This review is for the Mega Drive (Genesis) and Game Gear releases, which were both Japan-only. The Mega Drive version released in December 1992, while the Game Gear version came out in March 1993. If you insert a Japanese copy of the Game Gear game in a North American or European system, you can play the game in an unreleased English form titled "Puzlow Kids." This was likely not released because the game would later arrive re-skinned as "Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine" in 1993 to tie in with Sega's popular Sonic franchise. (Nintendo would eventually follow suit with "Kirby's Avalanche" on the SNES in 1995.)

In Puyo Puyo, you have a Tetris-like screen in which groups of two "puyo" blobs of various colors fall at a time. You rotate these puyo duos clockwise or counter-clockwise, and move them about the playing field as they fall. When four puyos of the same color connect with each other (vertically, horizontally, in a T shape, in an S shape, etc) they will disappear from the board. The goal of the game is to set up chains in which one set of four (or more) puyo will disappear, causing all the puyo above them to fall down in a way that will make another set of puyo disappear, and so on as many times as possible.

Learning to create chains takes a lot of time and practice, which makes Puyo Puyo more difficult to approach than games like Tetris. And though Puyo Puyo can be played single-player, it is definitely a two-player game at heart--and the franchise as a whole shines brightest as a fun and exciting multiplayer series. You see, when you create a chain of disappearing puyo, your opponent will have to deal with some number of colorless "garbage" puyo that can disrupt their own chains they are trying to set up.

The Mega Drive release is bright and colorful, and features easy-to-distinguish puyo blobs. The characters involved in the story mode were originally from an RPG series titled "Madou Monogatari." In Puyo Puyo they are depicted as cute chibi characters, clearly intended to poke fun at RPG fantasy tropes. The game as a whole is very lively and lighthearted, and its jovial tunes fit in with this perfectly.

The Game Gear release is presented in a much simpler fashion, as to be expected. The puyo blobs are all identical in this one, differentiated only by color. The story mode does not feature the silly cut scenes, and the music is of course much more basic. That said, Puyo Puyo was an excellent Game Gear answer to the Game Boy's Tetris, thanks to Sega's handheld featuring color. Unfortunately, multiplayer gameplay with handhelds was definitely cumbersome at the time, so it was perhaps too difficult for Puyo Puyo to thrive in that field.

That is where the game's single-player Quest Mode comes in. This constitutes a series of puzzles to solve, in which certain tasks are given (e.g. create a four-chain, make all the red puyos [AKA "p-kids"] disappear, etc). Generally you have to accomplish the task with specific sets of puyos that are doled out to you. This mode would prove popular enough in Japan to lead to three Game Gear titles specifically devoted to providing more such challenges.

All in all there is some great fun to be had with Puyo Puyo, but these days there are many better options to go with than the original. The sequel, Puyo Puyo Tsuu, would tweak the gameplay in small ways that would prove to be significant improvements. Later installments would likewise add new rules and features, the gameplay being spiced up in exciting ways even further once the Puyo Puyo Fever titles hit. If you own a PS4 or Switch, I would suggest picking up "Puyo Puyo Tetris," which includes both famous puzzle games, as well as several modes that manage to combine the two in clever and enjoyable ways. That game is also available in Japanese on other consoles such as the Vita and Xbox One.

If you are a fan of puzzle games at all, why not give Puyo Puyo a shot? Take your time with the series, because it's unlikely that everything will click for you right away. With enough practice, you should be able to start getting the hang of where to place puyo in ways that will lead to good chains--and that's when the game starts to get really fun. There is no other puzzle game series that I think can match Puyo Puyo in terms of frantic pacing, constant tension, and lively back-and-forth competition between friends.