Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo

SUPER PUZZLE FIGHTER II TURBO
Sony Playstation
1 or 2 Player / Puzzle
Kids to Adults
Available Now
$54.99

Copyright © Capcom

-- by Maria Muñoz

First there was STREET FIGHTER. Then the highly popular sequel, STREET FIGHTER II. And now a cute yet highly addictive puzzle game using characters from STREET FIGHTER II and NIGHT WARRIORS joins the fray: SUPER PUZZLE FIGHTER II TURBO.

PUZZLE FIGHTER is like TETRIS; the game uses colored blocks that the player must match to complete attacks towards the other player or the computer. The player can take the roles of eight of the most popular charcters from both the STREET FIGHTER II series and the NIGHT WARRIORS series.

The eight super-deformed fighters (Ryu, Ken, Chun Li, Sakura, Donovan, Felicia, Hsien-Ko, and Morrigan) battle each other to improve their abilities and become the best Puzzle Fighter of all! The player must match up colored gems with like colors to form what is called a Power Gem. A Power Gem is a large gem made from four or more gems of the same color. In order to release this lethal attack, the player must receive a Crash Gem of the same color as the Power Gem or any regular gems which will then make them shatter.

When that happens, the opponent must be on his guard as the number of gems shattered is the number of gems dropped on him. There are three stages of gem attack amounts: Warning (1-10), Caution (11-30), and Danger (31 or more). These gems, received by the opponent, are called Counter Gems. The Counter Gems contain a number from 5 to 1 which counts down the number of gem pairs the player must drop before they become normal gems.

Finally, there are Rainbow Gems which are diamond shaped and will break any color gem it is dropped on, much like a smart bomb. This is handy in getting out of sticky situations! The goal of PUZZLE FIGHTER is to set off a number of gem attacks and literally bury your opponent in gems!

Unlike TETRIS, PUZZLE FIGHTER uses a four block method instead of a line-by-line method. With the added Crash and Rainbow Gems, a game can be as short as 10 seconds or as long as five minutes. One of the game's drawbacks is its AI, which is way too smart and can wipe the player out in a matter of seconds, making PUZZLE FIGHTER a very frustrating game.

PUZZLE FIGHTER closely resembles puzzle games such as PUYO-PUYO and TOKIMEKI MEMORIAL TAISEN PUZZLEDAMA but since it uses a new method of game play, it does take some getting used to. Avid puzzle game fans will find this game to be very, very addictive. One of the added bonuses the player gets is its Street Puzzle Mode where he can receive secret characters and other goodies.

The enjoyably hilarious intermission animations in PUZZLE FIGHTER are what makes this game a favorite for veteran STREET FIGHTER II and NIGHT WARRIORS fans. There is even a Training Demo where Dan, one of the hidden characters from the Street Fighter II game, teaches you how to play. You can also save your games with the Save Data mode, which comes in handy when playing in the Street Puzzle mode.

So catch Puzzle Fever with SUPER PUZZLE FIGHTER II TURBO, it's well worth the money and will provide hours and hours of madcap enjoyment for all types of game players.