Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

September 12,2007 - Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo has had quite an eventful history. Despite humble beginnings as an arcade cult-hit, things got a little crazy once it hit consoles. Supply did not even begin to meet demand between the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation releases, and eventually, copies were going for upwards of $100 on eBay. Demand was satisfied somewhat with the release of Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo Advance just a few years ago, and then its inclusion in the PSP's Capcom Puzzle World, but there was still a frothing outcry for the series to return to consoles.

That time has arrived. Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is now available for anyone with $10 to spare, and it is easily the best version of the game to date. Developed by David Sirlin and the rest of his team at Digital Eclipse/Backbone, this is no mere “dirty port.” Not only were the X, Y, and Z modes from Capcom Puzzle World included in HD Remix in order to provide more ways to play, also included was a new default mode, called X`, which includes a host of balancing changes – altered drop patterns, changes to the diamond mechanic, and tweaks made to counter drop percentages (particularly regarding Akuma) have all been implemented to level out the playing field.

For those who have never played a Puzzle Fighter game in the past, it's really quite simple on the surface. Pairs of gems drop down from the top, with each gem being one of four colors. Players chain gems of the same color together, or for better results, build large boxes of a single color, then use the round crash gems to get rid of streams/boxes of the corresponding color. In doing so, they will also deal damage to their opponent, in the form of inactive “counter” gems. These have a number on them, and that is the number of gem pairs the opponent must play before the counters turn into ordinary gems. The counters drop on an opponent's field in a set order, called a drop pattern, determined by whichever character you selected at the start of the game. In other words, drop patterns bring fighting game mentality into the puzzle genre, because in order to punish any given opponent most efficiently, you have to learn their character's drop pattern, then plan/build accordingly.

This is where Sirlin's changes come into play, and they are vital considering online play has been added. A comprehensive list of X` changes can be found at his personal site (http://www.sirlin.net/archive/balancing-puzzle-fighter/), but in layman's terms, the changes made will level out the playing field amongst the game's characters (except for Dan, who is just supposed to be that bad), diversify character properties throughout the cast, and replace a popular diamond glitch with better overall properties for the diamond. This is all a blessing for Puzzle Fighter, which the original team at Capcom threw together more or less with the mentality that things like balance wouldn't even matter in a game like this.

Unfortunately, the “HD Remix” in the title can be a little misleading. While the backgrounds, playing fields, and gems all look outstanding in any resolution, the actual character sprites have simply been upscaled – not redrawn, not rescanned – just upscaled. This gives Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix a bit of a “cheap” look, though it's clear that this is likely the result of Capcom putting all the production money and energy into making Puzzle Fighter's upcoming sister release, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, look as stunning as possible. That's hard to complain about. The sound follows suit; the soundtrack is servicable and there is a nice arrangement available, but it's rather unremarkable overall and won't really stay with you, despite its origins in more memorable Capcom soundtracks.

Aesthetic complaints aside, Puzzle Fighter is still one of the greatest puzzle games ever developed, and the addition of X` mode and online play makes this the definitive version of Capcom's cult classic. The only way it can't be recommended is if you really have a strong hatred for puzzle games, and even then, this is the kind of game that can change minds. Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is one of the better games you can pick up off of Xbox Live Arcade or the PlayStation Network.

Games, News, Reviews, Media and More