Puyo Pop

"The latest Puyo Puyo game! Here we go!"

Iki Mashou! The newest Puyo Puyo game finally comes to the Gameboy Advance! But wait... Turn it on, and you don't see that COMPILE logo, or hear the Compile fanfare... Instead, you see the big blue words... ''SEGA''. Next, you see the shilhouette of a blue, spiky-haired dude along with the text ''SONIC TEAM''. Are you sure this is Puyo Puyo if it isn't made by Compile? Or is this game actually any GOOD without Compile? Well... Read the review and find out!

Gameplay- 10

Blah blah blah... As usual, Gameplay for a Puyo Puyo game gets a perfect score. Maybe it has its flaws here and there, but Sonic Team's creativity made up for what Compile perfected in. The gameplay is simple. Connect FOUR of the same colored blobs (Puyos) together, and they'll vanish. You'll get score, PLUS you'll send some garbage (Ojyama) Puyos to the enemy's side, just to give it a bit of a chance to lose! But just a few won't do much good. You'll have to create chains and combos to send hundreds of Ojyamas to the other side! This is where the game gets FUN!

The challenge isn't so great for a Puyo Puyo game. I've played harder ones... So I guess I've gotten too used to the challenge! Doesn't even feel very hard on ''Hard'' mode. Though I'm sure that newcomers to the Puyo Puyo series will love this game for its easier challenge level. Don't panic though! Just because I said it was easy doesn't mean it is too much of an easy game! I've just had a lot of experience, and you know the way things go... The more experience you earn, the better you'll be.

The controls are near Compile-perfect! Maybe they are a LITTLE off what Compile originally had, but it is good enough. The few minor flaws aren't noticable really. The game still has excellent play control.

Not only do you get all of the above in Gameplay, but you also get Endless Mode, Task Mode, 2-Player Mode, 3-4 Player Mode, and a Story Mode, with a number of hidden secrets to find!! What are these ''Hidden Secrets'' that I speak of? Ha... If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret... Would it?

Story- 8

I found it a little hard to understand, but I gave the Story extra points for being in English (And Japanese. It is selectable.). Heh heh heh. Pretty much, the story sounds familiar to ''Puyo Puyo~n'', only it is a little more friendly. You don't have a Doppelganger on your tail this time around.

Pretty much, a mysterious gate pops up out of nowhere. Kaa-Kun runs into it, and Arle runs after him. Not being able to find where Kaa-Kun ran off to, she must fight her way through those familiar faces once again, and find Kaa-Kun.

The story has a lot of crazy comedy in it, as the Puyo Puyo series usually does! Minna de Puyo Puyo happens to have a more off-the-wall kind of comedy though, quite a bit like Puyo Puyo Sun. It isn't as serious as Puyo Puyo and Puyo Puyo~n were, even though both did have their not-so-serious points!

Media- 9

Very VERY pleasing!!! But not perfect... The graphics are wonderful! The characters and everything look hand-drawn. Hand-drawn in a good way too. They don't look as if they've been drawn by any Compile artist, but some characters really look good in their new ''Sonic Team SD style''! This is also the first game that the Puyos have been given expressions on a portable system. In the past, the Puyos either had no eyes at all, or just eyes... No expression. But this time, there is an expression for each Puyo! So that is good! The interesting special effects are nice too. It involves quite a bit of impressive transparencies and sizing.

The music... It was ripped right from ''Puyo Puyo Tsu '95''. Any Puyo Puyo Tsu game has the same music, but Minna de Puyo Puyo happens to have a few tunes that were ONLY in Puyo Puyo Tsu '95, which was the music from the DiscStation Nazo Puyo games. Still, it sounds very nice through the GBA speaker. It doesn't sound a bit ''beepy'', like the how ''Konami Krazy Racers'' or ''Pinobee'' sounds.

I had a bit of a problem with the sound effects as well. Not too big of a problem, but it sorta bothered me, being a long time Puyo fan and all. Most of the sounds were all Compile-perfect, except the fact that the Puyos and Ojyamas didn't have their classic sound as they landed on the playing field.

The voice samples in the game were VERY NICE! They were taken right from Puyo Puyo Sun, and I really enjoy the voices from Puyo Puyo Sun. Some of my favorite voice actors were in that game! Though something did confuse me... Seriri and Mino weren't playable characters in Puyo Puyo Sun, yet they had voices in Minna de Puyo Puyo. It makes me think that they were characters that were suddenly taken out of Puyo Puyo Sun, even though their voices and images were complete.

Replay Value- 8

Eh... Not so sure about what to give the Replay Value. I was thinking either 8 or 9... Maybe a 8.5, but I guess I can't do that, heh heh, so I gave it an 8. I'm not sure how long story mode can last, replay wise. It seems a bit easy, though it is fun to beat your high scores, and there are quite a bit of secrets in the game. Not to mention, that there is Endless and Task mode.

If you were to have friends who have a GBA but not this game, bump the Replay Value up to 9. The Single-Pak features is nice, but it is too bad that you cannot choose your character or change the settings.

If you have friends who have a GBA and a copy of this game, bump the Replay Value up to 10! The ultimate Puyo experiance can be experienced just as long as you have four people, four GBAs, and four copies of Minna de Puyo Puyo!

Buy it?

Answers point to ''YES!!! YES! BUY IT!!!''. So far, the game has been released in Japan. If you want to import it, go ahead. It is VERY import friendly since you are able to choose what language settings you would like (This includes Japanese and English only). Otherwise, if you wait you'll find a release in the US and a release in Europe. THQ is publishing the game over in the US, not sure about Europe, but they are getting the game as well.

This will be the best puzzle game you'll find on the GBA. Yes, even better than Tetris, Columns, or Bust-a-Move (Puzzle Bobble)! Don't miss out on it!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/23/01, Updated 06/30/02