Graphics

Bland and instantly forgettable sums up how Puyo Pop looks. Somewhere along the lines, the designers who were looking at the 'two players on one screen' (you fight mano-a-mano against a computer opponent) meant that each game screen should be the same size. This means you only focus on one half of your N-Gage's screen, staring hard to try and make out the different coloured blocks that are falling.

If they stopped and thought a bit harder, your game screen could have been much larger, with a small representation of your opponent on the right. That would have meant clearer grahics for the player, and a much better gaming experience.

All round the graphics remind me of the puzzle games from the mid eighties. 'Cute' cartoon graphics, murky colour definition and a general feeling that these graphics were meant to be replaced before shipping the game.

Special mention should be made to the massive effort placed on the Menu screens - white text on a rock/slate background. No bang whizzes, no nice artwork, just a big empty screen with three or four menu options in a small font.

Sound

It plinks and plonks during the game, with noises when you spin your puyos and the puyos hit the ground. The music is instantly forgettable, grating while you're playing, and the Menu music sounds like it was ripped out of a lift. Background music is meant to help with a game - this just puts you to sleep.

Gameplay

Puyo Pop is a simple concept that is well suited to mobile game playing. That doesn't mean that the N-Gage version is any good. As with a million puzzle games before it (and a million that will come after it) you have blocks falling down the screen, gathering at the bottom, and you have to do something with them.

In Puyo Pop, your puyos drop in pairs, and you have to spin and move them to get at least four of the same color to touch. When you do, they POP! and any Puyo's above them fall into the gaps. If this starts a chain reaction with another block of four or more created, then so much the better - you get a bigger score, and more blank puyo's are sent to your opponents screen.

That's right, your opponent. Even in single player mode (where you play a Computer AI), your aim isn't to get the high score, it's o make sure your opponent runs out of space before you do. By popping as many Puyos as possible in one move (of the Chain Reaction above) you send over the blank puyos that fill the screen and can't be grouped together.

And that's about it. You can play against the computer, or against another Puyo Player who has the game and an N-Gage. There is the 'puzzle' verion of the game where you have challenges like 'Pop ten Puyo's in one move' but they're just variations on the gameplay, and not that diverting at all.

Story

It's a puzzle game! You need a story to go with new levels where everything falls faster? Fair enough, but be warned, it's powerful and epic.

You're trapped in the forest a long way from home and need to fight all the Puyo champions before you can escape and live to tell the tale. Riveting, eh?

Summary

Puyo Pop doesn't do the N-Gage, or Sega, any justice. It feels unpolished and rushed, as if it had to be a launch title and anything that could be cut would be cut. It's not really something that's worth the £35 asking price. ES