"Don't tell me you only play fighting games!"
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo actually isn't a sequel, but just a hilarious title for Capcom's wonderful little puzzle game. It's basically the same game released for the arcade, PlayStation, and Saturn. However, SPF2 is quite well suited to be a portable time-waster and looks nice on the GBA as well.
Need an explanation of the game? Two players (or human vs. CPU) battle by dropping and destroying chains of gems and Power Gems with special Crash Gems. To create a Power Gem, same-color gems must be connected in a rectangular shape. The bigger the gem, the more Counter Gems fall into the opponent's field. If you like the devious combos of Puyo-Puyo, you'll dig this game, too.
Each character has different patterns of gems that they drop on their opponent. Timing and strategy will help you use them to their fullest. Characters have their classic theme music and well-known taunts. And they're soooooooooo cute!
Here's the roster:
- Ryu
- Ken
- Chun Li
- Sakura
- Donovan
- Morrigan
- Hsien-Ko
- Felicia
...and three kickin' rad secret characters:
- Dan (the man!) Hibiki
- Akuma
- Devilot
The GBA version also has a whole mess of game modes:
ARCADE MODE - Beat a series of computer opponents
STREET PUZZLE - Earn Goodies by winning matches
VERSUS MODE - Play against a friend on the same GBA by sharing the controls
LINK BATTLE - Play against a friend with a link cable (you need two cartridges)
MASTER ARCADE - Extra difficult arcade mode
GOODIES - Check out the unlocked stuff earned in Street Puzzle mode
TRAINING DEMO - Dan (the man!) demonstrates how to play
OPTION - Difficulty, game speed, damage, and sound and music volume
The Street Puzzle mode is too cool; there are 48 specific match-ups, which are useful for learning about the advantages and disadvantages of each character's drop patterns. There's also something unlocked for each of the 48 match-ups completed. It's challenging and takes a fair bit of time to complete.
Versus Mode needs a little explaining; Player 1 uses the control pad to move gems and the L button to drop. Player 2 uses A and B to move gems, and R to drop. It works, sort of... but playing Link Battle is preferable.
The unlocks are fun, too. New colors, win icons, and sound tests can be unlocked for each character. You can even unlock the original vocal song, "I Want You To Know." There's also a collection of the wacky intermission scenes, and the three crazy secret characters.
Super Puzzle Fighter II is a fine puzzle game by itself, but the people who will really like it are the ones who appreciate things like Dan Hibiki's crazy shenanigans or win quotes like, "Don't you recognize me? Cyberbots is Capcom's #1 game!"