Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo for PlayStation 1

Can you believe that there are people out there who are still addicted to Tetris? That game was impossibly habit-forming. This trait, of course, helps to explain why there were so many impostors, rip-offs, and "sequels" to Tetris throughout the early nineties. One of the final successors was a hybrid of Tetris and fighting games, called Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo. Strangely enough, this game was one of the most addictive in the unofficial series... Though it came nowhere near to the addictiveness of the big T.

Yet another "falling block" game, this one has you twirling chains of multi-colored rocks until they hit the bottom of the pit. If you can line up a string of the same color, then hit it with an explosive rock in the form of a glittering diamond, that color disappears. But here's the fun part: Your opponent, on the other side of the screen, receives all of those disappearing rocks as they collapse into her column. How fun! This game takes the structure of fighting games, requiring you to defeat a series of increasingly more skilled opponents in best-of-three competitions. Super-deformed characters from Capcom fighting games (mostly just Darkstalkers and Street Fighter II) make up the available fighters in this game.

The single-player mode of the game is fun (not to mention very addictive), but it doesn't approach the sheer delight of playing this game with another human being. Somehow, the thrill of competition makes falling blocks fun, especially as your cartoon characters taunt each other from their respective sides of the screen. Only two players can play simultaneously, but matches are usually over quickly enough that a group of gamers can gather around and take turns.

As mentioned, the characters are super-deformed, meaning that they have large heads and cartoon-like visages. Half of the speech is in Japanese, but it hardly matters, because silliness is the key trait here. The game animates quickly and furiously. Sound effects are fun, particularly what the characters say. (Felicia's meow-isms always bring a grin.) The game also comes with lots of hidden characters and the ability to fine-tune your characters' colors and theme music, adding variety to a game that will already keep you entertained for days, weeks, or months.

An interesting aspect of this game that I've noticed is that it's very popular with female players. I wouldn't go so far as to credit that to the cutesy characters and bright colors, but perhaps it's the non-violent competition and the fact that the majority of the characters within the game are female. Regardless of your own gender or the gender of the people against whom you might play, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo should provide many hours of wacky fun and intense concentration. Even if this isn't your type of game, give it a rental, and maybe it will put a silly grin on your face.