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  • If youve watched my coverage of Puyo Pop Fever for the Gamecube, the weird slime-annihilating

  • puzzlefest that somehow got Sega and Atlus in bed together, then the chances are youre

  • already familiar enough with the concept. But this DS version puts the heralded puzzle

  • action into your pocket, where the best puzzle action belongs. Like I.Q. Mania on the PSP,

  • which we never got here in the States, and I’M TOTALLY NOT BITTER. But anyway. Some

  • have expressed that the weird sideways panning and strange camera effects of the GameCube

  • version rubbed them the wrong way. Well, this DS outing can’t be arsed. Sure, theSet

  • em up and knockem downFever mode remains, but without the nausea-inducing visual

  • effects. Seriously. It was like Puyo Puyo meets Laugh-In.

  • The Puyo Pop Fever spread to most consoles in Japan and Europe, while here in the States

  • we only got the GameCube and this DS version. That said, this portable offering serves up

  • pretty much everything its console cousin did: Story modes of varying difficulties,

  • mission mode, fever mode, a classic endless mode, and... a shrill girl in a giant Puyo-shaped

  • hat who keeps exclaiming that things areWICKEDlike she’s at a Pats game. Rather unfortunately,

  • her vocal performance - as well as the voices of everyone else she happens to run into while

  • enacting her cute, slimy kill-wish - are included, so you might want to turn the audio down if

  • you don’t want to constantly have your ears blown out by... well, this.

  • But audio inconvenience be damned, it’s still a portable Puyo and it’s still an

  • entertaining game. This is one of those evergreen puzzle series, that with just a new coat of

  • paint is ready to go for a new generation, because the mechanics are, were, and will

  • continue to be tight and sound. But what the DS adds is - Say it with me - DOWNLOAD PLAY.

  • Yes, the most awesome part of the DS. You can broadcast the download to your nearby

  • friends, and not have to worry about not having enough GameCube controllers. It’s a boon

  • to any puzzle game like this, and really it’s the only thing that the DS offers the Puyo

  • experience. Throughout most of the game, the bottom screen just shows the faces of the

  • characters involved, or maybe some statistical information if youre doing a challenge

  • mode. All the action takes place up top, preventing a split through the middle of the playfield

  • like Mr. Driller inflicted. So put on a podcast or two, turn down the sound, and keep your

  • eyes on the next puyos to fall, because I got a fever, and the prescription is... 200

  • mg ibuprofen, a cold compress, and plenty of fluids.

If youve watched my coverage of Puyo Pop Fever for the Gamecube, the weird slime-annihilating

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