Review
Release Date: Summer.2007
Platform:
Xbox Live ArcadeDeveloper:
Backbone EntertainmentPublisher:
Capcom USA, Inc.Reviewed by
Justin Fassino on 11.27.2007
| Review Rating: 8/10 | User Rating: 8/10 |
Among the pantheon of puzzle games is
Capcom's block-dropper that features chibi
Street Fighter and
Darkstalkers characters battling it out between two gem bins. It's not exactly the most traditional of battles, but it's outrageously fun nonetheless. Even better is the decision to release the newest version,
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, as a downloadable game for the Xbox Live Arcade (and PlayStation Network); this game was meant to be played online.
Puzzle Fighter II HD is actually three different games in one digitally distributed package. There's the classic mode that experienced players know and love, and it's split into two different types: X and X`. X is the original, unaltered arcade game from the 90s while X` is a newly rebalanced mode that gets rid of overpowered attributes on certain characters (for example, Akuma takes more "damage" than he did before to compensate for his hard-to-defend drop pattern). Hardcore purists will prefer X while X` evens the playing field for even the most inexperienced puzzle combatant.
The basic premise of the X modes is simple: pairs of connected blocks fall from the top of the bin in different colors. Stack gems of the same color together, and then connect them to a like-colored crash gem to destroy them all. Bigger chains and attacks result in more trash blocks dropped on your opponent and vice versa. The player whose bin fills to the top first loses. It's deceptively simple in theory, but each character has their own drop pattern that dictates what color and pattern of trash blocks fall on their foe in addition to defense and attack statistics that cause more or less gems to rain down.
The other modes are called Y and Z. Y mode plays like
Columns: line up three or more like-colored gems in a row or diagonally to destroy them. There are no crash gems, so it's all up to building skillfully. Z mode is much different; instead of two blocks falling, it's a square of two blocks by two blocks. The cube is able to be rotated and moved as it falls, and the goal is to create two-by-two squares of one color to destroy them as blocks rise from the floor. Z mode is perhaps the most awkward and difficult to grasp, but it's nice that the choice is there; most players online stick to the X modes anyway.
With a subtitle like "HD Remix", it's important to talk graphics, and to that end
Puzzle Fighter HD delivers...almost. Every asset has been upgraded to run in full high-definition and 16:9 widescreen. The gems look crystal clear, and the team at Capcom even added new elemental effects and sounds for destroyed gems (red gems explode in fire while blue gems turn to water, for example). The menus are all simple to navigate and the remixed musical tunes sound great. Unfortunately, the one aspect of the game that didn't get the upgrade treatment is probably the most important: the character sprites that duel in the center of the gem bins. They are larger, but are simply upscaled from their native resolution, which means they are pixelated and blurry. It wouldn't be such an eyesore if everything else wasn't in HD, but when everything on-screen is so vibrant and sharp, the sprites stand out that much more.
Online play in
Puzzle Fighter HD is great: two players can battle it out as many times as they want, but up to four people can be in a room at any one time. Two players will go at it while the other two watch, and then the winner stays on and one of the queued spectators takes their turn. Everyone can see the match going on, so the system really lends a "quarter-on-the-cabinet" arcade feel to the proceedings, and it's something more downloadable online games should start doing.
The only other issue that someone in their infinite wisdom decided to implement is voice chat: instead of a free open channel to the other players, you'll be required to hold down a trigger for the duration of the time you want to say something. Not only does this make chatting clumsy and unreliable, especially if you want to talk trash during a game, it makes things doubly frustrating when you forget to hold the trigger down and say something only to get no response, since the person you're talking to didn't hear you. It's a poor design choice that should have been caught in development; luckily it's just a pain and doesn't ruin the game.
For fans of puzzle games or Capcom titles,
Puzzle Fighter HD is the best of both worlds. It's addictive, rowdy, and fun as all get-out. Some presentational quibbles mar what is otherwise the best version of this game ever released.
