GAME BOY GAME REVIEW
Puyo PopBeware of pick-up-and-play puzzle games - simplicity is often the road to addiction! |
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The concept of communism is relatively simple, but the reality is somewhat difficult. It may not be the comparison that first comes to mind, but it does illustrate why only a fool would pretend 'simple' automatically equates to 'easy'.
In that sense, Puyo Pop is very much like Russia's past political system. On the surface, it's a seemingly innocuous puzzle game, where the aim is to rearrange the two coloured blobs scrolling down the screen in order to match these to the blobs already lingering about the play area. Every time four identically coloured blobs come into contact, they disappear and clutter up your opponent's play area instead. As you might imagine, you can keep playing as long as your screen doesn't fill up with blobs or until your adversary's does.
Simple, yes?
In practice, certain complexities emerge. By far the most significant are the chain reaction possibilities that see blob towers cascade as your entire screen rearranges itself following the elimination of a blob quartet at the bottom of the pile. Keeping an eye on such opportunities becomes gradually more important when battling the later rounds of the singleplayer game as well as when confronting skilled human players. In this respect the Challenge mode becomes particularly useful, encouraging the development of a chain reaction-focused mindset when attempting to solve its increasingly fiendish set pieces.
Thankfully, unlike communism, Puyo Pop doesn't overcomplicate matters and it's also a heck of a lot more fun. The colour-stacking formula is sufficiently straightforward to be universally picked up and enjoyed, while the game's layered intricacy guarantees sufficient depth for a meaningful and hugely rewarding puzzle experience for anyone wishing to get a little more involved.
Puyo Pop |
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Like the best puzzle titles, Puyo Pop's accessible dynamic hides a wonderfully captivating experience.
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