Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo

The idea of mixing fighting with puzzle games isn’t a new one. For hundreds of years people have faced each other across a chess board, fighting imaginary wars through cunning rather than brute force.

When Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo was released into arcades some 14 years ago, though, it presented a rather more surprising mix of fisticuffs and puzzling. Here was a Tetris-style match three puzzler imbued with the characters and one-on-one premise of a Capcom beat ‘em up.

It was an odd match, but a successful one.

This mobile version replicates much of what was so good about the original, but is ever so slightly crippled by a glaring (if understandable) omission.

What made SPFTII so alluring in the first place was its unique twist on the match-three formula. While you form large blocks from falling coloured gems as in many similar games, these blocks won’t disappear straight away.

Rather, you have to wait until a ‘Crash Gem’ (a flashing gem that appears at random) of the same colour is brought into contact with them. What this leads to, as you can imagine, is large, screen-filling chain reactions-in-waiting.

It really is supremely satisfying to play.

It’s all complemented by the little animated Street Fighter and Darkstalkers characters (the full set of eight starters, plus one bonus character) who scrap to the right of the screen in accordance with your actions. The mobile version looks suitably lovely on that front.

Unfortunately, a fundamental aspect of the game – the one-on-one ‘fighting’ premise – has been lost. While you supposedly compete against one character at a time, their own efforts are not represented on screen at the same time, as per the original.

While this is understandable given the limited space available on your average mobile screen, it still serves to make the experience far less involving. You no longer feel like you’re matching your wits against an opponent (albeit an artificial one), with opposing attacks only manifesting themselves with the odd drop of inhibiting ‘Counter Gems’.