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Oh, in actuality, there are four other games as well. However, the only true gem is Puzzle Fighter, and it’s the only gem this one will need to satisfy the asking price. For those in the know, Puzzle Fighter is one of “those” games, the kind that create epic all-night gaming sessions when you have far better things to do.
Its hook is simple. With a total of eleven characters from the Street
Fighter and Darkstalkers series, two players move colored gems into
formation on opposite sides of the screen. They build in wait for the same colored piece
that will send eliminated gems off of your board onto the opposing players side. It’s
a brilliant game of give and take, easily taking home the title of greatest multi-player
puzzle game this industry has ever seen.As this specific PSP port is a translation of a Dreamcast import-only Puzzle Fighter, two wildly varying versions of the game are also included. They change the innovative game mechanics to replicas of Sega classic Columns and the second being a variant of Yoshi’s Cookie. Both are equally addictive in Puzzle Fighter’s versus-only world.
The nature of this Capcom classic, in that it’s always against a second player, does cause it to lose appeal if you’re playing alone. Nearly all of this title’s fun factor comes from a friend dropping a pile of blocks onto your side of the screen to the point of death, only send them all back in one swift move. You lose that in single player, and with no extras to speak of (everything is unlocked from the start), the loss of infrastructure play is truly a disappointment.
As for the other titles in this collection, Buster Bros and forgettable Block Block, these end up as extras. Buster Bros doesn’t particularly seem to fit into the “puzzle” portion of the title. It can only be classified as an insane action bubble bursting simulation, along with the inclusion of allowing players to use their own photos as backdrops. Three separate versions of Buster Bros are included, though beyond graphics, the differences are negligible.
Block Block is the weakest game in the set, and has already made its way onto PSP screens on Capcom Classics Collection. It’s only slightly easier to control the paddle in this Breakout knock-off than it was previously. Without the trackball used in the arcades, this can only be viewed as wasted space on the disc.
Anyone who even glances at this PSP release already knows why it caught their eye. Puzzle Fighter fans finally have that golden Dreamcast version (sans online play) in America without the eBay price. The other games are simple bonuses, and given how superb Puzzle Fighter looks on the PSP’s screen, this is an absolute must buy for anyone familiar with the classic puzzler.
Note: Bigger problems rear their head than Block Block however. Glitches during Puzzle Fighter sessions are prevalent. The game locks up randomly, and trying to traverse the extras section is impossible for the same reason. Capcom has stated that this is due to the latest PSP firmware update and not their game.
Without a console with lower firmware to test this, we cannot say for sure if this is the fix. The company stated they’re working with Sony to resolve the issue. The score below assumes the game is functioning, but is subject to change if no fix is made.
