Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo | |
|---|---|
 Screenshot of Puzzle Fighter |
|
| Developer(s) | Capcom |
| Publisher(s) | Capcom |
| Release date(s) | JP May 31, 1996 |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, GBA, PC Windows, Playstation Portable (Capcom Puzzle World) |
| Input | 8-way joystick, 2 buttons |
| Arcade cabinet | Upright |
| Arcade system(s) | CPS-2 |
| Arcade display | Raster, 384 x 224 pixels (Horizontal), 4096 colors |
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, more casually known as Puzzle Fighter, is a one or two player puzzle game first released in Japan in the spring of 1996 by Capcom on the CPS-2 arcade system. Shortly after its Japanese release, the game was released in other parts of the world where it received modest popularity in gaming communities. Puzzle Fighter has steadily maintained its popularity among both new and longtime fans due to its easy to learn, lighthearted, and entertaining gameplay.
Although it has "II" in its title, it is not a sequel of any game. The title essentially spoofs the Street Fighter II series (in particular Super Street Fighter II Turbo), while the music and interface elements spoof that of Street Fighter Alpha and Street Fighter Alpha 2.
Contents |
[edit] Gameplay
Puzzle Fighter is a puzzle game which is inspired by the Capcom arcade game Pnickies. As in that game, the player controls pairs of blocks ("gems" in game parlance) that drop into a pit-like playfield (twelve blocks tall by six blocks wide, with the fourth column from the left being thirteen blocks high). In Puzzle Fighter, however, gems can only be eliminated by coming into contact with a Crash Gem of the same color, which eliminates all adjacent gems of that color, setting up the potential for huge chain reactions. As gems are eliminated, "garbage blocks" called Counter Gems will drop into the opponent's playfield; these will eventually become normal gems, but only after they count down to zero (most Counter Gems start at "5" and are reduced by one each time a new pair of gems is dropped on that board), and until that time they cannot be eliminated by normal means. (The only way to eliminate Counter Gems before they become normal gems is to place a Crash Gem of that color nearby so it eliminates at least one normal gem). If this is done, all Counter Gems immediately adjacent to the Crash Gem will be taken out as well). Additionally, gems of the same color that form squares or rectangles (of at least two blocks tall and wide) in the pit become a giant Power Gem of that size and color; eliminating these as part of a combo increases the number of Counter Gems that would otherwise normally appear on the opponent's board. The only other type of piece to appear is a diamond, which eliminates all the gems—normal, Power, Counter, and Crash alike—of whichever color gem it lands on (this, too, will cause Counter Gems to appear on the opponent's board; however, it will always be a smaller number than if the same number of gems had been eliminated as part of a normal chain reaction). The diamond piece appears every 25 pieces.
During the game, super deformed versions of various characters from Capcom's two main fighting game series (Street Fighter and Darkstalkers), will act out a comical battle based on how the game is going. Every time one player sends Counter Gems to his or her opponent, his or her character will perform a typical fighting-game action, anything from a taunt to a special move. The more Counter Gems the player sends over, the "bigger" the move the character will perform. These animations, however, are purely cosmetic and have no actual bearing on the gameplay.
The game continues until one player's field reaches the top of its fourth column (which is where all new gems first appear). That player is the loser.
[edit] Characters
As noted above, all of the playable characters in Puzzle Fighter (with one exception) are borrowed from Capcom's two major fighting game series, Street Fighter and Darkstalkers. The super deformed take on these characters gave the game a unique, light-hearted feel that served as a deserved break from the rough and edgy fighting games that were prevalent at the time of Puzzle Fighter's initial release. A fighting game using these character models called Pocket Fighter was released in 1997.
[edit] Street Fighter characters
[edit] Darkstalkers characters
[edit] Hidden characters
[edit] Dreamcast version hidden characters
[edit] Trivia
- Devilot is the only character in Puzzle Fighter who is not from either the Street Fighter or Darkstalkers series. She is from the rather obscure fighting game Cyberbots. In a sarcastic reference, one of her win quotes says "What, you don't recognize me?! Cyberbots is Capcom's #1 game!"
- Each character has his or her own unique "attack pattern" of Counter Gems (arranged in 4x6 matrices) that will appear on their opponent's playfield.
- Both players receive the same sequence of gems (except for counter gems).
- Dan is the only character whose 'counter gems' pattern is entirely one color, as opposed to four, in keeping with his status of being an exceedingly weak character; in this case, Dan effectively dooms himself if he lets enough red Counter Gems build up on his opponent's side. It should be noted however that Dan drops around 150% more counter gems, making him effective if not lethal in the hands of an expert, just like in his normal fighting game appearances.
- In Morrigan's ending from Marvel vs. Capcom, Ryu challenges Morrigan to a fight of Puzzle Fighter.
- A lot of the fighters that appear in this game also appear (using the same sprites) in the game Pocket Fighter (Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix in US).
- In the game Mortal Kombat: Deception, a mini-game existed named Puzzle Kombat, the gameplay is very similar to Puzzle Fighter, but uses the violence and gore concept of Mortal Kombat. In addition, Puzzle Kombat replaces Puzzle Fighter's Crash Gems with MK Logos, and counter-gems have been removed (regular gems drop on the opponents grid).
[edit] External links
|
Street Fighter • Street Fighter II • Super Street Fighter II • Street Fighter Alpha • Street Fighter EX • Street Fighter III |
