Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 (Switch)

 

Falling to the Edge of the World!

A couple of years back I got Puyo Puyo Tetris after getting a recommendation from the local game store (that now doesn't exist any more, sadly) and had a bit of fun. And then a sequel was released back in 2020 and I finished it back in 2021... and then released this now in 2022. And I've come to the conclusion... again, that I really suck at puyo puyo.  And there is an adventure mode here as well.

And it's basically the same premise as the last game. Ringu is walking around when they when suddenly Tee appears and then it's trying to figure out what happened, find the responsible and stop him and her. I think I paid attention to the first two levels, then I just skimmed over the dialogue. Pretty much the same characters from the first game and same motivations. 

The multiplayer and such can probably be rather fun with more people and the normal tetris mode is always a fun distraction... but since I can't get the hang of puyo puyo there is a limited replay value... or even to actually finish adventure mode without skipping most levels. I mean, when I hardly get one line of tetris and my opponent send so much crap that I loose instantly. And I though the difficulty auto would adjust to my level, not put it into hypermode.... or am I just that bad?

Tetris (Sega Mega Driva Mini)

You can just hear the music

So feeling a bit tired of all the action, rpgs and platformers I decided to take a closer look at the Tetris game for the Sega Mega Drive Mini. Apparently not released officially until this release so that interesting. Seems to be a port of an arcade version. I of course have played tetris before. Both on original Game Boy at my cousins place, on computer and of course Puyo Puyo Tetris. Really, not much to say, it's Tetris, but there is some problems I feel with this version. First, there feels to a bit of lag with the controls, making it not as responsive, which can be rather crucial when the speed kicks in. Number 2, it isn't the Tetirs music but some other song playing... and really you can't have that... or if it is it sound so different that I can't hear it. 

You can play two players though. Overall, it got me so hooked I started up Puyo Puyo Tetris and just played the Tetris mode again. And the fun thing is that I never knew it had an end, but it looks like after 150 lines the game ends and you sum up your high score. Currently I've got a high score of above 230 000 points and I know that some people probably have a lot higher, but for me it's kinda impressive. Overall, play Puyo Puyo Tetris for a better experience, it even have the right song. Of course, it's not bad for what it is, but it's easier to put in the Switch.

Puyo Puyo Tetris

Who thought this was the best multiplayer game for the Switch at release?

In the past I've bought games on hunches, like interesting story, cool concept or better get it now cause later it will be impossible especially with the lacking of internet infrastructure at my current whereabouts. Sometimes I've tried demos, that's how I come to pester my parents to let me buy The Curse of Monkey Island. Others had nice graphics, best example Final Fantasy X, that and I recognised the series from reading about it, but that was pretty much graphics and music. And then you have this game. I dowloaded the demo for this game after recommendation from the local game store just to try it and have for the multiplayer family gathering. It was rather fun. And the demo pretty much had everything you needed, except the reconfirm and reset the choices after every single match. So I ordered this game together with Ever Oasis and you know what? This one had a story mode.

Basically it starts with Ringo who is interrupted by her friends Amitee and Arle after teleporting due to popping puyos. Suddenly Tetris pieces fall from the sky, they pop some more Puyos and end up at the starship Tetra where the captain Tee is trying to figure out how they ended up here. They crash on the planet and try to piece what happened together. Apparently the keeper of Dimensions isn't separating the Tetris dimension with the puyo dimension so they fix Tetra and goes to the edge of dimensions where Ex awaits them, the former captain of Tetra and the ex-king of Tetris. After Tee battles him to remind him why his roll matters everything back to normal, the dimensions gets separated and Ringo and Tee separate.

It's a silly premise and over the top, but I enjoy it. The humour is great at poking fun of the silliness of it as Tetris blocks and puyos fall from the sky. The prince of Darkness walks around being in love with Arle and gets really upset when she accuses him for being behind it since it's something he could do. There's even a singing fish traveling through space. Part of me wonders if some older games have these characters since it appears to be a lot of backstory hinted among them. And it isn't as hard, although I should probably not admit this, but you can skip battles after losing a number of turns to get on with it. And as you can guess, yes, I did it a couple of times, especially on puyo and fusion battles. I can't get the thinking of the puyo portion to work for me. I prefer the mode swap since I'm at least competent on Tetris, having played it a lot on both computers and video games. Best is with 4-multiplayer battles in local mode. And if a console should have a Tetris game, this one covers most bases, even single-player mode.