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Kirby's Ghost Trap
(A Puyo in a Puyo is not the same as a Puyo in disguise.)
Puyo Puyo has been around almost as long as Tetris (first released for the Megadrive early in its life), although you've probably never heard the name before. This is because Puyo Puyo is a Japanese puzzle game which was never released here.
However, the game /has/ been redesigned, repackaged and released in the west under the name Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (on the Megadrive). Kirby's Ghost Trap is a similar retitling of a restructured version of Puyo Puyo.
///This is the basic idea of the game.
Coloured beans fall from the sky in groups of two. You can rotate and move these groups until they land at the bottom of the screen, whereupon another group starts falling.
If you manage to get 4 identically coloured beans to touch, they disappear.
Unlike columns, these groups of 4 don't need to be straight lines. They can be L-shaped or like steps, or even a 2x2 box. Just as long as each bean is connected horizontally or vertically - they just can't stretch far enough to connect diagonally.
(Of course, if they ate more pasta, that could have been solved, but never mind, eh?)
As always, making more than the minimum number disappear(combos), or making chain reactions (when after one group disappears, the falling beans form a new group which then disappear and so on) has great benefits. Both points-wise and in that it sends more obstacles to your opponent.
//Ghost beans
In this game, the obstacles come in the form of ghost beans. These are colourless, and whilst the cannot link with other beans and then disappear, if any bean touching them disappears, then so will they. This in fact opens the way for even more spectacular combos and chain reactions.
Generally though, they just get in your way, stopping you from triggering a chain reaction you had only just finished setting up.
///You may also want to know this stuff.
When Puyo Puyo was redesigned for the western Snes audience, Hal Labs included their little fat mascot: Kirby.
Whereas in the Japanese versions, you got a ninji jumping around between the 2 playing fields, giving you encouragement, now Kirby does the same job.
Unfortunately, whereas in Puyo Puyo you battled crying skeletons and fish heads with legs, you now fight the slightly more mundane cast of the Kirby games.
Kirby's game has a 1 player endless mode (which is a bit weak) and you can handicap a player on the versus mode. You can tinker with a few options such as sweat beads coming off the characters' pictures, but these aren't that important.
Oh, and the 1 player battle mode has a fair few difficulty levels, so everyone is catered for.
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how far I got: completed
the 1-player mode on Normal, tried the other 1-player
modes and played the 2-player modes with a few friends.
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rating : 45
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As some people may know, I like computer games.
My adoring fans who shout my name from the rooftops every night (and are also non-existent) will know that I specially like puzzle games.
The more observant will have noticed that I have a thing for the Snes.
Obviously, I prefer good games to bad ones, or even so-so ones. I like great games even more. It really goes without saying.
Kirby's Avalanche (aka Kirby's Ghost Trap) is a puzzle game on the Snes. And, being Puyo Puyo, it's a great game. I love it.
Playing against the computer will reveal how easy it is to complete groups of 4. HOwever, as with most games, the real challenge is to for combis and chain reactions.
You see, the reason why beans fall in groups of 2 and why you have so much freedom about how they can be placed and still disappear is to make chain reactions and combos an intellectual feasibility.
Unlike Columns, chain reactions and combos are planned rather than a sign of good fortune. Once you have a look at the examples, you'll soon get the hang of a simple chain reaction. This basically involves setting the beans up so that after one group disappears, the falling beans form a new group.
Soon, you'll be reeling them off with relish, watching as each of your brilliant chain reactions sends annoying ghost beans to your opponent's screen.
Also, since the groups don't need to be in a straight line, there should rarely be only one position you can put your bean in to complete the group. This mean that an accidental press on the control pad or a ghost bean in the wrong place will rarely turn the game.
Of course, as much fun as it is to beat all the computer opponents for the first time, the best way to play is against a human who is as good as yourself. The competitive juices get flowing and a good time is had by all.
In fact, the only real thing I would say against this game is that it doesn't have the mad characters and plot of the original Puyo Puyo. (Also, Puyo Puyo Remix 2 has a 4-player mode, but I've been looking for that for ages and still not found it, so you're as well getting this.)
However, if you want to play an English version of the game, then you'll have to put up with the absence of the great characters and just appreciate the fact that Kirby's Ghost Trap remains the only bean-centred puzzle game compatible with an unmodified British Snes.
True, on your own, it all starts to eventually get a little tiresome and will soon be relegated to wherever it is you keep your games. However, to dismiss Kirby's Ghost Trap because of that would be to miss the point.
This is quite possibly the bext 2-player puzzle game I know.
///It's a puzzle game. It's on the Snes. Being Puyo Puyo, it's even something that could be called great. I recommend it.
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