TGS 2003: Puyo Pop Fever

We tried our hand at the next game in the popular Puyo Puyo puzzle series at Sega's Tokyo Game Show booth. The new game, Puyo Pop Fever, is being developed by Sonic Team. The previous Puyo Puyo games required you to line up blobs (called "puyos") of the same color in order to make them pop, but the new game has a new "fever" mode that is triggered when you fill up an onscreen gauge. We tried out the game, which is scheduled for release on the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and, because Sonic Team knows how to keep it real, Sega's Dreamcast.

The Puyo Puyo series has been an extremely popular puzzle series in Japan that began in the days of the NES. Unfortunately, most of them haven't made it over to the US, at least, not with the Puyo Puyo name. The most notable appearances of the series in the states are Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine for the Sega Genesis and Kirby's Avalanche for the Super Nintendo, both of which just slapped new names onto the classic style of gameplay.

The graphics in the game are modest but colorful across all platforms. You can expect to see a hefty dose of rich color on hand for the tiny puyos and the various effects that appear during a match. The game features a mix of 2D and 3D elements that become more apparent as you play. The camera will shift to slightly off-center angles to show off the 3D puyos and the 3D environments behind the playing field. The fever mode initiates all manner of unusual special effects onscreen as the action speeds up.

Puyo Pop Fever seems to retain the addictive quality of its predecessors. The gameplay is complemented by graphics that are as technically proficient as they are cute. In addition to the single-player mode, the game will also feature two-player multiplayer play. Puyo pop Fever is scheduled to ship in Japan this winter, though there has been no word on a US release.