-- TL;DR: What Puyo games should I play? --

Whatever you do, avoid Mean Bean Machine and Kirby's Avalanche (due to outdated gameplay mechanics) and Puyo Puyo 7 (for being a terrible game) like the plague.

If you want to get up and playing immediately, there's a free fangame dedicated to competitive netplay, Puyo Puyo VS. Otherwise, I'd only recommend trying to get a hold of two Puyo titles:

Puyo Puyo Tsuu (Virtual Console, 900 points) - Originally released in 1990, and considered by many to be the gold standard of versus puzzle games even to this day. Never released outside of Japan initially, but Nintendo has put the untranslated Genesis adaptation up on Virtual Console on all territories for everybody to enjoy.

Puyo Pop Fever (practically every system out in 2004, including... yes! the N-Gage) - The last Puyo game to be releasead retail outside of Japan. The Fever mechanic helped ease beginners into the series while adding some interesting competitive implications for seasoned veterans. Being in English on semi-modern systems makes it the most readily available title to buy in the western world. The Nintendo DS version has eight-player single-cart multiplayer.

If you're not afraid of importing, or live in Japan, a few more options open up:

Puyo Puyo!! (DS/3DS/Wii/PSP) - Celebration of the 20th anniversary of Puyo. By far the most content-packed Puyo game ever. Like seriously. Try nearly every Puyo game mode released in the past twenty years, over 100 chapters of story mode, unlockable alt character costumes/voices, a comprehensive tutorial mode, as well as the hardest AI in any Puyo game to date. The Nintendo SKUs have ranked online netplay, and the 3DS/Wii/PSP versions each have special "gimmicks" exclusive to each system.

Puyo Puyo Tsuu (Virtual Console Arcade) - The arcade version of the "definitive" Puyo game. Released in June 2011, Sega added online netplay, making it super easy to find human opponents to play against.

-- End TL;DR --

What is Puyo Puyo?
Puyo Puyo (known in the West as Puyo Pop) is a series of VS puzzle games along the lines of Tetris Attack and Puzzle Fighter. Originally developed by Compile as a sidestory to Madou Monogatari, popping multicolored blobs has taken on a life of its own and the Puyo franchise has completely survived the games that spawned it. After the death of Compile, Sonic Team has become responsible for making new Puyo games.

I like Puyo because of the deceptively simple gameplay and potential for high-level competitive play. Others like it because it features underaged anime girls. The lack of Puyo love on GAF seemed strange, so here's this thread.

How do the games work?
In most games of Puyo, the screen is divided up into two playing fields, one for each player. Each playing area consists of a 12x6 grid where you drop pairs of colored puyo/beans/whatever:


You erase, or pop puyo by connecting four or more puyo of similar color together. Doing this sends a bit of garbage over to your opponent's side of the screen. Garbage clutters up their playing field and can only be removed by popping an adjacent puyo. Since gravity is in effect at all times, popping one group of puyo may cause another large group of like-colored puyo to connect, starting what is known as a chain. The bigger the chain, the fancier the attack animation and the more garbage you send. When the X's at the top of your field get covered up from garbage puyo or personal ineptitude, you lose.


Garbage puyo accumulate in a "tray" above your field until you place down another puyo, at which point they all come crashing down. In the original Puyo game (and its Western counterparts Mean Bean Machine and Kirby's Avalanche), there was nothing you could do about garbage waiting to kill you, so basically whoever got off the biggest chain fastest would win.

In all subsequent Puyo games, however, you could "offset" the garbage by performing chains of your own. For example, if 32 pieces of garbage were about to rain down on you, and you performed a chain worth 30 garbage, only 2 garbage puyo would drop on your field. You can even pull off a reversal of fortunes by creating a chain worth even more than the one your opponent sent at you, forcing her to deal with your shit. This back-and-forth gameplay opened up a whole new slew of strategies, and generally makes matches much more exciting.

About the Compile Puyo games
I wasn't exactly around to take notice of the Compile games, so if you want more information see Hardcore Gaming 101's feature about the Puyo/Madou Monogatari series.

Puyo Puyo (Arcade/Mega Drive/PC Engine/Super Famicom/Gameboy/N-Gage) (1992)
There was also a hella old version for the MSX/Famicon which was basically solo play, but I won't mention that game. Puyo Puyo, functionally ported to the west as Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine and Kirby's Avalanche. No offsetting garbage, but at least it introduces the hallmark Story Mode, which has remained completely bizarre and nonsensical in every Puyo game to date.

