Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo

Review

by Colin Williamson

Puzzle games come and go. At first, the Russian-designed Tetris was the rage, cleaning up the Game Boy charts and dominating the attention of women and men, adults and children alike. Columns enjoyed similar success on the Game Gear and Genesis. But the next great step for puzzle-kind is none other than Capcom's Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo.

Parodying its all-too-expanded line of 2D fighting games, SPF2T is a two-player puzzler similar to Tetris or Columns, but with a major competitive twist. Colored gems drop from the top of the screen, and it's up to you to stack like colors together. When you get a swirling "crash gem," drop it on one of the piles, and all of the like-colored gems will explode, and get sent over to your opponent's side. These "counter gems" can work to your opponent's advantage, too -- after five turns, they can be coupled up with another crash gem, and sent back to you. It's an incredibly unpredictable -- but balanced -- game. Just when you think you're ahead, your enemy can gain the advantage with a magic gem that eliminates half the gems on his side, screwing up your strategy.

What makes this game truly bizarre are the tiny, "super-deformed" street fighters in the center of the screen, who duke it out and scream Japanese slang at each other while you play. While it doesn't really add anything in terms of gameplay, it's cool to watch Ryu start blasting out fireballs as you get on a crash gem streak.

The only noticeable flaw this game has is a smidget of profanity that doesn't seem to mesh with the "Kids to Adults" rating slapped on the game. At the end of each round, a succubus character named Morrigan taunts that she doesn't care if she wins or loses, "as long as I p_ss you off." The majority of us can deal with these naughty bits, but parents might want to be a little cautious.

In any case, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo is utterly brilliant, and deserves purchase by anyone who's ever had a penchant for Tetris. And don't forget to play with a friend in the versus mode!