Puyo Puyo Tetris Review (Nintendo Switch)
As a child, I distinctly remember my mother playing Tetris on whatever platform was available to her. Her gaming sessions are the reason I started playing games with the NES and original Gameboy. Occasionally, I would play a few matches of Tetris with her. We had a blast time we played and I learned a valuable truth; I am a terrible Tetris player. Fast forward a few decades and I’m still not much better at Tetris, but I have put many hours into the bonkers puzzle game mashup that is Puyo Puyo Tetris.
Sega and the famed Sonic Team took two of the most popular puzzle franchises in Japan and combined them. Tetris is known worldwide and requires little to no introduction. The lesser known Puyo Puyo, ostensibly the more strategic half of this puzzle mashup, has rarely seen a major release outside of Japan. In fact, the only two North American versions I even remember playing are Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine for the Sega Genesis and Kirby’s Avalanche for the Super Nintendo.
Puyo Puyo, if you’ve never played, is a Match-4 puzzle game where pairs of colored Puyo drop from the top of your play field, a-la Tetris. The key to Puyo Puyo is lining up huge combos to send an avalanche of “garbage Puyo” to fill up your opponent’s board. Just like in Tetris, if your Puyo stack over the top edge of the screen, you lose. Unlike Tetris, I’m actually somewhat decent at Puyo Puyo.
On paper, slamming these two puzzle juggernauts together might sound like a strange pairing. In reality, Puyo Puyo Tetris is a fantastic puzzle game which fully capitalizes on the strengths of both franchises.
No matter how you like to play, Puyo Puyo Tetris goes out of its way to accommodate you. The game offers local and online multiplayer, six Challenge modes, five Arcade modes, and more for players of all levels. Personally I found Swap mode, where players constantly switch between Puyo and Tetris, to be the most enjoyable while Fusion, an absolutely bonkers amalgamation of both games, was tough to enjoy. In this mode, Puyo change shape and fall with Tetriminos on the same board. As Tetriminos fall, they pop any Puyo they come into contact with, making proper Puyo popping strategies even more difficult to exploit.
While Fusion isn’t a bad mode, it is staggeringly difficult to pick up and play with no explanation or experience. Thankfully the training mode has beginner and expert tips for Tetris, Puyo, and Fusion. If you’re feeling a little rusty or want to get a grip on more advanced strategies, this is a great place to start.
Multiplayer has always been a big part of both the Puyo Puyo and Tetris franchises. Arguably, it even might be one of the mail reasons to buy this game. Luckily, Sonic Team helps Puyo Puyo Tetris shine when multiple players want to battle. All local and online multiplayer modes are available from the beginning, no single-player grinding required. This is a game that knows most players will want to jump right in and play a few rounds with buddies when they have a few minutes. Noticeably, there’s even quick start options on the title screen to jump into a Puyo, Tetris, or Fusion match.
I had a blast with local multiplayer, grabbing a few friends and teaming up to take each other down. CPU difficulty is a bit uneven in places, I’ve had problems reliably getting the CPU to not instantly line up insane combos right out of the gate, so try to play with as many friends as you can. Likewise, online multiplayer is tough as nails. Even with my low/neutral ranking I got just starting out, I routinely got my ass handed to me in match after match. I think I’ll have to jump back into matchmaking once I practice a bit more. If you think you’re up for the challenge, online play offers the same flexibility as local games and I experienced no problems with matchmaking, lag, or disconnects.
If you don’t want to play with anyone else, Puyo Puyo Tetris still has you covered. The main single player component of the game is a 100 level Adventure mode that has you jumping around the galaxy, battling friend and foe alike in zany, colorful stages. For replayability, each level in Adventure mode has Star Ratings, requiring distinct mastery of all game modes to perfect some levels. While the levels start easy, focusing mainly on Tetris battles, the difficulty steadily increases until any less-than-perfect moves will be severely punished.
Thankfully, despite being a thoroughly mediocre player, I was able to complete the entire story without too much hassle. Sonic Team smartly chose to put a skip feature in place, help players progress past the levels they just can’t seem to beat. After failing any level three times in a row, you are offered a choice to skip ahead and move on with the story with no penalty. I will unabashedly say I had to use this feature a few times on some particularly tricky later levels.
The story in Adventure mode is fun, lighthearted, and all around wacky, just as one would expect from this type of game. The colorful cast of characters are all caricatures of themselves, and are endearingly voiced by some of the most enthusiastic voice actors ever. While a couple of voices sound suspiciously similar to each other, each character is brought to life by the energetic, delightfully campy, and over the top cast. Cutscenes between levels are presented with ultra-colorful 2D scenes which look right at home on a Nintendo console. While there isn’t much in the way for animation in these scenes, the hand-drawn art style and flashy presentation help the game look sharp and fresh, almost as though you were watching a living comic book.
When two landmark franchises team up, the result isn’t always pretty, just see some of the Mario and Sonic games for an example. Lucky for us, Sega and Sonic Team really did right by both Puyo Puyo and Tetris fans by creating one fantastic puzzle game. Puyo Puyo Tetris is a great way to spend a few hours, either alone or with friends, and is a game I will happily be coming back to throughout my years of Switch ownership.
I might still be bad at Tetris, but Puyo Puyo Tetris is slowly helping me get better, one embarrassing defeat at a time. The next time one of us makes the cross-country trip to see each other, my mother and I will certainly be waging war with small blobs and colored blocks; maybe now I will be able hold my own.
Puyo Puyo Tetris is now on sale, pick up your copy here!
