Puyo Puyo (series)

Puyo Puyo
The front cover of the Mega Drive version of the original game.
Genres	Puzzle
Developers	Compile (1991-2000), Sega, Sonic Team(2001-present)
Publishers	Sega, others
Creators	Masamitsu Nītani
Official website	puyo.sega.jp

Puyo Puyo (ぷよぷよ) is a series of tile-matching video games created by Compile and later Sonic Team.

History

Puyo Puyo, originally released by Compile in 1991 by Masamitsu 'Moo' Niitani (the founder of Compile), featured characters from the 1989 RPG Madou Monogatari, also made by Compile. Puyos were enemy monsters in said game, as the rough equivalent of the slime monsters from the Dragon Quest game series.

The series was the second and more successful mainstream attempt to compete with the ubiquitous falling-block game Tetris, the first being Columns.

Puyo Puyo grew in popularity^[1] when it was released as an arcade game in 1992. This was the first version that included the aforementioned one-player story mode, in which the human player plays against computer opponents of increasing difficulty. This feature was an immediate success because it allowed players to play by themselves. Future versions of Puyo Puyo for console systems also included this feature.

The most released version of Puyo Puyo to date is Puyo Puyo Tsu. It is said to have had 15 releases, one for each console, including a PC version and a Satellaview remake (BS Super Puyo Puyo Tsuu Remix).

Sega had hopes of releasing it outside of Japan, and, although they did, they didn't have the original names or characters. The first was released in February 1993 under the name Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (for Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear). Nintendo would also get their version of Puyo Puyo for the Super NES outside Japan, but under the name Kirby's Avalanche (Kirby's Ghost Trap in Europe), in which the original characters were replaced by the Kirby series ones. Spectrum HoloByte also released Puyo Puyo for Microsoft Windows 3.1 and the Macintosh in August 1995, under the name Qwirks.^[2]

After the demise of Compile in 2002, Sonic Team continued development of the Puyo Puyo series (as Sega held partial rights to the game since the first arcade release).

Nowadays, the Puyo Puyo merchandise uses its own original name, replacing the second Puyo with Pop. The first of these was Puyo Pop for the NeoGeo Pocket, which was a version of Puyo Puyo Tsu. Puyo Pop (Minna de Puyo Puyo in Japan) for the Game Boy Advance, was the first Puyo game to use characters from Puyo Puyo SUN and Puyo Puyo~n, most notably, those originally coming from Tsu to begin with.

Puyo Pop Fever (Puyo Puyo Fever inside of Japan) was the last game released by Sega for its Dreamcast system. It was also ported to the Xbox, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Mac OS X, Windows, Pocket PC and Palm OS platforms. Unusually for the series, some versions of the game were released outside of Japan; the GameCube and DS versions were released in North America, the latter by third-party publisher Atlus, while Europe got the GameCube and Game Boy Advance versions. The sequel to the game, Puyo Puyo Fever 2, was later released in Japan for the PS2, the DS, and the PSP.

In 2004, Sega released Puyo Pop as a part of Sega Classic Collection Blue Pack for J2ME, this is the official release that available for Java, the game published by Glu Mobile and developved by Sega.

In July 2005, Bandai released Kidou Gekidan Haro Ichiza: Haro no Puyo Puyo (機動劇団はろ一座 ハロのぷよぷよ) (lit. "Mobile Theatrical Company Haro: Haro's Puyo Puyo") in Japan for the GBA, the Gundam themed Puyo Puyo.^[3]

Between 2006 and 2007, for the franchise's fifteenth anniversary, Sega released a version for the Wii, PlayStation 2, PSP, and Nintendo DS known as Puyo Puyo! 15th Anniversary.

A new game known as Puyo Puyo 7 was released in 2009, with a schoolgirl known as Ringo Andou as the new main character.

On February 1, 2009, Sega released Puyo Puyo Fever Touch as an exclusive iPhone OS title in Japan.

Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary was released on July 14, 2011 to celebrate 20th year anniversary of the original Puyo Puyo.

Puyo Puyo Tetris, released on February 6, 2014, features gameplay from both Puyo Puyo and the Tetris series, with the option to alternate between the two styles.^[4]

The Puyo Puyo games developed by Sonic Team generally have references to the Sonic the Hedgehog series:

• In Minna de Puyo Puyo, "SONIC" is listed as one of the highscore placeholders.
• There was an official Sonic Riders-style Sonic the Hedgehog modification for Puyo Pop Fever.
• In Puyo Puyo! 15th Anniversary and Puyo Puyo! 20th Anniversary, a player can unlock the "Sonic style puyo", which enables Puyo versions of the characters Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Silver and Blaze.

Gameplay

The object of the game is to defeat the opponent in a battle by filling their grid up to the top with garbage. The Puyos are little creatures with eyes who, in most variations of the game, fall from the top of the screen in a pair. The pair can be moved left and right and rotated. The pair falls until it reaches another puyo or the bottom of the screen.

Rensa (chain)

When four or more puyos of the same color form together to create a group, they disappear. Individual puyos can connect horizontally or vertically, but not diagonally; the whole group need not be a line, but can be any tetromino (or larger). This is called a Rensa (Chain). For example, the A pieces form groups in grids 1 and 2, but not 3:

The puyos above those that are cleared fall onto other pieces or the bottom of the screen.

Combo chains are created when more than four puyos form a group, or more than one group is formed at one time. For example, grid 4 has a five combo, grid 5 has two groups of four for an eight combo, and grid 6 has three groups of five for a fifteen combo:

A Fluent Rensa (step-chain) is made when falling puyos form a new group in a chain reaction. For example, grid 7 will form a two-rensa chain, grid 8 will form a three-rensa chain, and grid 9 will form a five-rensa chain:

Ojama (garbage)

Whenever a rensa is achieved, Ojama (Garbage blocks) are sent to the opponent. The bigger the Fluent Rensa is, the more ojamas are sent to the opponent. It is calculated by the overall score of the chain divided by 70 and rounded up to the nearest integer. For example:

1. Player A forms a group of 4 red puyos as a single chain.
2. The score card reads "40 x 1" (Simply by the following: (Puyo * 10) x (Puyo - 3) -> (4 * 10) x (4 - 3) -> 40 x 1).
3. 40 is the total score of the chain, so this is divided by 70, to give 0.571 (to 3.s.f)
4. This value is rounded up to the nearest integer, which is 1.
5. One ojama will fall on the opponent's grid.

If more puyos are erased in succession due to a Fluent Rensa, the amount of garbage will keep going up until the chain ends. Ojama puyos are dropped in rows of six, with the extra ojamas distributed in random columns. If more than 30 ojamas are sent, they will be dropped in groups of 30.

Ojama block the opponent's playing field, and can cause them to lose if they reach up to the top of the grid. Ojama are eliminated if puyos are eliminated adjacent to them.

Deciding games

If the third column from the left is piled to the top then the game is over. In Puyo Puyo Fever, the third or fourth column from the left must be filled to end the game. It is the same for all rules after "Fever" (like Henshin mode in 7) except the ones based on Tsuu rules (like Block mode in 20th).

References

1. ↑ Hardcore Gaming 101: Puyo Puyo
2. ↑ Qwirks at GameFAQs
3. ↑ Kidou Gekidan Haro Ichiza: Haro no Puyo Puyo at GameFAQs
4. ↑ http://tinycartridge.com/post/61402946382/puyo-puyo-tetris-on-video-you-might-not-need-to