Remember Tetris? Well Puyo pop fever is an easier version of the popular game. However, I haven't seen almost anyone talk about it, outside of some videos and fanart online. So I stepped in and decided to write a review on this game, to be more specific, the PSP version. It was also released for all generation 6 consoles (including the last Sega console the Dreamcast and even Game boy advance). The story is actually movie worthy, like this is something that I would want to watch in a cinema. And it's about a young student named Amitie, who learns how to control magic puyos. If your wondering what exactly are puyos, then it's small jellies with eyes that are either shaped like circles, ovals, waterdrops or onions. And they are 5 different colors: red, green, yellow, blue and purple. Anyways, in the game she has to battle lots of rivals along her way. In RunRun course she was just practising her magic in a classroom. In WakaWaka Amitie has to return her teacher Misses Accord's flying cane. And in HaraHara it's actually one of her rival Raffine's course, where she has to save Amitie from a villain, whose name I won't mention, cause it's a mystery.
The gameplay is simple. Puyos are falling down and you need to make sure that 4 or more share the color to make a chain reaction. Like I said in the beginning, if you played tetris, then you pretty much know the rules of this game. However, unlike tetris, it has a fever mode, where the board is already filled with them, and the more reactions you make at once, the bigger your score is. Another cool feature I would like to mention is that your not alone, there's a rival challenging you by doing the same task as you. However, there's the catch, if you they create more reactions then you, you'll get stone puyos, which block the regular ones. And if your the one who made more reactions, then the rival gets them. It makes the game more exciting yet difficult. I could actually play hours on this game, because it's so engaging, despite its simple gameplay. The cast has a big variety of characters, including Amitie's classmates, strange creatures like ghosts, skeletons, living onions, talking fish and bird, a ghost cat, and even a character from the very first installment - Arle. Speaking of that, I was surprised to find out that it's not a stand alone game and it has lots of sequels, prequels and spinoffs. This franchise is almost as big as Sonic the hedgehog, except less popular. It never had a movie or a series adaptation, which is sad. Not only that, the following games were never released outside of Japan, which made me wonder, did it flop in American and European countries? I don't know to be honest. Finally the soundtrack, the music is very upbeat and catchy, which is the cherry on top, because it makes the experience more enjoyable then it was. Same applies for sound effects.
This game just needs more attention. It easily could have been the Sonic for girls, because both have creative eye candy worlds filled with fantasy creatures and likeable characters. Too bad Sega mostly focuses on the blue hedgehog, not that I hate him or anything, but Sega should give Amitie and her friends a chance to shine. I recommend this game for all tetris fans, they will see this game as a delight. It's a great stress relief too. The best thing I can say, is that it's perfect for portable consoles like PSP or Nintendo ds. Because you don't need a big tv screen to enjoy it, you can easily take the game wherever you want and even invite friends to play in multiplayer mode.
