Baku Baku Animal
Falling tiles, hungry animals and feeding that decides victory. Baku Baku Animal is a brisk puzzle game by SEGA that takes the proven falling-blocks formula and spices it up with an adorable idea: it's not just about matching identical colors but about feeding animals the right food. And it's precisely this small change to the rules that gives the game unexpected depth.
The principle is simple to grasp but tricky to master. Tiles with animals and with food fall from above, and your task is to correctly pair a hungry mouth with what it likes to eat — a panda with bamboo, a monkey with a banana, and so on. When an animal reaches its food, it gorges and, in a chain reaction, devours the connecting food, triggering satisfying combos and clearing the playfield.
Working with these chains pushes the game beyond mere block placement. A skilled player plans ahead, builds food "trains" and sets up sweeping cascades that bury the opponent. This layer of strategy makes Baku Baku Animal an excellent title for two-player duels, where quick thinking and foresight decide who keeps the field under control.
As an arcade puzzle game ported to the Saturn, Baku Baku Animal fits into the rich tradition of a genre that stirred both arcades and living rooms in the nineties. Its cute animal presentation, catchy principle and instantly graspable rules make it exactly the type of game that's hard to put down.
Why play: For the catchy animal-feeding principle that enriches the falling-blocks genre with a layer of strategy and works great in two-player duels.
Game 31 of 90 for SEGA Saturn
The same title elsewhere (1)
On the Game Gear the game has to make do with a small screen, a more limited colour palette, and a simpler sound chip, so the scurrying animals and coloured blocks look less detailed than on a big screen. The Saturn, by contrast, offers fully coloured, sharp graphics, more elaborate arena backgrounds, and richer music thanks to the console's more powerful sound hardware, plus a more comfortable split-screen two-player mode. The core idea of falling blocks and feeding animals stays the same on both platforms; the difference lies mainly in audiovisual polish and control comfort. For the most complete experience, reach for the Saturn — the Game Gear's appeal is chiefly its portability.