Puyo Puyo Tsuu/Super Puyo Puyo Tsuu Remix (Arcade/Mega Drive/Super Famicom/Playstation/Saturn/Gameboy/Neo Geo Pocket Color/Wonderswan) (1990)
Still considered the gold standard in Puyo games. I believe Japanese pros use the arcade version of this game as their "official" battle platform. As for the game itself, there are now over thirty NPCs, offsetting garbage was added, and I think this is the first game that gave you a bonus for pulling off an "all clear".

Puyo Puyo SUN (Arcade/Saturn/Playstation/N64) (1996)
32-bit graphics, full voice, and cutscene attacks. The gimmick of this game are Sun puyo, which if cleared sends loads of garbage to your opponent.

Puyo Puyo~n (Dreamcast/Playstation/N64) (1999)
There's some really nice character art drawn by Sunaho Tobe (think Sting games like Riviera, Yggdra Union, and Knights in the Nightmare). Yon introduces character-specific special attacks, but some of them are much better than others.

Brief summary of the SEGA Puyo games
Puyo Pop Fever (Every last-gen system, DS, PC, Mac, N-Gage, iPhone, you get the picture) (2004)
SEGA decides to scrap all previous Madou Monogatari/Puyo canon and makes a completely new game set in a completely new universe. This game introduces a new game mode called Fever: countering garbage builds up a gauge, and filling up the gauge launches you into Fever mode. Here, the game creates pre-built chains for you, and any garbage about to fall on you waits until you exit Fever mode before ruining your day. The game also doesn't drop garbage on you until you place puyo that don't trigger a chain, so in general Fever games go on much longer than previously. Also adds a four-player mode and an eight-player mode in the DS version, and characters also have their own individual Puyo dropsets and relative chaining strengths instead of the homogenous 2 puyo per pieceset. Accord and Carbuncle are completely OP compared to everone else.

Puyo Puyo Fever 2 (PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS) (2005)
Adds new characters and an expanded story mode. Also introduces "items" which affect certain match conditions. Carbuncle is no longer a playable character.

Puyo Puyo! 15th Anniversary (Nintendo DS, PSP, PS2, Wii) (2006-2007)
Total fanservice game which includes the most popular characters from both the Compile and SEGA era games. Also introduces a ton of new gameplay modes, most not as fun to play as others (Searchlight and Underwater modes can die in a fire). More importantly, the DS version has online play. The DS version also initially had a bug where you could only save the game 255 times, and those carts were eventually recalled by SEGA.

Puyo Puyo 7 (Nintendo DS, PSP, Wii) (2009)
Yet another canon reboot, although the majority of characters this time are from old Puyo games. Scraps the shitty new modes from 15th Anniversary and adds another shitty mode, Transformation. Transformation is similar to Fever in that you build up a meter by countering garbage puyo, but you can also add to the gauge by clearing garbage already present on your side of the field, garbage never drops ever, and you don't die from filling up your playing field with puyo. Depending on what you choose at the start of the match, your character also inexplicably progresses/regresses in age as a side effect of going into Transformation mode. Since your chaining power is intially weak in Transformation mode, most matches hinge around trapping your opponent in Transformation. It's completely counterintuitive and contributes to PP7 being a Bad Game.

Both screens above come from the Wii version of Puyo 7, which is the first? Wii game to have cross-compatible online play with the Nintendo DS version.

Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary (Nintendo DS) (July 14, 2011)
A compilation similar to PP15th. Reintroduces Puyo Puyo SUN as a game mode as well as the fan favorite character, Witch. Features Pair Puyo, a 2v2 mode where coordination with your partner is rewarded by stronger chains. Also has many gimmick modes similar to PP15th, but these ones are much better designed (seriously, Fog of War in Puyo? Who thought that was a good idea?). Packed with content and is basically a love letter to the series.

By the way, the Japanese love for puns gets amped up to 11 in Puyo. The second Puyo Puyo and second Fever game are subtitled Tsuu and Chuu respectively (Two), the third Puyo game is subtitled SUN (San is three in Japanese), the fourth game is Puyo~n (Yon is four in Japanese), and the default high scores in the games tend to be set to 2424 (in Japanglish, Tsuu Yon Tsuu Yon --- Puyo Puyo). You might also recall viral marketing for Puyo Puyo 7 spamming the number 24247 everywhere.

