One popular gaming magazine produced a review on Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo, because naturally it was from Capcom, they had my attention. =) Of course though, it was a shock to me. "Capcom? A puzzle game?" I thought, and with a puzzle theme at that using the Street Fighter franchise, I figured them to be scrapping the bottom of the bucket. (After all, we're up to our 18th adaption of the series now aren't we?) =) In any event, it was more than enough for me at the time. The game had all the reasons I needed to purchase it, Street Fighter. Selfish I know, but heck, it's my pure reason for being a Capcom fan.

Capcom delivers a very unique theme to the puzzle genre. Unlike some of the odd characters which certain game companies create which you are generally unfamililar with, you'll surely recognize the faces present in this game. A portion of the characters from the popular Street Fighter series as well as Darkstalkers lend their camoes to this unique puzzle title. Choose from Ryu, Ken, Dan, Chun Li, Dan, Akuma, Donovan, Felicia, Hsien-ko, Morrigan, and Devilot from Cyberbots. In the same fashion as the Sega classic puzzle game Columns and Tetris's two player Battle Mode, with a twist. Puzzle Fighter's rules are relatively similar in comparison to both of these games, match corresponding colors in sets of three or more and destroy them with a 'gem breaker'. Gem Breakers are round shiny gems which come in several colors (red, yellow, green and blue respectively). Upon matching up rows or columns of like-colored gems in accord with a Gem Breaker is how you clear the field against your opponent (this is a versus game folks, remember?) and thus send Counter Gems to their side in order to win. Meanwhile your opponent, be it the computer or another human opponent will be going about clearning their field in the same fashion. So far, most of you that may have never played puzzle games may find this complex or confusing, but this is just the basics!

Your playing field consists of 144 spaces, which will be filled over a course of time by several colors which was addressed in the previous paragraph. Atop of your screen you'll have a small indicator labeled "NEXT" which tells you the following color that will be released after the current one you see displayed on the your playing field. At this point, you will proceed to defeat your opponent as quickly as possible, utilizing a strategy of course. The quickest way to go about this is to form 'polygon' shapes, or more specifically, rectangles or squares. This basically gives your colored gems more power then merely lining them up as a single column. When you recieve a Gem Breaker in respects to the color you have formed, it will result in sending more Counter Gems over to your opponents side. Wait...Counter Gems? I thought this was a puzzle game Bahn you say? Of course it is, but the fighting aspect is retained in here, thanks to Capcom. Counter Gems consist of a gem pattern, and every character has their own unique pattern which is used against an opponet in order to scramble your playing field thus making it difficult to win. By matching up colors to correspond to their pattern results in clearning these Counter Gems and proceding to return the favor. :) In the event when the playing field becomes congested, at random intervals, you'll receive a special gem that is shaped like a diamond. This Rainbow gem is actually quite powerful as it comes in two forms, but each can create havoc on your opponent when used properly.

There is certainly a great deal of depth to this game, but generally, most of your victories occur to random fortune. This of course, does not detract from the game, but it's something to be regarded for its pure entertainment. All this being said, you will find lots of fun playing this game as it offers a few options to expand the replay value. Super Puzzle Fighter Mode allows you to unlock certain hidden features, as well as secret characters such as Devilot, Dan and Akuma. Furthemore, playing in this mode also unlocks the sound files for all of the characters in Remixed and Original formats. As a special bonus, Capcom included the actual score from the classic Street Fighter Alpha 2 theme from Sakura's stage: "I want to Know". Amazing stuff.

Even if you aren't too fond of puzzle games, any Street Fighter fan in particular will surely want to pick this title up. The game offers a new perspective on how to approach games of this genre and makes no exception in being a challenging one. The game's sounds, controls, and overall package is a pure collectors item for all Capcom fans and is a even greater treat for anyone that simply loves puzzle games. I once envisioned that Capcom could make a sequel, but then I felt that that would actually make this title less appealing and unique. Besides, don't you think that playing the next version of Super Street Fighter 3 Hyper Fighting EX Plus Alpha Turbo: 4th Strike Generation would be overdoing it? :)

· · · Bahn