Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
Encyclopedia
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, released in Japan
as and commonly referred to as Puzzle Fighter, is a one or two player puzzle game first released in the spring of 1996 by Capcom
on the CPS II arcade system. The games title is a parody of Super Street Fighter II Turbo
(or Super Street Fighter II X in Japan), with music and interface elements spoofing the Street Fighter Alpha and Darkstalkers games.
A HD
-remake version titled Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, is available for purchase on Microsoft
's Xbox Live Arcade
and Sony
's Playstation Network.
. As in that game, the player controls pairs of blocks ("gems" in game parlance) that drop into a pit-like playfield (twelve blocks tall by six blocks wide, with the fourth column from the left being thirteen blocks high). In Puzzle Fighter, however, gems can only be eliminated by coming into contact with a Crash Gem of the same color, which eliminates all adjacent gems of that color, setting up the potential for huge chain reaction
s. As gems are eliminated, "garbage blocks" called Counter Gems will drop into the opponent's playfield; these will eventually become normal gems, but only after they count down to zero (most Counter Gems start at "5" and are reduced by one each time a new pair of gems is dropped on that board), and until that time they cannot be eliminated by normal means. (The only way to eliminate Counter Gems before they become normal gems is to place a Crash Gem of that color nearby so it eliminates at least one normal gem. If this is done, all Counter Gems immediately adjacent to the Crash Gem will be taken out as well). Additionally, gems of the same color that form squares
or rectangle
s (of at least two blocks tall and wide) in the pit become a giant Power Gem of that size and color; eliminating these as part of a combo increases the number of Counter Gems that would otherwise normally appear on the opponent's board. The only other type of piece to appear is a diamond
, which eliminates all the gems—normal, Power, Counter, and Crash alike—of whichever color gem it lands on. (This, too, will cause Counter Gems to appear on the opponent's board. The diamond is supposed to create half the number of Counter Gems as a normal chain reaction. However, there is a bug that allows players to bypass this reduction.). The diamond piece appears every 25 pieces.
During the game, super deformed
versions of various characters from Capcom's two main fighting game series (Street Fighter and Darkstalkers), will act out a comical battle based on how the game is going. Every time one player sends Counter Gems to his or her opponent, his or her character will perform a typical fighting-game action, anything from a taunt to a special move. The more Counter Gems the player sends over, the "bigger" the move the character will perform. These animations, however, are purely cosmetic and have no actual bearing on the gameplay(other than to indicate the magnitude of the counters).
The game continues until one player's field reaches the top of its fourth column (which is where all new gems first appear). That player is the loser.
HD Remix was announced to include several graphical upgrades in the interface, character sprites, levels, and endings, as well as the three gameplay modes included in the Dreamcast version; X-Mode, Y-Mode, and Z-Mode. Whereas X-mode is more of a rebalanced version of the core game, Y-Mode and Z-Mode have more drastic gameplay changes. Y-Mode makes the gems break as soon as three or more are aligned in a row, column, or diagonally, like in Columns
, whereas Z-mode makes lines of gems rise up from the bottom of the screen, and the player controls a 2x2 square cursor, with which he rotates already-placed pieces, similarly to Tetris Attack
.
' s initial release. A fighting game using these character sprites called Pocket Fighter was released in 1997.
in the Puzzle Fighter franchise for PlayStation 3
(via PlayStation Network) and Xbox 360
(via Xbox Live Arcade
). HD Remix was announced to include several graphical upgrades in the interface, character sprites, and levels.
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo: HD Remix has updated high-definition graphics. Each of the four colours of the gems have been associated with an element and given a new animation. Backgrounds and characters have also been redrawn, while the character sprites
have been run through a bilinear filter.
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix supports 4 player in multiplayer, spectator mode, online play and rankings. Also featured are the three gameplay modes included in the Dreamcast version: X-Mode, Y-Mode, and Z-Mode, and an additional X' ("X dash") Mode. Whereas X'-mode is a rebalanced version of the core game (X-mode), Y-Mode and Z-Mode have more drastic gameplay changes. Y-Mode makes the gems break as soon as three or more are aligned in a row, column, or diagonally. Z-mode makes lines of gems rise up from the bottom of the screen, and the player controls a 2x2 square cursor, which rotates already-placed pieces, similar to Ultimate Block Party
.