I'm drawing most of the stuff in this post from Puyo Nexus, since they're practically the only English fandom of Puyo left in existence, and they have good resources.

Becoming good at puyo
Beating up AI in Story mode becoming tiring? Want to take your Puyo skills to the next level? You can Youtube up videos of crazy Japanese players slinging giant 17-chain attacks at each other and everything. Behind the deceptively simple game premise lies a deep font of gameplay strategy. But here's a little secret: you can get that good too! Like most things in life, all it takes is some practice. But to help that along, here's some beginner/novice-level advice.

1. Learn to chain
The Puyo lexicon makes a differentitation between combos (popping more than four puyo at once) and chains (setting off a cascade of pops from placing one set of puyo). To become good at the game you need to develop a kind of "chain sense" to help you better place your puyo. Here's a simple example. Let's say you've managed to dig yourself into the following hole:


It might seem like a good idea to just drop those two puyo straight down, creating a 1 chain:


But what if instead you flipped that piece upside down? You'd end up with:


While nothing happened immediately in this case, let's say you get another red puyo soon:


Drop that thinger straight down, and you've created a 2 chain, which drops four times as much garbage on your opponent than in the previous case!


You can continue using this tactic to get even bigger chains. Let's say you flipped that previous piece 180 degrees to get:


Then continuing on, you might get the following puyo, and place them like so:


Wowzers! This ends up being a 5 chain that sends 41 garbage to your opponent, enough to fill up over half of their screen! So having good "chain sense" really pays off. You can also see that building this chain was pretty situational and depended on the puyo colors the game gives you. Modern Puyo games show you the next two sets of puyos you're about to get, so being able to look ahead is also key to success.

2. Patterning
After you've gotten comfortable building a couple of chains, it's time to move on to the next concept: patterning. By following certain templates of puyo placement, you can manage the puyo you get more efficiently and create larger chains more consistently. A fair warning: trying to learn patterns too early can screw up your advancement as a puyo player. You lose the ability to have good "chain sense", instead flopping around in a futile attempt to force the puyo you get into the patterns you know. Some people recommend patterning only until you grow comfortable making 4-5 chains on your own. That being said, let's get it on!

Stairs


The simplest pattern. This particular version is known as "3-1 Stairs" due to its construction. To build it, you just stack up columns consisting of three puyo of a particular color, then the fourth puyo of the same color gets moved off to the right. Trigger the chain by adding a fourth puyo on the left. Variations include "2-2 Stairs" and "1-3 Stairs" --- it should be fairly obvious how those ones are built.

With Stairs you notice a particular problem: you run out of space for your stairs once you hit the left side of the playing field, limiting your stairs to a maximum of 6 chains. Meanwhile, all that space above the stairs is completely wasted for who knows what. How do you solve this? With transitions.

Transistion


Transitions are named as such because they let you transition from one level of chains to the one above it. The particular transition above fits like a glove with Stairs:


And you can continue on building your Stairs like a possessed carpenter on the next level.


Popping the green puyo creates a sweet 11 chain that drops 393 garbage on your hapless opponent.

Generally, you should try to build your transition as early on in the match as possible, because you have a lot more room to be flexibile with puyo placement plus it's less likely that pesky opponent of yours will ruin your day with a well-timed garbage attack. Additionally, watching out for color conflicts is key to managing your transistion. Let's say you used slightly different colors while building your chain:


In the first example, the chain will end up failing due to the falling yellow puyo in the second level. In the second, the red puyo in the transition becomes the failure point. These kinds of color conflicts are a bit more common when using Stairs due to the way the chain progresses. The next pattern eliminates at least one of those modes of failure.

Sandwich


Things are starting to get a bit complicated here. This here is a "1-2-1 Sandwich" so named because each chain has one puyo on top, two on the bottom, and one (the proverbial "meat" of the sandwich) puyo shifted over to the right. Sandwich chains are nice because of the flexibility they offer in building compared to Stairs. It takes a little while to get your head wrapped around the concept, but the payoff is worth it.

Here are a few variations: 2-1-1 Sandwich and a hybrid of 1-2-1 and 2-1-1:


Notice how the example transisition doesn't work at all with Sandwich. You'll have to modify it a bit:


These two transitions take up a lot of vertical space and are generally a bit of a pain to build. This next transition solves those issues --- and it's a particularly famous transistion.

