Tetris spawned many clones and Puyo Puyo is one of the more worthy derivatives from the whole puzzle craze that started in the early 80s. Compile first released Puyo Puyo on the Mega-Drive and it exemplified all that was good in a game: sharp graphics and great gameplay that not only got you addicted but gave you a sense of mission to defeat your Puyo adversary. The concept was simple yet excrutiatingly difficult to master. Once you did master it however, variables such as your opponent building combinations faster than you would destroy your best laid-out plans. Quick thinking and reflexes are required to become a master at PP if you are to match your opponent combo for combo. Puyo Puyo is a simple beast to play; colored jellied spheres fall from the sky in pairs and your goal is to match them up so that four of the same colored jellies lie in contact with each other. Once they have made contact, they will explode and leave the spheres that are above them free to tumble down. You are not alone in your color matching endeavor however as an opponent is also making contact groups of jellies. Every time a group of jellies explode, a transparent jelly will fall in your opponent's playfield. This jelly should be considered your arch enemy as well as your best friend as it will take a jelly explosion to remove it. Otherwise, it is an intrusive, obstructive blob that will sit there and any plans that you or your opponent have in setting up color matches will be hindered by it. Removing them as soon as they descend will leave you with a lot less to worry about as you go into a heavy session with a staunch opponent. Puyo Puyo also gives the adept player a secret weapon: the chain reaction. This is when you set up the piles of jellies in such a way that one color combination will lead to multiple combinations as the same jellies find themselves united and explode one after the other. This will cause an avalanche of transparent jellies to hammer down on your opponent and with any luck, you'll be able to suffocate him and head off to the next arena of battle. Puyo Puyo 2 on the Playstation features more of the same and is the exact game that is found on the SFC and the Saturn. A new element in PP2 is the double transparent blob. It is a wicked thing as it can withstand one color explosion; it'll take two color combinations to vaporize it. This adds a new, frustrating angle to this very addictive puzzle game. Compile has added an option where you can watch matches between experts at the game at some sort of competition; this was extremely fun to watch and enlightening as well because the construction skills used by some of the players are well managed and very efficient. Its both a learning tool and an entertaining diversion on this latest Puyo Puyo disc.

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