Mortal Kombat: Deception
contains a puzzle minigame
called Puzzle Kombat that has essentially the same gameplay as Super Puzzle Fighter and which also makes use of superdeformed chibi character models. Konami is also releasing the iPhone
game Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night
with similar, if slightly modified gameplay using characters and settings from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
as and commonly referred to as Puzzle Fighter, is a one or two player puzzle game first released in the spring of 1996 by Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
on the CPS II arcade system. The games title is a parody of Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Super Street Fighter II Turbo, released in Japan as , is a competitive fighting game released for the arcades by Capcom in . It is the fifth arcade installment in the Street Fighter II sub-series of Street Fighter games, following Super Street Fighter II...
(or Super Street Fighter II X in Japan), with music and interface elements spoofing the Street Fighter Alpha and Darkstalkers games.
A HD
High-definition video
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
-remake version titled Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, is available for purchase on Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
's Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
and Sony
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
's Playstation Network.
Gameplay
Puzzle Fighter is a puzzle game which is inspired by the Capcom arcade game Pnickies and Sega arcade game Baku Baku AnimalBaku Baku Animal
Baku Baku Animal is a falling block puzzle arcade game released by Sega in 1995.-Gameplay:The player must line up falling blocks of animals and foodstuffs. When an animal is aligned adjacent to a tile of its favoured food, the animal eats the food...
. As in that game, the player controls pairs of blocks ("gems" in game parlance) that drop into a pit-like playfield (twelve blocks tall by six blocks wide, with the fourth column from the left being thirteen blocks high). In Puzzle Fighter, however, gems can only be eliminated by coming into contact with a Crash Gem of the same color, which eliminates all adjacent gems of that color, setting up the potential for huge chain reaction
Chain reaction
A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events....
s. As gems are eliminated, "garbage blocks" called Counter Gems will drop into the opponent's playfield; these will eventually become normal gems, but only after they count down to zero (most Counter Gems start at "5" and are reduced by one each time a new pair of gems is dropped on that board), and until that time they cannot be eliminated by normal means. (The only way to eliminate Counter Gems before they become normal gems is to place a Crash Gem of that color nearby so it eliminates at least one normal gem. If this is done, all Counter Gems immediately adjacent to the Crash Gem will be taken out as well). Additionally, gems of the same color that form squares
Square (geometry)
In geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral. This means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles...
or rectangle
Rectangle
In Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is any quadrilateral with four right angles. The term "oblong" is occasionally used to refer to a non-square rectangle...
s (of at least two blocks tall and wide) in the pit become a giant Power Gem of that size and color; eliminating these as part of a combo increases the number of Counter Gems that would otherwise normally appear on the opponent's board. The only other type of piece to appear is a diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
, which eliminates all the gems—normal, Power, Counter, and Crash alike—of whichever color gem it lands on. (This, too, will cause Counter Gems to appear on the opponent's board. The diamond is supposed to create half the number of Counter Gems as a normal chain reaction. However, there is a bug that allows players to bypass this reduction.). The diamond piece appears every 25 pieces.
During the game, super deformed
Super deformed
Super deformed or SD is a specific style of Japanese caricature where characters are drawn in an exaggerated way, typically small and chubby, with stubby limbs and oversized heads, to make them resemble small children...
versions of various characters from Capcom's two main fighting game series (Street Fighter and Darkstalkers), will act out a comical battle based on how the game is going. Every time one player sends Counter Gems to his or her opponent, his or her character will perform a typical fighting-game action, anything from a taunt to a special move. The more Counter Gems the player sends over, the "bigger" the move the character will perform. These animations, however, are purely cosmetic and have no actual bearing on the gameplay(other than to indicate the magnitude of the counters).
The game continues until one player's field reaches the top of its fourth column (which is where all new gems first appear). That player is the loser.
