Blog Post: Xbox Live hearts the best puzzle game ever. Subscribe to this RSS feed

Xbox Live will soon be seeing the release of Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, and I promise it will be worth your money.

Sadly, a lot of gamers haven't heard of Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo. The title seems to be a self-mocking joke on Capcom's ridiculous naming conventions for the Street Fighter series, because although it contains the modifiers super, II, and turbo, there were no previous Puzzle Fighter games. Adding "HD Remix" to the title is sort of like putting a pearl necklace on Mr. T: once you've accessorized that much, no one will notice a little bit more, even if it seems a bit out of place.

Puzzle Fighter seems like your typical falling-block Tetris descendant at first. Yet it truly lives up to its "fighter" moniker, as using chain combos leads to epic battles where Everest-sized mountains of blocks are dropped on opponents and players on the brink of death make unbelievable comebacks. You can even "block" your opponent's attacks by timing your gem-breaking. I guarantee it's the most tense, exciting, jump-put-of-your-seat-and-scream-in-victory time you'll ever have in a puzzle game.

HD Remix of course converts the game into hi-def widescreen, has redone art, and offers new gameplay modes, including rebalanced characters (your characters determine the color pattern when you drop gems on your opponent, and some characters were better than others - ironically, Chun Li had the worst pattern). David Sirlin, a producer on the game, talks a bit about it on his site. He also has an interesting article about game design inspired by the original Puzzle Fighter, which explains what makes the game so exciting. I interviewed Sirlin for an upcoming GamePro.com article, and I'll tell you this: I absolutely trust a game in this guy's hands. He knows design, especially when it comes to balance and competitive gaming.

Hey, thanks: sirlin.net


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Blackbolt Blackbolt

Posted at: 04/20/07 at 7:55 PM PST

I love SF Puzzle fighters. It's one of my favorite puzzle games along with Lumines. I hated fighting Akuma. He's counter blocks were a real pain when you are about to set up a big combo. This is a classic game. Hmmmm...I bought the GBA version... This maybe worth getting.

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