Puyo Puyo Champions

Genre: Match-4 Falling Block Puzzle

Players: 1-4 Competitive (Local, Local Wireless, Online), Online Leaderboards

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Review:

Puyo Puyo Champions is a Match-4 Falling Block Puzzle game in the long-running series of Puzzle games, with this entry bringing together both the classic Puyo Puyo 2-style of gameplay as well as the more action-packed Puyo Puyo Fever style.

Before I get to the review proper, I’m gonna’ level with you – I’ve never been the biggest fan of Puyo Puyo. I dunno what it is, but I just can’t wrap my head around its own particular brand of combo-fueled, gravity-affected, color-matching style of puzzle game, despite that Tetris Attack AKA Puzzle League, which shares multiple mechanics with Puyo Puyo, is probably my favorite puzzle game of all time. In any case, I recognize my own bias in this, and will do my best to review this game fairly regardless.

Sitting on the eShop next to both the classic Sega Ages Puyo Puyo games, as well as the more recent Puyo Puyo Tetris, this entry in the series marks something as an in-between point between the two – while it’s not as feature-packed or inventive as Puyo Puyo Tetris, it’s also one third of the price of that title. And while it’s not quite as inexpensive as the earlier games, it still has more features and a more modern presentation, as well as the aforementioned Puyo Puyo Fever mode.

That modern presentation is clean and makes it really easy to see the gameplay, though the characters’ voices do tend to get annoying before long (I can only hear “One… two!” so many times before I want to mute the damn thing). It also lacks the nostalgia value the Sega Ages titles have. On the whole, I’d say it’s an improvement, but not as much as you might think given that we’re comparing games released decades apart.

As for the gameplay here… we’re still missing an endless mode, one of my bigger complaints about the earlier titles (seriously?). There’s also no story or arcade mode, which is a disappointment as well. However, while what’s missing is notable, this game does have some good features packed in here, including a “Lessons” tutorial that includes 200 puzzles to solve, multiple time attack modes, couch and local wireless multiplayer for up to four players, as well as online multiplayer for up to four players (the online lobbies aren’t exactly packed, but you can still find matches).

This game isn’t exactly the ultimate Puyo Puyo experience that players might be hoping for in a game released two years after Puyo Puyo Tetris, but Puyo Puyo Champions is still a solid overall entry in the series and the genre as a whole. If you already have Puyo Puyo Tetris, I’d say this game should only interest you if you are a die-hard fan of the series, but if you’re a Puzzle game fan who wants something a bit less pricey than that game, Puyo Puyo Champions should be worth a look.

tl;dr – Puyo Puyo Champions is a Match-4 Falling Block Puzzle game in the long-running series that includes both Puyo Puyo 2 and Puyo Puyo Fever game modes. There’s an uneven selection of features, and there’s not much here for gamers who already own Puyo Puyo Tetris, but this is a solid Puzzle game, regardless.

Grade: B

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