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Compile's fabled puzzle game series hops to a new version changes not seen since the Sun Puyo was introduced on Saturn many moons ago. Puyo Puyo is no longer headlined by the affable munchkin known as Arle Arja but she's elsewhere in the game as a character actor. Her replacement is an equally effervescent blonde named Amitie who wears a Puyo hat atop her golden locks. Similar to Ms Arja's escapades, our heroine meets and competes against oddly appointed characters in games of puzzle matching action to determine winner and pecking order. Once the game begins, the familiar Puyos rain down in groups of two. The graphics are shinier than previous incarnations and each duo of Puyos bounce like buoyant jelly once they hit the ground. New shapes include elbow Puyos, teardrop Puyos, yin/yang Puyos and big Puyos which both break up into 4 separate Puyos once they hit the ground. Sprightly sound effects and yelping voices also accompany the visual bounces for that immersive experience. On each player's gaming area, background graphics splash a little bit of color and substance to the visual simplicity. Puyo Puyo Fever adds an aptly named Fever Meter to the game which lies to the side of each gamer's window. It's made up of 7 circles which measure your Fever level and one starts filling up the Fever by offsetting your opponent's combo attacks where little transparent Puyos line up on the top portion of the screen. Set off your own combos when the meter is full and shining like a beacon and you'll see a bunch of 3-D effects on your side of the screen as the Puyo stacks move around in a cinematic circus show. The camera will zoom in on the Puyos and show them being popped in 3-D isometric action. Linking a number of combos together will throw down a commensurate amount of transparent Puyos on your opponent which blocks its color matching capabilities. Create a mega-chain of at least 5 linked Puyo pops and you'll potentially squash a big transparent Puyo on your opponent which takes up the space of four regular Puyos. New opponents in the game include Klug, Rider, Oshareborns and Frankensteins. That's not a typo. Frankensteins shows up as a true challenger on stage 6 and is a duo. There's big Frankenstein and baby Frankenstein who sits in a 2-wheeled wheelbarrow... You know you're in trouble when you hear big Frankenstein grunting because mass combos are being chained on his side and a rain of hurt is about to land on your side. Should you be good enough to beat Frankensteins, a familiar face shows up on the 7th stage - Arle Arja. Classic Puyo Puyo music plays on her stage and she yelps "Fire" and other sayings as she whups on your Puyo skills. View the back cover.
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