Puyo Puyo 2

The Puyo Puyo puzzle design first came to American home consoles in two forms – as Kirby's Avalanche for the SNES, and as Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine for the Genesis. Both of those versions are available for download on the Virtual Console, and both are solid editions of the standard Puyo Puyo gameplay. But if you can handle investing an extra 100 Wii Points and don't mind the fact that this version's still completely presented in Japanese, then Puyo Puyo 2: Tsuu is a more balanced, robust and impressive offering. Kirby and Robotnik were good, but Tsuu is a bit better – and it's Tsuu's version of the Puyo design that has been utilized ever since its original release, in those more recent editions of the game that have managed to make the jump to domestic shores. Puzzle fans, give this one a look. It's the exception to the rule that all puzzler sequels are worse than their predecessors.

As in all great puzzle games, you play it so much you will see Puyos stacked up in front of your eyes when you are going to sleep. It is really that fun to play, especially if you have a friend. Two players can play against each other for hours without boredom. In single player, there are some flaws though. The difficulty feels a little unbalanced. Some opponents on level two and three feel impossible compared to those on level six who can be defeated very easily sometimes. Opponents also seem to forget that if column three is filled, they die. So you get quite a few cheap wins here and there. Other than that, it's just a shame Puyo Puyo Tsu wasn't released in the west. It is very cheap, easy to get and probably the best puzzler on the system, so you can't go wrong here.

Puyo Puyo 2 was ported to 12 different formats in total and the Megadrive/Genesis version is widely regarded as one of the finest. If you’re a puzzle game fanatic, then chances are our recommendation won’t change what you already know – this is classic stuff. If you downloaded Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine and crave a more balanced and enjoyable experience then you really should purchase this as soon as possible. It’s just a shame that the single player aspect isn’t quite as essential, but you can’t have everything!