N-Philes

The Puyo Legacy

Posted July 19th 2004 by Stephanie DeSiena.

It wouldn't be appropriate to not begin this feature on Puyo Pop without first ranting about what is considered to be the almighty God of puzzle games, Tetris, simply for the fact that some people can't get this off their minds when another puzzle game is even whispered. This, being a game developed in the mid-1980's for use on the home computer, consists of dropping various shaped blocks into chasms in your sloppily-organized structures just so they can disappear into thin-air and can theoretically go on for all of eternity if you had an unlimited power supply. But what I would like to know is why a simple puzzle game such as Tetris, a game with little to no variation throughout its entire gameplay cycle other than speeding up, is revered so highly among gamers and non-gamers alike? Why should a game as mindless as this be considered a world-wide phenomenon and thusly every game with a similar structure afterwards (and by similar structure I mean dropping various objects down a tube which will ultimately meet their demise) be held as a clone? This question, fortunately for the inept player that doesn't think even twice about purchasing a puzzle game, is far from rhetorical. Tetris was here first. Whether I like it or not, there's no denying that Tetris may have set such a loose standard that its praises make up for its shortcomings, which are all but apparent in today's complex world of power-ups and megatexels or whatever you want to call them. It's a game that's so simple yet so complex that it almost tears the player in two, for the player realizes that one small mistake can cost them the entire round.

Now, this standard that we still follow today, although conventional, is extremely hard to topple since there's so little room for expansion. There may be 3D spin-offs like Tetrisphere and Wetrix, but the original concept will always be the first thing to pop into people's minds forever. Seeing the success this game has brought, other companies tried to cash-in on this with a laundry list of "clones", many ill fated. Wordtris, Hatris, Columns, Baku Baku Animal – the list goes on. However, very few saw such a shining success and created its own unique system for virtually endless fun like Compile's flagship franchise. With over a hundred incarnations across an abundance of platforms created by multiple developers, including spin-off games such as role-playing and dancing games, Puyo Puyo contains some of the most addictive, strategic gameplay to ever appeal to such a wide audience. And even after Compile's demise, the franchise still lives on and continues to be improved upon to this day.

Back in 1991, Compile saw a widespread release of the original Puyo Puyo for the Famicom Disk Drive in Japan. Back then, of course, it was very easy for your game to get swallowed up when being released for an ever-changing console such as the Famicom and it had been expected that Puyo would fail. It was never really shocking to see a company trying to get on its feet that early in the game, as so many game companies have seen their start on the popular Famicom and to a lesser extent on Sega's Mark III. By this time, the Famicom was older news to the much more powerful Mega Drive and Super Famicom. Thus, Puyo Puyo was released for the Mega Drive two months after being released in Arcades. Here the budding franchise saw much commercial success and it wasn't too long before versions of the game started popping up left and right. Versions of the game were released for PC-Engine, Game Gear and Famicom among others. Super Puyo Puyo was their first foray into Super Famicom territory, which was essentially a port of Puyo Puyo with cleaner graphics. At this point, Puyo had completely taken off and had become recognizable by the Japanese, but what about the overseas market? Not a single Puyo game had been released outside of Japan up to this point, but would the franchise fare as well across the Pacific? There was only one way to find out.

At this point Compile had developed strong relations with Sega. Sega had published the Puyo series on their own consoles as well as in the arcade, so it was only natural that the Mega Drive saw the first Puyo game outside of Japan. To ensure that this game sold fairly well, Sega had licensed the use of popular characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog world, most notably Dr. Robotnik. Compile threw Dr. Robotnik's goons from the Saturday morning Sonic the Hedgehog series (Scratch the robotic chicken and Grounder the robotic... digging thing) and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine was made. Not surprising, as Sonic was incredibly popular at the time, it was a success commercially and it proved that the audiences other than the Japanese could perhaps even embrace a few of the dozens that have never seen the light of day outside of the country.

Between then and the next Puyo release in America, Puyo Puyo Tsu had seen the light of day across many platforms including the PC, Super Famicom, Mega Drive, Game Gear, Arcade, PC-Engine and Sega Saturn. At this point, however, the Mega Drive's failure had become inevitable in the American and European market as Sega had shifted a lot of focus to their latest console: the Sega Saturn. Compile had struck a deal with Hal and Nintendo to develop a Puyo game for the international markets based on the Kirby franchise. At the end of 1995 the Super Nintendo saw the release of Kirby's Avalanche in North America and Kirby's Ghost Trap in Europe. Released and promoted with the other Kirby side-quest entitled Kirby's Dream Course, Avalanche once again brought success to the Puyo Puyo franchise. Although the rule-set had improved by this time in Puyo Puyo Tsu, Kirby's Avalanche retained the original Puyo dynamics seen in the first games.

