I started this blog to maintain a feeling of control for my life when it was in upheaval. It was a thing I had control over and a daily routine where otherwise there would be none.
It’s been many years since I dedicated any real time to playing 'Tetris'. To my mind it’s a game that will always be inseparable from the Game Boy. I know it existed many years before on various other hardware but, much like 'Sonic' will always be a Mega Drive game and 'Cannon Fodder' doesn’t exist beyond the Amiga, 'Tetris' and the Game Boy will always be inextricably linked.
Now, as America burns and the British government implodes, it has also become a welcome distraction.
70 days ago the atmosphere in the UK was one of resolve. As a nation it seemed we were looking inward, finding the best in each other, and steeling ourselves to come together and make the best of a bad situation.
For the first time in a very long time the news wasn’t led by stories from America, China, Afghanistan, or elsewhere; the most important world events for the UK were happening in the UK.
For a while even politics took a step backward - half the nation didn't want Boris Johnson in charge, but in charge he was, so in these crazy times we would listen to what he had to say and do as we were told for the good of the nation and those most at risk.
70 Days later, I don’t think things could be more different.
America dominates the news again for the most horrifying and tragic reasons, politics lead the agenda, and politicians are, again, acting exactly like politicians.
The rules we strictly and unquestioningly lived by for so long are being chipped away by selfishness, boredom, warm weather, and massive distrust towards the people imposing them.
It is, and I don’t use the word flippantly, depressing.
But I’ve always preached that it’s folly to be affected by things that you yourself cannot affect. As terrifying as the events and attitudes are in America there is no practical way for me to influence them beyond expressing solidarity and encouraging the few Americans I know to vote when the next opportunity arises.
As for closer to home, I live in a nation that endured two consecutive unelected Prime Ministers followed by a general election in which the choice was literally between two evils, of which who was the lesser is still entirely unclear. So I’ll just have to bide my time for a general election in the UK and hope that enough people of my nation are not fooled by populism and bluster again.
And, as I wait, wishing I could do more and frustrated that I can’t, I’ll distract myself, as always, with video games.
This feeling will be at least partly due to the fact I haven’t really played 'Tetris' since I stopped playing it on my Game Boy. The last time I recall this happening was on Holiday in Greece around 2002.
It was a game I was decent if unspectacular at; my highest line total was 188 and when we had an impromptu link-cable tournament one lunchtime in school I came third.
'Puyo Puyo', though, I have never played, and I know nothing about it beyond its similarities to other games (it’s stack-and-chain mechanic reminds me of 'Dr Mario', among many others).
I doubt I’m alone either as on release in 2017 this Switch version (along with the PS4) was the first English language release of a 'Puyo Puyo' game in over a decade.
I’ve spent all of my time with the game so far in the ‘Story mode’ which, from what I can tell, has been created in a style new to 'Tetris' players but would be familiar to fans of 'Puyo Puyo'.
There are characters and a rudimentary story, and games are separated by back-and-forth dialogue between a dozen or so protagonists as they navigate a tale of universes merging through portals which is, incidentally, the plot basis for literally every crossover game I’ve ever played.
But it’s well drawn, fully voiced, and has a 'Powerpuff Girls' kind of irreverence that prevents the cheerful wholesomeness from becoming too saccharine.
The game that this all frames is a literal mashing together of the two puzzle styles.
As you would expect, there are opportunities to play a round of ‘Versus Tetris’ or ‘Versus Puyo Puyo’ but, as the name suggests, you also face of in matches of 'Tetris vs Puyo Puyo' (and vice versa) which involves each combatant playing a different game simultaneously with the opponents game still affected in the usual ‘dumping-stuff-into-the-other-screen’ way.
In this mode these are all played against a CPU opponent, but there are also challenges that involve clearing a set number of lines/puyos, hitting a target score in a set time, reaching a certain level, and many variations on these that are pure single player events.
While I could see the characters, dialogue and story of this mode being divisive, it’s hard to argue it’s success in bringing new gameplay to the table while making old gameplay seem fresh again.
The other modes are pretty much as you expect. There’s local and online versus for all variations, a single player ‘Arcade’ mode, and even a helpful ‘Lesson’ mode for each of the 'Tetris', 'Puyo Puyo', and ‘Fusion’ styles.
It’s often the case that puzzle games released at full price can feel a little light on content but obviously that’s not the case here. As well as all the above, the Story Mode is built around a three star grading system that successfully encourages replaying the levels.
This is a fully featured, beautifully presented, and well polished package that, much like it’s distant ancestor, has a perfect home on Nintendo’s latest handheld.
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