HD Remix was announced to include several graphical upgrades in the interface, character sprites, levels, and endings, as well as the three gameplay modes included in the Dreamcast version; X-Mode, Y-Mode, and Z-Mode. Whereas X-mode is more of a rebalanced version of the core game, Y-Mode and Z-Mode have more drastic gameplay changes. Y-Mode makes the gems break as soon as three or more are aligned in a row, column, or diagonally, like in Columns
Columns (video game)
is a puzzle video game, first created in 1989 by Jay Geertsen. Early versions of the game were made and ported among early computer platforms, and then the Atari ST, until 1990, when Jay Geertsen sold the rights to Sega, where it was ported to several Sega consoles.-Description:The game takes...
, whereas Z-mode makes lines of gems rise up from the bottom of the screen, and the player controls a 2x2 square cursor, with which he rotates already-placed pieces, similarly to Tetris Attack
Tetris Attack
Tetris Attack is a puzzle video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System home video game console and Game Boy handheld game console...
.
Characters
As noted above, all of the playable characters in Puzzle Fighter (with one exception) are borrowed from Capcom's two major fighting game series, Street Fighter and Darkstalkers. The super deformed take on these characters gave the game a unique, light-hearted feel, a break from the rough and edgy fighting games that were prevalent at the time of Puzzle Fighter- RyuRyu (Street Fighter)is a video game player character created by Capcom, the main protagonist of the Street Fighter series. Having premiered in the first Street Fighter in 1987, Ryu appears as the lead character from the game along with his best friend Ken Masters participating in the Street Fighter tournament...
(Street Fighter) - KenKen Masters, originally spelled in Japanese as , is a video game character created by Capcom. As a main character, he has appeared in all of the Street Fighter games along with his best friend and rival, Ryu...
(Street Fighter) - Chun-LiChun-Liis a video game character produced by Capcom. First introduced in Street Fighter II, she has since appeared as a player character in nearly all subsequent games....
(Street Fighter IIStreet Fighter IIis a competitive fighting game originally released for the arcades in . It is the arcade sequel to the original Street Fighter released in and was Capcom's fourteenth title that ran on the CP System arcade hardware...
) - SakuraSakura Kasuganois a player character in the Street Fighter series of fighting games. Sakura is portrayed in the series as a young Japanese schoolgirl who idolizes Ryu, whom she wants to be trained by.-In video games:...
(Street Fighter Alpha 2Street Fighter Alpha 2Street Fighter Alpha 2, known as in Japan, Asia and South America, is a fighting game originally released for the CPS II arcade hardware by Capcom. The game is both a sequel and a remake to the previous years Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams, which is itself a prequel to the Street Fighter...
) - MorriganMorrigan Aenslandis a video game character from the Darkstalkers series of fighting games developed by Capcom. She is voiced by Yayoi Jinguji in many of her video game appearances, except in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds where she was voiced by Rie Tanaka....
(Darkstalkers) - Donovan (Night Warriors)
- Hsien-Ko (Night Warriors)
- FeliciaFelicia (Darkstalkers)is a fictional character in the Darkstalkers series of fighting game by Capcom She first appeared in the 1994 game Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors and its subsequent sequels, later appearing in other Capcom games outside of the Darkstalkers series and related media and merchandise.-Conception and...
(Darkstalkers)
Hidden characters
- AkumaAkuma (Street Fighter)Akuma known in Japan as , is a video game character from the Street Fighter series of fighting games. Akuma made his debut in Super Street Fighter II Turbo as a secret character and hidden boss. In the storyline of the Street Fighter video games, he is the younger brother of Gouken, Ryu and Ken's...
(Super Street Fighter II TurboSuper Street Fighter II TurboSuper Street Fighter II Turbo, released in Japan as , is a competitive fighting game released for the arcades by Capcom in . It is the fifth arcade installment in the Street Fighter II sub-series of Street Fighter games, following Super Street Fighter II...
) - DanDan Hibikiis a video game character from Capcom's Street Fighter series of fighting games. Introduced in Street Fighter Alpha, Dan is consistently portrayed as an arrogant, overconfident, yet utterly feeble character.-Concept and creation:...
(Street Fighter Alpha) - Devilot (Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness)
- Mei-ling (Hsien-Ko's twin sister who is actually the talisman on her hat) (console only)
- Anita (A young girl who accompanies Donovan where ever he goes) (console only)
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is a downloadable gameGame
A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements...
in the Puzzle Fighter franchise for PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
(via PlayStation Network) and Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
(via Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
). HD Remix was announced to include several graphical upgrades in the interface, character sprites, and levels.
