Puyo Puyo Tetris | PS4

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Puyo Puyo Tetris released to a Japanese audience back in 2014, at the time forgoing a western launch due to licensing issues. With those now resolved, the puzzle game mashup arrives on our shores this week, having lost none of its charm in translation.

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​by Sam
​Sant

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​@SlamShotSam

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Developer: SEGA
Publisher: Deep
Silver
Platforms: PS4,
Nintendo Switch
Players: 1 - 4

During its more than 30 year history, Tetris has become one of the world’s most recognisable brands. As a result, you probably don't need us to tell you that the aim of the game is to orientate falling blocks (Tetriminos) of various shapes and sizes into horizontal lines to score points and prevent the board from filling, which would mean game over. There it is anyway, just in case.

Chances are, you aren’t quite so familiar with the Japan-centric Puyo Puyo franchise (which you might also know as Puyo Pop), but fans of Tetris should take straight to it. Puyos fall from the top of the game board, much like Tetriminos, only this time you’ll endeavour to match at least four of the same colour into a group to score points and clear them from the board, as filling it is once again the fail state.

So far, so simple, but don’t be fooled; there’s actually an immense amount of depth to both games. Puyo Puyo Tetris has a handy suite of tutorial videos built in, but while they offered up some genuine revelations on how to play at a higher level, the fact they’re noninteractive makes the terminology and tactics harder to absorb than they otherwise would be. As the game itself points out, the best way to learn is by doing.

If you’re wondering how these two puzzling mainstays came to collide - and not in literal business terms, but in terms of lore - then, well, you probably have too much time on your hands, but, the oddly compelling Adventure mode is where you’ll find answers. The lengthy, narrative-driven journey is packed with vibrant and fully voiced characters, along with a breadth of varied and progressively more challenging stages that keep things consistently engaging. This is where solo players will most likely spend the bulk of their time, and deservedly so.

With licensing issues now resolved, the puzzle game mashup arrives on our shores this week, having lost none of its charm in translation.

There’s an absolute wealth of modes to choose from, each boasting their own further customisation options, all of which are playable solo, but Puyo Puyo Tetris has quite a heavy multiplayer weighting. For the most part, this isn’t your standard high score-chasing fare: though the classic modes are tucked away in the menus, the focus is very much placed squarely upon versus variants, in which you battle up to three opponents. Completing lines in Tetris and grouping Puyos in Puyo Puyo litters an opponent's board with garbage pieces, making it harder for them to stay afloat and bringing you closer to victory. This goes both ways, naturally, but as these pieces are annoying to deal with by design, some will inevitably lament the change in direction.

For those that take to it, however, there’s a lot on the multiplayer front to keep you busy. We can easily imagine the game securing a dedicated player base between its ranked and casual match offerings, largely because it doesn’t place restrictions on Tetris or Puyo Puyo purists competing against one another. That inevitably raises questions with regards to balance, as players are engaging in two fundamentally different games, but, in our experience, SEGA managed to pull it off.

If online leagues seem a little intimidating, you can also play locally, whilst finding a mode to suit any player’s skill set. Party adds power-ups that hinder opponents in a variety of ways, but to counteract any frustration that might cause everyone has infinite lives. Big Bang offers up frantic fun as you slot missing pieces into a range of preset boards as quickly and accurately as possible. Meanwhile, Swap sees each player juggle simultaneous games of Puyo Puyo and Tetris, switching between boards at frequent set intervals.

There’s an absolute wealth of modes to choose from, each boasting their own further customisation options.

While these modes are undoubtedly a good time, they don’t quite match the staying power of the game’s Challenge mode, which offers a more traditional take on its resident duo by (for the most part) tasking you with securing high scores in time-sensitive tasks.

Then there’s our personal favourite - Fusion. Fusion places Puyos and Tetriminos on the same board, each sticking to their established rule set, while also interacting with one another to afford the player new and exciting opportunities. Namely, this involves heavy Tetris blocks smashing through stacks of jelly-like Puyo, which then re-emerge from the top of the board and land atop the piece that ousted them, allowing you to setup and execute some impressive combos with a bit of lateral thinking. Throw in new piece configurations, and you have one harmonious take on two old school properties.

Puyo Puyo Tetris could easily have been a Frankenstein’s monster of a game, though it’s anything but. It’s a fresh-faced and modern reimagining of a couple of all time greats, offering a huge amount of choice and longevity to players at a budget price, making it the best puzzler we’ve played in a good long while.

Pros

• Same timeless gameplay we know and love...
• … with a number of innovative twists
• Huge range of modes and customisation options
• Actually has engaging characters and story
• Strong audiovisual presentation

Cons

• Some won’t appreciate the multiplayer/battle mode focus
• Tutorials should have been interactive
• Repetitive quips from some characters can become tedious

Score 8/10