GTR


The Grand Tanaka Rensa, or GTR for short, named presumably after its inventor. Notice how this transition only takes up three rows compared to the previous one. It also leads directly into 1-2-1 Sandwich:


And even 2-2 Stairs:


The flexibility of GTR and its flat transition make it popular amoung competitive Puyo players. In fact, some even suggest learning GTR before anything else.

The preceding patterns are widely used amoung players. SEGA even explicitly uses these in the tutorial modes in PP15th and Puyo 7 (with the exception of GTR, although it shows up in some of their practice drills).

3. Practice
Like any fighter, you can't get good unless you play more! Run through Endless mode until your fingers bleed, learn a couple of patterns. You'll find that you'll begin to place your puyo faster as well as recognize chaining opportunities more readily. Try to find other people to play against, since the AI in the Puyo games stops being a challenge after a while. PPVS might be good for people looking for human opponents.

Anyways, those are just a few simple concepts to get you started. There are even more, including harassment, tailing, and more complex patterns, but this should be good for now.

I love puyo puyo! I played mean bean machine as a kid, but was never any good. I'm totally awful at it in fact, but it's pretty much the only game my gf will play, she gets totally sucked into it. She's played it since she was a kid and she is always watching over my shoulder shouting at me when I play it as she is so much better. I love it though, it is the only game we really play together.

By the way, It's not mentioned, but puyo puyo 7 and puyo puyo fever 2 are out on the PSP too, it's the system I have them for. You can pick them up for an absolute bargain on the net and even more so if you're in Japan. Even if you can't speak Japanese, I think you could play these games very easily.

You just made one of the most heartbreaking threads...

I'd love to see Sega embrace this series to the fullest extent, sadly, it will probably never happen.

I'd love to see some more XBLA/PSN/WiiWare releases.

Edit:

Damn fine opening/second post.

Great, great posts. Downloading Vs now!

Everybody here at the apartment has been pretty okay sticking with Tsu. The Sega developed ones never caught on, given that we never really cared about the additional mode fluff.

Best 2nd post ever.

Best puzzle game ever. Tetris junkies get out!

It's a shame Sega decided the series wasn't work continuing over here, though I do get some extra mileage from the VC release of Puyo 2.

This series is definitely Compile's best achievement, too. Destroys their shooters, from what I can tell.

I'd guess that it's the best versus puzzle game, with TGM being the best solo.

holy shit at this thread, i've zero wtf did you just posted

Four installments in six years is hardly "abandonment".

I dont think id say a series with an annual release has been abandoned.

Maybe if you live in Japan D:

I would be pretty happy if they released Tsuu on VC as one of those Hanabi Festival thingies.

Man, Puyo Pop was easily my most played GBA game. Love this series.

I really wish we got either 7 or 15th Anniversary for DS.

Why no listings of the Compile entries?

I didn't really start getting interested in Puyo until Fever came out, so I don't know as much about those games. This is also why Fever 2's summary is shorter than the rest. I could probably piece together something about the Compile games based on HG101's feature about it tomorrow.

Speaking of which, their article on Puyo and Madou Monogatari has a pretty detailed history of both series, and is a worthwhile read.

Wow, I remember playing the hell out of Puyo Puyo~n on the Dreamcast but I haven't touched a Puyo Puyo game since. I didn't even realize there was a DS or Wii installment. I might have to pick one of those up at some point.

Puyo Pop 15th Anniversary is great. There's an unbelievable amount of content in that game.

Puyo is one of my favorite puzzle games.

Cosmo Clock 21 said:

How do I play Puyo?
The last Puyo games released in the west were Puyo Pop Fever, available on all last-gen systems and the Nintendo DS. Unfortunately, this game tanked like hell outside of Japan, which is why no Puyo games have been released in English since then. The two most absolutely recent games, though, are Puyo Puyo! 15th Anniversary and Puyo Puyo 7, the latter of which was released for the Nintendo DS in last summer. These games boast a bevy of gameplay modes and the Nintendo games boast online ranked gameplay, which is pretty neat. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine was put on US/EU Virtual Console not too long ago, so that also works I guess.

Click to expand...

Puyo Puyo 2 for Genesis is also available on the US Virtual Console as an import (not sure about Europe).

Cosmo Clock 21 said:

Maybe if you live in Japan D:

I would be pretty happy if they released Tsuu on VC as one of those Hanabi Festival thingies.

Click to expand...

What? I thought they did release Tsuu for the Genesis on VC?

This game is very, very popular with girls in Japan. Almost every girl I know here can play the game extremely well, even if they don't play any other games.