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo: HD Remix has updated high-definition graphics. Each of the four colours of the gems have been associated with an element and given a new animation. Backgrounds and characters have also been redrawn, while the character sprites
Sprite (computer graphics)
In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...
have been run through a bilinear filter.
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix supports 4 player in multiplayer, spectator mode, online play and rankings. Also featured are the three gameplay modes included in the Dreamcast version: X-Mode, Y-Mode, and Z-Mode, and an additional X' ("X dash") Mode. Whereas X'-mode is a rebalanced version of the core game (X-mode), Y-Mode and Z-Mode have more drastic gameplay changes. Y-Mode makes the gems break as soon as three or more are aligned in a row, column, or diagonally. Z-mode makes lines of gems rise up from the bottom of the screen, and the player controls a 2x2 square cursor, which rotates already-placed pieces, similar to Ultimate Block Party
Ultimate Block Party
Ultimate Block Party is a puzzle game series where blocks must be cleared. Every so often new rows of blocks will push up the current ones. Not clearing enough within a set time limit will force the blocks to the top of the screen, where the player will lose. Blocks can be cleared if at least four...
.
Changes from the original
- Several characters were rebalanced by having their gem drop patterns altered.
- Crash Gems now have elemental visual effects associated with them. Red gems are now Fire, Green gems are Wind, Blue gems are Water, and Yellow gems are Lightning. This does not affect gameplay and is purely a visual alteration.
- In the original Puzzle Fighter, the tempo of the music would gradually speed up the closer the player or their opponent was to losing the match. HD Remix does not feature this.
- In addition to the standard difficulty selection (Easy, Normal, and Hard), home console ports of Puzzle Fighter let the player alter the default speed in which gems would fall (marked by a number of stars up to five). This setting was removed for HD Remix.
- A challenge mode called "Street Puzzle" was available in the original home console ports of Puzzle Fighter. In it, the player was tasked with defeating specific characters as a means to unlock bonus content. HD Remix removes "Street Puzzle" mode entirely, as well as most of the bonus content it would unlock. What little bonus content was not cut from HD Remix is available from the beginning of the game.
- Dan's "Saikyo-Ryu Dojo" Tutorial has been removed, which was an attract demo in the arcade version and a tutorial mode accessible from the main menu in previous home releases. In it, Dan would provide a comedic demonstration to show the player the basics of playing Puzzle Fighter. In HD Remix, it has been replaced with a four page text-only tutorial under "How to Play" in Options.
- The original Puzzle Fighter contained a number of different "Win Taunts" that a character would pick at random to say to the losing player after a match. HD Remix removes most of the "Win Taunts", leaving only one per character.
- There are a number of palette errors in the sprites themselves. For example, during the Intermission featuring Akuma in his cave, all of the demons in the background have garbled colors.
- The "diamond trick" glitch has been eliminated. Attacks using the diamond are always at 80% strength instead of 50% (used normally) or 100% (using a glitch).
Influence
The fighting gameFighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
Mortal Kombat: Deception
Mortal Kombat: Deception
Mortal Kombat: Deception is a fighting game developed and published by Midway as the sixth installment for the Mortal Kombat series. It was released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in October 2004, while a Nintendo GameCube version was published in March 2005. Mortal Kombat: Deception follows the...
contains a puzzle minigame
Minigame
A minigame is a short video game often contained within another video game. A minigame is always smaller or more simplistic than the game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game...
called Puzzle Kombat that has essentially the same gameplay as Super Puzzle Fighter and which also makes use of superdeformed chibi character models. Konami is also releasing the iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
game Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night
Castlevania
Castlevania, known as in Japan, is a video game series created and developed by Konami. The series debuted in Japan on September 26, 1986, with the release of for the Family Computer Disk System , followed by an alternate version for the MSX 2 platform on October 30...
with similar, if slightly modified gameplay using characters and settings from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, known in Japan as , is an action-adventure game developed and published by Konami in 1997. It is the 14th installment of the Castlevania series, the first installment released for the PlayStation, and a direct sequel to Castlevania: Rondo of Blood.Symphony of the...
.