also access different rulesets and team configurations. Even without multiplayer, though, Puyo Pop is quite addictive. Very addictive, actually.

Story Mode has that dangerous “just one more opponent” quality, while Endless Mode turned into repeated attempts to beat our previous performances. The rules are simple enough that there is almost no barrier to starting another game, yet improving at chain construction can consume an alarming amount of time. The campaign, collectibles, multiple Endless variants, unlockable content and multiplayer options make this feel like a complete package rather than merely an arcade puzzle game squeezed onto a cartridge.

Controls are equally straightforward. The D-pad moves falling pairs and increases their descent speed, while the face buttons rotate them. That is essentially all the game needs, and the simplicity means control rarely got between us and whatever increasingly questionable structure we were attempting to construct. If something goes horribly wrong, we generally had ourselves to blame.

Visually, Puyo Pop has aged remarkably well. The colourful anime artwork, expressive characters and tiny Puyos are crisp and immediately readable. The Puyos themselves are particularly charming, with little faces that give what could have been generic coloured blobs considerably more personality. Battlefields wisely remain relatively restrained. With several colours, garbage pieces, falling pairs and two competing boards already demanding attention, elaborate backgrounds would only make things harder to read. The simple presentation keeps the important information clear while character artwork around the boards provides personality. It is a game that feels perfectly at home on the Game Boy Advance.

The audio is equally cheerful. Music is upbeat and energetic without becoming too distracting during matches, while the Puyos themselves produce satisfying little sounds as they land and disappear. Characters also use Japanese voice samples during battles, particularly as chains develop. Hearing those reactions escalate alongside an increasingly large combination adds considerably to the excitement.

However, the game is not without a few weaknesses. Players unfamiliar with Puyo Puyo may find the difficulty jump against stronger CPU opponents fairly abrupt, particularly once they begin constructing chains faster than a newcomer can comfortably plan them. The underlying mechanics are easy to understand, but the game does not magically teach players how to become good at advanced chaining. Matches can also feel brutally one-sided once somebody gains momentum. Because early positioning matters so much, recovering from a board already clogged with garbage can be extremely difficult. We managed some satisfying comebacks, but far more often a disastrous opening simply became a slow-motion demonstration of why the opening was disastrous.

That ruthlessness is also part of what makes the game compelling. Puyo Pop is not merely about matching colours. It is about preparation. Every Puyo we place could become part of something several moves later, and the moment when a carefully constructed chain finally triggers remains immensely satisfying. Puyo Pop doesn’t quite have the same pick-up-and-play addictiveness of something like Tetris, but once it gets its hooks in you, it’s just as hard to stop.