Puyo Puyo Anniversary: the DS' best puzzle game. I'll say it.

t3nmilez said:

What? I thought they did release Tsuu for the Genesis on VC?

This game is very, very popular with girls in Japan. Almost every girl I know here can play the game extremely well, even if they don't play any other games.

Click to expand...

I completely missed Tsuu being on VC (I also don't own a Wii). Man, I wonder if Sega used the VC releases as gauges for releasing more Puyo games in the West.

Cosmo Clock 21 said:

What Puyo game should I play?

Click to expand...

I'll tell you which!

jman2050 said:

Best puzzle game ever. Tetris junkies get out!

Click to expand...

Oh no you didn't!

Fucking amazing. Bravo, sir. Very informative. I'm surprised there's a thread about Puyo Puyo since I hardly see anyone here at GAF talk about it.

DanteFox said:

I'll tell you which!

Click to expand...

Sucks Puyo Pop isn't released on the Wii.

But the Dr. Robotnik game and Kirby's Avalanche are pretty good alternatives.

DanteFox said:

I'll tell you which!

Click to expand...

Tsuu on the Wii is the real choice.

Though I'd rather have Super Tsuu Remix up there.

The Puyo Nexus is also very informative, and is also home to translations including 15th Ann. for DS.

http://www.puyonexus.net/

Damn, I was gonna be like Puyo Puyo? What game are you talking about? *looks at screenshots* Oh! You mean Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine!

Puyo Puyo Sun is still my favourite puzzle game ever.

And between 2 well-matched players it's one of the fiercest, most competitive 2-player experiences you can ever have.

DECK'ARD said:

Puyo Puyo Sun is still my favourite puzzle game ever.

Click to expand...

This !

The first puzzle game that I ever got addicted too. I suck at chaining though. The best I can get is 3, sometimes 4 if I'm lucky.

I've actually been playing the DS game that was released in the US and I can't beat that fucking cat.

i'm a pretty big puzzle game fan, but i'll be damned if i can't wrap my head around puyo puyo. i understand how it works in theory. in practice, i can't chain for shit. its a shame too because i know there's a great puzzle game under there.

It's kind of bizarre that there is no XBLA/PSN Puyo Puyo game.

tetrisgrammaton said:

i'm a pretty big puzzle game fan, but i'll be damned if i can't wrap my head around puyo puyo. i understand how it works in theory. in practice, i can't chain for shit. its a shame too because i know there's a great puzzle game under there.

Click to expand...

Once patterning/the basic chaining stuff clicks the whole game changes, you just have to keep trying until you get the hang of it though

I loved Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine as a kid, Robotnik's stage was insane though, it took me a week of practice before I finally beat him. It's also one of only two games that my Mum ever could understand how to play.

Puyo Puyo Fever PSP on the other hand just annoyed the hell out of me with it's ridiculous difficulty level and cheating AI. Even on the lowest difficulty setting the AI builds up ridiculous chains that fill at least half your screen with clear beans, I even once watched as on Easy mode my entire screen was wiped out in a single combo less than 1 min into the match.

I considered importing the 15th anniversary game, but after that farce with Fever PSP it put me right off.

Really nice thread about a wonderful game...

That's some interesting insights about the last games. Unfortunately, I stop caring for new Puyos since Fever since :
- I don't like new modes, including fever mode
- I don't like the new graphical style
- I only care for older characters, which I loved

Thus, I'm mostly playing Puyo Pop GBA (really good version, I think) and Puyu Puyon (Puyo Puyo 4) on Dreamcast...

Azure Phoenix said:

I loved Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine as a kid, Robotnik's stage was insane though, it took me a week of practice before I finally beat him. It's also one of only two games that my Mum ever could understand how to play.

Puyo Puyo Fever PSP on the other hand just annoyed the hell out of me with it's ridiculous difficulty level and cheating AI. Even on the lowest difficulty setting the AI builds up ridiculous chains that fill at least half your screen with clear beans, I even once watched as on Easy mode my entire screen was wiped out in a single combo less than 1 min into the match.

I considered importing the 15th anniversary game, but after that farce with Fever PSP it put me right off.

Click to expand...

I understand that 15th Anniversary basically has a Tsuu mode. Though I'm not sure that would fix any AI problems.

One of the things I miss most of all about the Compile generation of PP is the cast, which featured Arle, Rulue, Schezo, and the rest. Not to mention that it had the more charismatic art style.

