Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix takes a simple gameplay scheme and makes an insanely addicting arcade experience.
Puzzle Fighters' gameplay formula is fairly simple. The foundation is derived from Capcom fighting games: one on one combat. However, there are no health meters. The object of winning lies within the puzzle element. The simple tactics are similar to Tetris in which the player stacks square jewels upon a vertical quadratic spaced grid. The blocks come in the assorted colors of red, yellow, blue, and green). Making larger shapes of rectangles and squares with the same colored blocks helps greatly with your score and winning against your opponent. When "counter gems" appear, they break blocks of their corresponding color which places timed gems on your opponent's side of the playing field. In essence, this is the dose of damage, and your chosen character simultaneously attacks the other when this action is executed. One of the main strategies, as mentioned before, is to align the normal gems into the largest square and rectangular shapes as possible, then break them with a counter gem for a huge score and damage to your opponent. The round is won when your opponent can no longer stack the gems on their side any higher.
Although Turbo Remix has simplistic Tetris-like gameplay, don't be fooled by its cutesy premise. Matches can become very intense on higher difficulties, and a lot of skill can be utilized with it. To win early against tougher opponents (especially those of online encounters), the player must be quick and swift while establishing good placement of their gems. Doing this while keeping strategy in mind can get the best of who's playing, as sometimes it's not a good approach to use counter gems with only a few matching normal gems lined straight down. The damage effect to your opponent won't be as great of a deal and it can also give them a small advantage or opening to turn the tide.
With this XBL Arcade version, two additional gameplay modes are included from the Dreamcast version of the game: "Y" and "Z" mode. The form of normalcy is "X" mode, a rebalance for Turbo Remix. The central differences with Y and Z mode are the style in terms of placing and breaking gems; they adapt to the shape of these letters. For instance, Y mode allows the breaking with counter gems diagonally; hence the top part of the letter Y. Z mode plays with normal and counter gems randomly stacked together rising from the bottom, adding another level of intensity. You must rearrange the gems instead of placing those that fall from the. These two bonus gameplay styles alone are enough to add variety to this iteration of Puzzle Fighter.
Due to the frequent moments of intensity while playing, it ultimately results with addictive fun. On several occasions you'll want to play just one quick match, which might turn into two hour sessions. At the slightest, one could say there's some compunction here, because the game becomes rather addicting off of a very seemingly simple foundation of gameplay design. Then again, arcade inspired titles like Puzzle Fighter are meant to be that way. The combo system is indelibly satisfying, as it requires the action of big counter gem breaks consecutively, and the effect it has on your opponent can deliver a huge finishing move by your character (i.e. Ryu's Dragon Punch), making you feel like such a winner.
Visually, Puzzle Fighter HD is nice to look at. The backgrounds in each stage are very impressive, and so are the crisp appearances of the gems. The only thing lacking visually are the characters themselves. It's not like you will be paying full attention to them during play, but their large heads on top of their small bodies were not enhanced to HD goodness such as the background and shiny square gems. However, the "chibi" look of Street Fighter and Darkstalkers characters gives the game its own uniqueness. The sound effects stand out well, each character having their own weird, light-hearted voice puns. The jingles for each stage are catchy to the ear, and can be easily remembered.
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is a gem, no pun intended. If you are totally new to the game, it will be exhilarating. For fans of the Playstation and Dreamcast versions, it's a mere graphical update; nonetheless, it's still fun as it was back then. The implementation of online multiplayer adds longevity, but for the 360 version, good luck finding a variety of people to play against. If you go the route of choosing a quick match, or even hosting, you will have to keep retrying, and when you do find someone, they are among the top on the ranked leader boards who will wipe the floor with you. It's a shame that there aren't a lot of folks playing this online, for it has a high competitive factor. Despite its lacking with multiplayer, Puzzle Fighter HD is one of the more fulfilling and addicting Xbox Live Arcade titles available out there.