Puyo Pop

Puyo Pop brings the well-established Japanese principle of colour matching to the Game Boy Color - the player drops pairs of colourful blob-like creatures called Puyo and tries to arrange them so that four or more of the same colour touch and vanish from the playing field. The longer the chain that disappears at once, the bigger the effect on the opponent's side of the screen in the form of falling nuisance blocks, which makes the game an excellent competitive experience both against the computer and against a second player over a link cable. The principle is the same one that made the entire Puyo Puyo series famous from the eighties onward, just adapted to a smaller screen and a simpler set of game modes.

On the GBC the game benefits from a fast pace and a clear colour palette, thanks to which it's easy even on the small screen to tell the Puyo colours apart and plan chain combinations several moves ahead. The controls are minimal - rotating the pair and dropping it down - yet still offer plenty of room for strategy for skilled players who can build extensive chains with split-second precision and decide their next move practically on the fly as the pair falls. The gradually increasing drop speed forces the player to combine fast reflexes with long-term planning, which is the core of the entire falling-block puzzle genre.

Puyo Pop continues the long tradition of Japanese puzzle series from studio Compile, which stood at the birth of the entire Puyo Puyo brand, bringing its proven system to the handheld format without unnecessary compromises. The music and sound effects give the game a cheerful, energetic atmosphere that pleasantly contrasts with the growing tension of a rapidly filling playing field. The versus mode against a second player was one of the main reasons the series enjoyed popularity outside its native Japan as well. Even today it stands as a textbook example of elegant puzzle design that plays well both in short sessions and in longer duels against an opponent, and its simple rules make it accessible to absolutely any player regardless of age or experience with similar games.