First time I played Puyo (the first Fever GBA game from memory) I picked it up very quickly and was a beast for 2 or 3 months. Then didn't play it for a while, now I can't play for shit. Same thing happened with Tetris Attack or whatever you want to call it. I was so good at the Pokemon N64 version when it came out, but now I can't play any of the Puzzle League games at all, and even the Pokemon game on VC just doesn't click with me.

I think my love for Meteos essentially destroyed all other puzzle games for me except Tetris.

I still have good memories of playing versus with a friend though.

cartman414 said:

Not to mention that it had the more charismatic art style.

Click to expand...

I like the current art style. It has a very "Dreamcast" feel.

I dutifully supported the last US releases, but I don't really like the games enough to import the later releases. Alas.

So which part of Sonic Team does the series now?

What I'd love Sega to do and would bring in good sales in NA, would be to semi-facelift Puyo 7, by simply replacing the Puyo characters with Sonic characters but in that same art style and by the same artist.

Consider it a spiritual successor to Mean Bean Machine. Maybe they'll have to remove the Transformation mode, but the OP says it's shitty so I guess it won't be missed.

I'm sure some won't like my idea, but it'll still be essentially the same game, and an interesting take on Sonic with that kooky art style.

Hero of Legend said:

So which part of Sonic Team does the series now?

What I'd love Sega to do and would bring in good sales in NA, would be to semi-facelift Puyo 7, by simply replacing the Puyo characters with Sonic characters but in that same art style and by the same artist.

Consider it a spiritual successor to Mean Bean Machine. Maybe they'll have to remove the Transformation mode, but the OP says it's shitty so I guess it won't be missed.

I'm sure some won't like my idea, but it'll still be essentially the same game, and an interesting take on Sonic with that kooky art style.

Click to expand...

I don't want Sega to Sonic up my Puyo's!

Sega made entries still make my eyes bleed.



Carbuncle 4eva

But Carbuncle is in the Sega games???


Anyways, I updated the OP with some stuff about Compile's games. Also, I'll be idling on PPVS for the next hour or so as bearnado. Come say hello or play me for a bit or something.

EDIT:

Cosmo Clock 21 said:

But Carbuncle is in the Sega games???

Click to expand...

I saw that washed out image of him so figured he may be but none of the promo material or in game shots I've seen of the Sega games include him.

It looks like Sega JP is finally getting around to releasing budget-priced versions of Puyo 7, due November 11. Play-Asia has them for preorder at $35 across all SKUs.

Only thing about Puyo Puyo that I like is that it gave me an ugly, but still different Dreamcast BIOS after the system was forgotten by the heretics.

I hate everything else about the game(s).

Oh my god a Puyo thread.

A couple months ago I was at a friend's house playing Toejam & Earl. After we beat that, I decided to download Puyo Puyo 2 on a whim from the VC shop because I remembered Mean Bean Machine being kind of fun back in the day.

We started playing at 1AM and didn't stop until about 5:30. It has since become a weekly ritual at game nights, and like 5 other people in our group are way into it now.

I am taking my Wii to Season's Beatings primarily for some TvC but will be busting this out if the opportunity presents itself. I'm not even good at chaining since I can only see about 3 or 4 combos ahead and have to just let chance do what it may, but it's addictive as hell.

Some incredible music in this series, too.

Ah Puyo Puyo! I didn't think people on GAF cared about this series, but ya'll are just full of surprises. This was my game back in the day! I'm surprised OP forgot to mention the GBA game "Minna de Puyo Puyo" or Puyo Pop GBA outside Japan. It's the first Puyo game from Sonic Team/SEGA and features the original Madou Monogatari gang before Sonic Team scrapped them all for the cast of Puyo Fever.



Other notable American releases is the NeoGeo Pocket Color version of Puyo Pop. It's really Puyo Puyo Tsu (change your NGPC's language to Japanese, and the truth will be revealed).

I grew up with Compile's Puyo games, so if you need further explanations on certain things, I can take a crack at it! Otherwise, awesome 1st & 2nd post CC21! I might change my ava for such an occasion!

Cosmo Clock 21 said:

It looks like Sega JP is finally getting around to releasing budget-priced versions of Puyo 7, due November 11. Play-Asia has them for preorder at $35 across all SKUs.

Click to expand...

Any reason to pick this up if you already have the GBA version?

SapientWolf said:

Any reason to pick this up if you already have the GBA version?

Click to expand...

Anniversary and 7 are new highs for the series. Buy it.