Puzzle game competition has never been so fierce.

One of a Kind

Though the name suggests that Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo is an ultra-juiced-up sequel to a game called Puzzle Fighter, it is, in fact, the first and only game in the series. This mouthful of a title really just serves as a tongue-in-cheek homage to the lengthy and ridiculous naming conventions that became commonplace with Capcom's pseudo-sequels to Street Fighter II.

The superdeformed Street Fighter and DarkStalkers characters defined the game's look.

When it was released in 1991, Street Fighter II was absolutely nothing short of a phenomenon. It drew players to arcades in droves, easily commanding a premium of 50 cents per play, and is the game responsible for defining the genre of fighting games. It quickly saw a string of knockoffs and spawned several spin-offs and pseudo-sequels of its own. But, save for the poorly received Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight for the NES, there were no Street Fighter games that weren't straight fighting games. In 1996, well after the whole fighting game phenomenon had become old hat, Capcom made a surprisingly irreverent move and released a Street Fighter-themed puzzle game in the arcades called Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo.

The underlying gameplay mechanics for Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo weren't revolutionary. It played kind of like Tetris--and a whole lot like Puyo Puyo. It's a pretty straightforward puzzle concept, but part of what really made Super Puzzle Fighter II so special was the way it integrated much of the Capcom fighting game ethics into the action. Rather than putting you at odds with the puzzle, it put the focus on player-versus-player action, so you used the puzzle as a tool to attack your opponent. The pacing was fast, furious, and chaotic--characteristics not usually associated with puzzle games.

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo took some great creative liberties with the Street Fighter and DarkStalkers characters that populated the game, and this is one of the key elements that gave the game its distinct personality. Rather than just reusing the same 2D sprites from its fighting games--something Capcom is notorious for--a set of hypercute, superdeformed sprites were created for Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo (although the art style was later used in a forgettable fighting game called Pocket Fighter). As you played, the two fighters would pantomime the puzzle action, so if you cleared a large chunk of gems, your fighter might throw a fireball. This action had no real impact on the gameplay itself, and if you were playing, you couldn't really pay too much attention to it. However, it did make the game a real treat for spectators.

There are a lot of reasons why Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo is so great. The refreshingly playful take on the usually serious Street Fighter characters played a big part. The gameplay felt familiar, but the laserlike focus on two-player action created a unique experience that would keep players coming back long after its release. Furthermore, the cross-pollination between puzzle games and fighting games created an appeal for fans of both. That's a rare hat trick to pull off, and for these reasons, we're happy to name Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo as one of the greatest games of all time.

I had a pretty serious puzzle game habit back in the day. My habit, though, was a lonely one, because I rarely found the urge or the opportunity to play puzzle games against other players. Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, though, changed all that for me. I was always terrible at Street Fighter II (and at fighting games in general), so I was thrilled to find a directly competitive game I could really throw down in. I've played more-original and deeper puzzle games, but none have had as much character or been as much fun as Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo.