Review : Super Puzzle Fighter II for Gameboy Advance

I probable will have to turn in my membership card proving my hard core gamer status for loving this game. But I have counted down the days until the release of Super Puzzle Fighter 2 for the Gameboy Advance.

This is a port of the cult PSOne game that came out in 1996 and they didn't make enough copies and so used copies of it went for around a hundred bucks on Ebay.

The game is a competitive puzzle game of falling blocks not unlike Tetris but it is that and so much more. It looks it was heavily influenced by the game Piyo Piyo AKA mostly blatantly ripped off. But that is OK. Capcom only had Street Fighter 2 ripped off by about thirty other game developers.

I love most Capcom games and this game is chock full of Capcom goodness. It is a mega vitamin of Capcom wackiness and arcade legacy,

The game feature a "super deformed" cast of Street Fighter Alpha and DarkStalkers characters that are cute and authentic in sound effects and music. This game inspired one of the funkiest 2d fighting game ever. Pocket Fighter that was later based on the designs in this game. Just as an example of the benign absurdity of this I suggest that you ponder the fact that there is no Puzzle Fighter one and that they are poking fun at the Street Fighter games and the endless supply of sequels.

This is a 100% authentic port by Atomic Planet Entertainment UK. Capcom hired them to shrink down the PSone game into a small bite size unit and they did a hell of a job. All the animation are there, All the sounds is there, all the smacktackular game play is there. After a while you forget that it is on the GBA at all.

It has all the unlockable goodies including all the art galleries and a digital music version of the Sakura song. It is an actual MP3 like recording of the Japanese song with vocals and not just a cheesy midi file.

One complaint I have is that the reset data button is on the main menu and the yes and no colors is not 100% crystal clear and I accidently wiped my saved file by accident. I suck but don't mess with that option unless you are a really serious.

This game links with one cartridge and is just made for some great link cable action. It has one of the easiest learning curves and can be taught in a moment. The game play is addictive as nicotine and as sweet as sugar.
Update: BBQ and I found out today that two carts are needed for a game link game but it is very fun.

It is better than Tetris! I don't really like much puzzle games but this... is divine! BBQ is going to get his ass handed to him because he only knows how to play fighting games.