This is a review which I typically don’t do with… anime graphics like these. But due to it being part of the Capcom Fighting Collection and it’s a game I got hooked on, I mean it was going to happen eventually. This game is by no means new or recent in terms of release date but it holds up even today. Back when it was an arcade game for the CPS2 and a parody of its own series, this spin off is not a cash guzzler like you think it might be. This is Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo for the CPSII. Epilepsy Warning though!

Graphics: 8
Graphics are chibi like. That’s it, nothing else. Kidding but the game itself parodies the fighters as small deformed versions of themselves looking so cute and adorable with the graphics reminiscent of their Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Darkstalkers Counterparts (With a hidden character from the Cyberbots series. No review for that until I beat the game). The game is very colorful and flashy just popping out of the screen. Everything is in line but one thing you have to get used to is the interlaced lines at times. Overall I think the graphics pretty well done and cute. The stages, at times being covered by the gameplay, represents well from their main line counterparts and have such beautiful scenery.

Sound: 8
The music derives from Street Alpha and Dark stalkers series but again wait? They’re cute versions of themselves. The sounds are based on the characters you choose and again, well represented in terms of their main line counterparts. Sounds so sound a bit muffled when characters speaks and the sound effects try their best to sound either chibi like or comical. Either way it’s not an ear sore and you will enjoy listening to it.

Addictive: 9
Puzzle fans rejoice! This game is all about puzzles, similar to tetris attack or puyo puyo. If you’re a huge puzzle fan you’ll be hook on this for hours on end, especially against people either together or online (capcom fighting collection or mame). The game’s visuals and funny gags at the end is also entertaining and the game itself doesn’t take too seriously to the product which I love. Overall puzzle chibi nerds who like the lighter side of fighting games, this gets you.

Story: N/A
On arcade there’s really no story at all. Just choose a character and play with your heart’s content

Depth: 7
The game doesn’t have much content… well just give it a quarter, but the characters have their own style of play and animations which gives it some replay value.

With this game you are playing against the opponent using “gems” in a tetris like enclosure (12x6 columns with the 4th column being 13 spaces high. The 13th being the entrance of your gems) and the goal is to fill up the opponent’s play area until their opening gets blocked by losing space or a block covering the entrance. These gems vary in color and only they can be destroyed by a special gem that looks like a flame. The gems are: Red, Yellow, Green, Blue. Sounds similar to puyo puyo right? Somewhat but their is another gem that looks like a Diamond. When placed, whatever gem is underneath the Diamond destroys every same color gem. But how can one win though? With these gems disappearing a timer block is thrown at the opponent and within five turns it becomes a block of its respected color the number is coated. By this is can either help or hinder an opponent depending how well their skill is. To give an opponent a run of their money one can also create a “Super Gem”. A gem made by 2x2 or more gems to create a larger gem which when broken can great more timer bombs hurled at the opponent. This method is a bit more risky but the pay of is better, especially when chained into combos destroying more gems in succession multiplying the damage to the opponent, which in result creates your character preform special moves to the opponent. This is all for show but it’s so cute and adorable how they do it.

Each character has a special variant of placing these timer bombs. Like Ryu and his gems going vertically in a uniform manner each column. (Red, Green,Blue, Yellow, Red, Green), Ken with his timer gems go horizontally but in a uniform manner also (Red on first with green stacked, then blue and yellow last), or even even Donovan from Darkstalkers having a variation of diagonal and horizontals, it’ll keep you on your feet to strategically win each round against opponents. As you progress through the stages you will meet the final boss. He’s one of the best in the game and his name is DAN! Kidding he gets kicked out and akuma will be the final boss with his gems being random where you have to endure a difficult battle to win. All in all with 8 characters (Ryu, Ken, Chun Li, and sakura part of the street fighter series. Felicia, Donovan, Morrigan and Hsien-Ko as part of the Darkstalkers. and three secret ones (Dan, Akuma and Devilotte are secret characters with Devilotte being part of the Cyberbots series), this game is quite interesting with its depth of characters. A simple concept with puzzles with a fighting twist.

Difficulty: 8
The game offers three sets of difficulty. Easy grants 3 matches. Normal is granted with 8 and opponents are more savvy with their block placements. Hard is also 8 matches with opponents not holding back and a quarter guzzler. It’s easy to pick up but it does require skill. Online you have to be very good and learn each character’s strengths and counters if you want to win against some of these people since most of the times they’re pretty skilled in this game. This isn’t a cakewalk in terms of online play and hard difficulty yet it’s very adaptable and enjoyable to play in the end.

Overall the game is a nice switch to the street fighter formula and dark stalkers and to see them all cutesy and adorable you think this game would’ve gotten more recognition in its hey day. It didn’t but like gems, this became a cult classic and a worthy one to play if you’re into puzzles and capcom fighting games.

Overall: 8
My rating: 8