Approved [Guild Application] WGT Vol. 00 - Pilot - Puyo Puyo (1992)

[Wechseln]

(Arle Nadja, protagonist of the Puyo Puyo franchise art I made some time ago.)​

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Preface
This is a test run as I believe I can go deeper. I would like to make a full fledged article once I figure things out.
I wish to learn as much as possible and would like to receive criticism as to further improve.
I don't know a thing about writing this sort of stuff but I will do my best.
Without further ado.

Let's talk about Puyo Puyo (1992)​

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Puyo Puyo (1992) is an enhanced version of the 1991 MSX2 and Famicom Disk System game of the same name. Developed by Compile for the Sega System C-2 arcade hardware, it was later ported to a wide variety of consoles. In this case, I’ll be talking about the Mega Drive port, which is arcade-perfect in terms of gameplay, visuals, music, and most sound effects—with the exception of almost all the game’s voice work, due to hardware limitations.

Puyo Puyo went through hell and back to reach the West, only allowed to exist through cheap reskins for popular IPs. Puyo Puyo (1992) alone was only playable outside Japan through Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine and Kirby’s Avalanche.

This article would’ve been impossible without the amazing work of RadioTails and his team. Their fan translation is the definitive way to experience the game as it was meant to, and I can’t thank them enough for getting me into this franchise.

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And so, the game begins.
After an adorable title screen I won’t spoil, we find ourselves in the Select a Mode screen.
Story Mode is the main game mode, and the one I’ll be playing for this article.

The remaining options aren’t really worth talking about.​

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(Story Mode Screen.)

The lore of Puyo Puyo (1992) is pretty much nonexistent. Just a constant barrage of stage after stage until you reach the final boss, Satan. There are 3 game modes, but in reality, there are only 2.

Beginner consists of 3 stages. The enemy AI is a non-factor, and the game gives you hints throughout the match. As the icon shows, it's perfect for practice.

Now, Standard and Expert are literally the same. Both consist of a 13-stage course—the only real difference, as the numbers above the icons show, is where you start: Stage 1 in Standard, or Stage 4 in Expert.

For this article, we’ll go through Stage 1 of Standard Mode while we talk about the game mechanics.​

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Stage 1 - Draco Centauros
Every Stage begins with a short cutscene of banter between Arle and her rival.​

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Puyo Puyo (1992) is easy to learn but hard to master.

Puyo Puyo is a puzzle game, played on a board 12 tiles high and 6 tiles wide. Unlike modern Puyo Puyo games, 1992 uses five colour: Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, and Purple.

The middle screen shows our opponent—in this case, Draco Centauros. As seen on Draco’s screen to the left, Puyo pieces fall from the third-from-left column. Pieces always come in pairs, either the same colour or mixed. They fall at a set speed that varies according to the stage and the difficulty setting (The one in the Options Menu), but you can speed them up by pressing down on the D-pad. By default, pieces can be turned left with the A button and right with the B button but this can be changed too in the Options Menu.

The screen above Draco shows the piece that will come down next after the current one is placed, as you can see, both players play with the same randomized pieces so the game is always fair. The screen below shows our score and Arle's pal Carbuncle cheering us up.

Whenever 4 or more Puyo of the same colour come in contact with one another they get cleared. If Draco had the chance, she could move her current piece left and turn it twice, the Yellow Puyo would clear the yellow row and the Green Puyo attached to the piece would fall down and come in contact with the green row below clearing it too, this is a 2-Chain as two groups have been cleared with one single move. This simplicity is the brilliance of Puyo Puyo.

Whenever a group is cleared, Garbage Puyo (The Clear Puyo that can be seen above my pieces on the right) will be sent to the adversary in proportion to the size of the group cleared and the size of the chain, these Puyo are useless and a nuisance. Whenever a group is cleared all Garbage Puyo around in a one Puyo radius will be cleared too, this is the only way to get rid of them. Garbage Puyo are the entire Offensive Mechanic of Puyo Puyo.
The amount of Garbage Puyo that will be sent to each player board is represented by the icons on the top left and right of the screen, a succesful group clear will lead to a single Garbage Puyo, a 2-Chain will lead to a full row and a 3-Chain will lead to two full rows! As you can see on the right, a single Garbage Puyo will fall on my board into a random column.

Before this image was taken I cleared a 4-Chain, the red icon above Draco's board represents three full rows of Garbage Puyo. The game ends whenever the third-from-left column is filled and there is simply no chance for a comeback while buried alive in Garbage Puyo.

Stage One has been cleared.

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Puyo Puyo
Tetris rewards raw speed and reaction time, Puyo Puyo is all about planning and timing.
The usual match revolves around setting up the greatest chain possible while trying to interrupt our opponent's chain in every step of the way.
The pace is relentless and every single decision has to be made on the fly, even the largest chain can be stopped by a single well timed Garbage Puyo.
Through random, luck is not a factor. both players start with the same pieces and optimal play and skill alone decides the winner.

Puyo Puyo is not only a Puzzle Game.
it is a Fighting Game.

Thanks for Reading!​

 

[ATenderLad]

Writing aside, this is probably the most visually attractive guild application we've ever had. Getting those two images nice and level in the "And so the game begins" section using the horizontal line break is a *lot* smarter than the way I've done it.

(The writing is quite nice, too!)

 

[Somnia]

This is fantastic!!! Next-level formatting and super tight writing. I've always been such a Puyo casual but man oh man if this doesn't motivate me to boot a Puyo game up and get to practicing.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

This will certainly get approved, and deservedly so.

Good job!

 

[Spike's iconSpike]

Nice one, i've set you up. Welcome!

 

[Deleted member 13897]

Did you create this header as well?:

I enjoyed reading this, and your art is phenomenal as always. I’m a big fan

 

[Wechseln]

I really appreciate it! Yes, I needed something to break the article in half to make it more fun and accessible and came up with that header.
The hardest part was staying faithful to the original Puyo Pieces, I actually had to shape them in game myself and then draw them!

 

[happymasksalesman happymasksalesman]

Really good! Article!