Puyo Puyo Tetris (Switch) Review

I’ll admit, I was very curious about Puyo Puyo Tetris when I first heard about it, mainly because I had never heard of Puyo Puyo before. I would later find out that it was its own series, and that this game would combine the two puzzle games into one interesting experience. And let me tell you, this WAS an interesting…and fun…experience.

Game Name: Puyo Puyo Tetris
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch (Reviewed); PlayStation 4
Publisher(s): SEGA
Developer(s): SEGA
Release Date: April 25, 2017
Price: $39.99 USD

I feel it’s important to start off by saying that you will need some skill to beat this game. It’s not impossible to beat the main Adventure Mode if you don’t (more on that in a bit), but to truly enjoy the game, you will need some skill. I’m pretty good at Tetris myself (I had the original Game Boy version as a kid) but even I needed to take some time and re-learn some moves to advance in Puyo Puyo Tetris.

Which of course brings me to Puyo Puyo, which may be more familiar to American gamers as Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine or Kirby Avalanche. Puyo Puyo is a Japanese puzzle game that is similar to Tetris but has some key differences. Mainly, Puyo Puyo are alive, and you don’t need to connect them in a line to clear them. Instead, you just have to get four of them to connect in any fashion. Oh, and this is done via colors, so you have to watch out for that.

I’ll fully admit that I prefer Tetris to Puyo Puyo, but…I did get kind of good at it as time went on, found my own style, and I liked playing the various modes with them when I felt it was a good time to do so. Plus, the training/lessons mode is perfect to learn the Puyo Puyo and Tetris styles and learn new tips and tricks that’ll be immensely helpful as you go through the game.

For me, the main fun though was two-fold, there’s the Adventure Mode and the Online Mode. The Adventure mode was a quite fun way to kick off my Puyo Puyo Tetris experience, as it puts you in the shoes of Ringo, Tee, and their motley crew as they find their realms in danger from…you guessed it…Puyo Puyos and Tetriminos. Now, it’s clear that those who have played Puyo Puyo games in the past will get a lot of the references here, that being said, the game does a wonderful job of introducing everyone, their personalities, their dynamics, and more. And by the end of it, I was genuinely sad to see them go.

Oh, and the story is hilarious, as are the characters. It’s basically a mix of a Saturday morning cartoon and an anime in many aspects. Case and point…

The other great thing the Adventure Mode did was introduce all the ways the game could be played. Confused? Well, obviously, you’ll do Puyo Puyo Battles, Tetris Battles, and even Puyo Puyo VS. Tetris Battles and vice versa. BUT, there’s also Swap Battles, where you’ll start off in one style, then swap to the others. Or Fusion battles where you’ll control Tetris blocks and Puyo Puyo’s to battle your opponents. Oh, did I forget to mention that?

Yeah, while there are times when you play one of the two by yourself, the majority of time you will be facing a character or entity in a battle. Every time they create a chain, they’ll do a trick or technique to trip you up, and make it harder for you to win. You’ll need to stay calm and think clearly if you have any hopes of winning. Which, thankfully, brings me to the “Help Mode” feature. There are times when you will be given a seemingly impossible challenge, if you fail at that challenge in Adventure Mode more than three times, you can skip the level entirely. It’s a great idea, and you will likely use it more than once.

Moving on, Online Mode is surprisingly addicting. You’ll get to set up the region you’re playing it, select your character, your preferred item to use (Puyo Puyo or Tetris) and battle against another player. You can do it for fun, or for glory as you try and increase your ranks. In my first match, I actually played against someone in my very own state! It was really cool.

Obviously, there are a LOT of other modes. Ones where you can test your skill, see how good you are, or just have fun. There’s so much to do in the game that you’ll find yourself spending hours popping Puyo’s and clearing lines of Tetris blocks.

Now, there are some downsides. Again, you will need skill to play this game. And at times you’ll get frustrated because a wrong move (especially in Tetris mode) can totally screw you. But, it’s still a very fun game, and I’m so glad I got to play it. If you can’t tell already, I highly recommend Puyo Puyo Tetris. It’s a perfect game to play on the go and with friends, and the Nintendo Switch shows that off beautifully.

*Puyo Puyo Tetris was provided to us by SEGA of America for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please go review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy for more info.