Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo

"It puzzles me why this never because a franchise..."

Never a company to not try something new, Capcom has had their hand at almost every genre of video game available. Furthermore, they are responsible for some of the greatest titles in said genres. Their list of accomplishments includes Street Fighter, Mega Man, Resident Evil, Breath of Fire, and many, many more. Missing from this line-up, however, is a puzzle game. Realizing this, Capcom set out to create a puzzle game that was not only original but recognizable as well. The easiest way to make a game familiar to people is to use something they already know and are comfortable with; in this case Street Fighter and Darkstalkers.

There's no plot or story to Super Puzzle Fighter- just destroy large groupings of gems with similar colored balls. During the action, your character and your opponent's character duke it out in the background super deformed-style, mimicking the power of your puzzle moves with equivalent fighting moves. Depending on who you choose, your 'garbage' gems will fall in a certain pattern on your opponent's screen. Between rounds, the fighters will talk trash, but any similarity to a story end there. Fortunately, this is the type of game where you don't care if there's a plot nor is one needed.

Graphically, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo looks exactly like the type of fighting game we've all grown accustomed to from Capcom and nothing at all like a traditional puzzle game. Puzzle Fighter is full of flash- every piece you place, every combo-gem you form, every chain-reaction you set off lights up the screen, giving the game a much more action-orientated feel to it. As I mentioned above, the game's characters are super-deformed (giant heads with small bodies) and will fight an entire match in the center of the screen as you and your opponent try and outwit each other. When you pull off a particularly large combo, your fighting charter will do a special move; if you are close to losing, your character looks fatigued; and should you beat your opponent with a powerful chain-combo that completely crushes him or her, your fighter will deliver a devastating super move. The animation is superb and the graphics are colorful, making the whole thing as much fun to watch as it is to play.

Matching the look and feel of Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, the sound is both humorous and appropriate. If you are familiar to either the Darkstalkers series or the Street Fighter series, much of the music will sound familiar to you but altered ever so slightly for a different beat. The audio effects are a tad sparse but overly exaggerated, making you feel like your locked in mortal combat. The combination of music and sound really helps to set a lighter mood despite the contrast of frantic action that permeates this title. Of course you'll also hear characters calling out their signature moves as they perform them during battle, again giving the added effect of intense action. The whole thing has Capcom's signature to it, so fans should have no problem feeling comfortable with this game and ease straight into the action.

It's really hard to screw up the controls of a puzzle game and of course Capcom wouldn't do that. What you have in Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo is a simple set of controls that are responsive, tight, and do exactly what you need of them. If you're familiar with games like Tetris, playing Puzzle Fighter should quickly become second nature. As I described above, you try link together blocks of the same color. They in no way have to form group; each just has to touch the other either vertically or horizontally. You then have to touch a globe of like color to those gems in order to remove them from you playing field. You can plan ahead so that destroying a group of one color will cause a ball of another color to fall and remove those gems as well. The strategy involved in setting up a combo of this nature is taxing but well worth the effort when you see the look on your opponent's face. A remarkably original twist to a familiar puzzle formula.

I simply cannot praise the design of this game enough. On the one hand you have an incredible balanced puzzle/action game that is addicting as will as mentally demanding and on the other hand you have familiar video game martial art icons destroying each other in the background as you struggle for supremacy. Capcom did a wonderful job of creating a game that is a hybrid of something new and something familiar. Every element of a fighting game that could conceivably be crammed into a puzzle game has, right down to the best two-out-of- three matches! It truly is a 'puzzle fighter' and deserves much credit for its ingenious design.

Ah, what would a Capcom game be without a hidden character or two? Or in this case five. Yup, there are a total of five hidden characters in this game, though all but one is pretty worthless. Two of the most recognizable characters are Akuma (even in a puzzle game he's powerful) and Dan (as completely worthless as ever). There's also Lei Lei (Hsien Ko's sister in the form of the ever-watchful paper talisman), Anita (the little girl who follows Donovan around in NightWarriors), and Devilot (one of the pilots from Cyberbots). It's nice that Capcom added so many extra characters, it definitely enhances the fun of the game when you see the look of shock on your opponent's face as Akuma mysteriously materializes on your screen.

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo is an incredible addictive game and a wonderful example of Capcom's diversity. If you're a puzzle game fanatic or a Capcom fan, you must have this game in your collection. I'd even go so far as to say Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo is the most original puzzle game to come along since Tetris and Bust-A-Move!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/12/09

Game Release: Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo (US, 11/30/96)