Overview
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, known in Japan as Super Puzzle Fighter II X, is a comedic, falling-block, tile-matching puzzle game developed and released by Capcom for arcades (using CP System II hardware) on May 31, 1996.
A puzzle game that is closely similar Baku Baku Animal, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo has players dropping different colored gems onto the playfield, with special "crash gems" clearing all groups of connected gems of the same color. As a versus game, players can increase their attacking power using chain combos and by forming "power gems" through rectangles of the same colored gem.
This crossover game brings together characters from the Street Fighter Alpha and Darkstalkers series, all of whom are super-deformed. Its title is also a cheeky reference to Capcom's earlier fighting game Super Street Fighter II Turbo. It later received its own fighting game spin-off, known as Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix.
Gameplay
The basic premise of SPF2T has the player stacking down gems two at a time Tetris style and is always played with two players either Human or Computer. The goal is to explode the different colored gems with the matching Exploding gems by fitting them next to each other. If any of the same colored gems are adjacent to that gem vertically or horizontally, they will explode in a chain reaction. If at anytime four of the same colored gem is matched in a 2X2 fashion, they will conglomerate into one giant gem. The bigger then gem the more points one can score when the matching color of exploding gem is attached. This is a very High Risk, High Reward puzzle game, in that the bigger sets of gems, the less work space you get. The reward is when exploded, the gems will move onto the opponents playing field. When gems hit the opponents side, the gems start off as gem counters with a number on them and a color. Every time the opponent drops a set of blocks on his side the counter will drop by one. This See-Saw style battle goes back and forth until one of the players has no more room to drop gems.
Occasionally the game will drop down a Multicolored Diamond gem. Any color that the bottom point of this diamond touches will explode without having the need to be adjacent to it. As a result, the Diamond gem is best used when in a tight situation or a lead up to a chain combo as when exploded gems disappear, they fall prey to the laws of physics. Any Counter gems that get sent to the playing field via the Diamond gem only start the counter at half the amount rather than the full amount, thus reiterating the High Risk, High Reward strategy.
The Playstation/Sega Saturn/Game Boy Advance versions of the game included "Street Puzzle" mode, where players would take on specific match fights pitting the selected character against a certain enemy of varying difficulty in order to unlock secret characters, alternate costumes, intermission cutscenes, music BGMs ( Including the vocal song "I Want You to Know" by Sakura Kasugano), etc. The HD Remix version of the game has some of these unlocks available from the beginning, yet this mode and a large portion of the goodies are entirely discluded.
Characters
There are eight playable characters from the start and three hidden characters, all of whom are from either the Street Fighter Alpha or Darkstalkers series. Each character has their own counter gem pattern:
Street Fighter Alpha
- Ryu - Columns alternate colors.
- Ken - Rows alternate colors.
- Chun-Li - Six groups of 2x2.
- Sakura - Each edge column has different colors, with the center columns alternating rows with the remaining colors.
- Akuma / Gouki - Final boss, playable with cheat codes. Diagonal, tilting left.
- Dan - Hidden character. All of one color.
Darkstalkers
- Morrigan - Center two columns alternate 2x2, while the others alternate 1x2 with the other colors.
- Felicia - Each edge column has different colors, with the center columns alternating 2x2 with the remaining colors.
- Hsien-Ko / Lei-Lei - Diagonal in a zig-zag pattern, tilting right. In console versions, cheat codes can be used to only show her companion Mei-Ling / Lin-Lin.
- Donovan - Top rows are 3x2 of different colors, with the bottom rows alternating columns between the other two colors. In console versions, cheat codes can be used to only show his companion Anita.
Other
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