Puyo Pop Fever Hands-On

TOKYO--The Puyo Pop series has made its way to tons of consoles over the years, and the latest incarnation, Puyo Pop Fever, has already come to today's consoles, and in Japan, it has come to the PC. At the 2004 Tokyo Game Show, Sega is showing off a playable version of the game running on Sony's PSP and some video footage of the Nintendo DS version.

Both versions follow the Puyo Pop formula pretty closely. The game is a Tetris-like well-based puzzle game, with small, bugeyed puyos that drop into the well in various color configurations. Your goal, of course, is to match up puyos of the same color. With proper planning, you can trigger combos of puyo pops. Puyo Pop Fever is a competitive game, so even when you're alone, most modes pit you against an artificially intelligent opponent. Big combos drop junk on your opponent's well in the form of clear puyos.

On the PSP, Puyo Pop Fever has a very bright, colorful look. Everything on the screen is extremely crisp and the puyos bounce around in a playful way. The DS version is only being shown on video, so it's difficult to tell how it will look on the actual screen, but the game appears to use the top screen for the playfield. The bottom screen is entirely devoted to showing two poorly animated characters bumping into each other as the puzzle battle rages.

Both versions of Puyo Pop Fever are scheduled to ship in Japan this December. Domestic versions are sure to follow. For more updates, be sure to check GameSpot's coverage of the Tokyo Game Show 2004.