But what exactly is a Puyo? Perhaps to understand the Puyo we must first understand its universe. In many of the Puyo games, you play as the protagonist Aruru on her quest to crush evil. On the way you encounter a variety of different creatures such as witches, zombies, elephants, fish with arms and legs and a weird character that consists of a head on a giant foot flopping around, among others. The scenery is often static as the story progresses either in a forest or an open field until eventually you reach scarier atmospheres such as the underworld. When you encounter a random enemy your character talks a bit of smack with whatever weird entity you've encountered and then decide that you must obliterate him/her/it immediately. However, much like in real life, rather than throwing down fisticuffs you battle like real men – in an intense game of Puyo Pop. As the battle rages on you can see the other character's face on its battlefield, and it begins to show emotion based on how the match is going. As you plow through these creatures one by one you eventually face the final boss. You guessed it, the final boss in the original Puyo Puyo was Satan himself. Satan may be slightly intimidating with his in-your-face rock background music and his tendency to shake the map when his Puyos touch surface, but once you've defeated him the satisfaction is overwhelming. You beat Satan in a puzzle game. Satan.

A Puyo, by its very own definition, is in fact a worthless, colorful blob. In the world of the Puyo, the actual Puyo itself is undoubtably the furthest down on the chain. While various artwork throughout the years show that a Puyo does indeed have its own feelings and perhaps family and friends, one must ask themselves: Why do these Puyos willingly fall down in pairs just to disappear? Compare it to the feeble lemming, if you will. A lemming, living in zones filled with frozen ice surrounded by water, is a very stupid creature. Lemmings will jump into the ocean and attempt to swim – often in numbers across the body of water – despite the fact that they can't swim at all. These lemmings drown to death. However, the Puyos can actually be considered noble in their efforts. These little blobs fall into formation and when four of them gather at the same time they all explode and make room for other Puyos of the same fate.

Perhaps this is because of segregation issues. When four or more of the same color Puyos group they explode. This in turn would force the Puyos to mingle with different colored Puyos for fear that they could very well die off if they tried to form gangs or have a "color-only" party or engage in friendly conversation. But what exactly would the Puyos talk about?

You also have to realize that these Puyos perhaps even want to die. Clearing Puyos on one field and causing chains would then cause havoc on the opponent's field – yes, I'm talking about the exact face of opposition and repression: the dreaded Grey Puyo. When four or more of these Puyos group they do not die, they only create an inconvenient wall that strips other Puyos of their destiny. In the others' heroic efforts, when they explode near these grey Puyos the facists die off. This is to make room for other Puyos so that they may all die off together as well, much like the slimy equivalents of Thelma and Louise.

After the success of Puyo Puyo Tsu (and a few different versions of it such as Super Puyo Puyo Tsu, Puyo Puyo Tsu Remix, etc. making it the Street Fighter II of puzzle games), Puyo Puyo Sun was released for the Saturn, Nintendo 64, Playstation, PC and in the Arcades. This version of Puyo's mechanics has never left Japan and fanatics would have been happy to play as different characters as well as other new gameplay additions. Sun was the new generation of Puyo games for the new generation of consoles.

Compile's final addition to the main Puyo franchise under their development would be Puyo Puyo~n in early 1999. This game featured a four-player mode in its Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast versions, but it was also released for the Playstation and Game Boy Color. Before Puyo Puyo~n was completed in 1998, Compile filed for bankruptcy and in 2003 Compile closed its doors for good.

From Famicom to Dreamcast, Game Boy to Neo Geo Pocket Color, the legacy of Puyo Puyo is unarguably extensive. With dozens of games and tons of merchandise – including vitamin drinks, pillows, keychain games, clothing and much more – you'll be hard-pressed to not run into Puyo Pop at least once in your gaming career. Compile proved clearly that you can't live forever riding the success of one franchise, and now Sega and Sonic Team handle the classic franchise. Puyo Pop Fever is the first game that adds something new to the series since Puyo Puyo~n and hopefully it will extend the life of Puyo Puyo until the end of time.

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