Addictive beans!!! (Kirby's Ghost Trap (PC))

Member Name: Bezman

Product:	Kirby's Ghost Trap (PC)
Date:	17/10/01 (410 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: addictive beans, fun for two, experimentation is a possibility

Disadvantages: no sweet tea, more people can be messy, takes a wee while to take effect

As some Dooyoo members may know, I like computer games.

My adoring fans who shout my name from the rooftops every night (and are also non-existent) will know that I specially like puzzle games.

The more observant will have noticed that I have a thing for the Snes.

Obviously, I prefer good games to bad ones, or even so-so ones. I like great games even more. It really goes without saying.

Kirby's Avalanche (aka Kirby's Ghost Trap) is a puzzle game on the Snes. And, being Puyo Puyo, it's a great game. I love it.

Puyo Puyo has been around almost as long as Tetris, although you've probably never heard the name before. This is because Puyo Puyo is a Japanese puzzle game which was never released here.

However, the game /has/ been redesigned, repackaged and released in the west under the name Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (on the Megadrive). Kirby's Ghost Trap is a similar retitling of a restructured version of Puyo Puyo.

///This is the basic idea of the game.

Coloured beans fall from the sky in groups of two. You can rotate and move these groups until the land at the bottom of the screen, whereupon another group starts falling.

If you manage to get 4 identically coloured beans to touch, they disappear.

Unlike columns, these groups of 4 don't need to be straight lines. They can be L-shaped or like steps, or even a 2x2 box. Just as long as each bean is connected horizontally or vertically - they just can't stretch far enough to connect diagonally.

(Of course, if they ate more pasta, that could have been solved, but never mind, eh?)

It probably sounds like this is a bit easy, and it is. Making groups of 4 that is.

You see, the whole point of giving you so much control is to make chain reactions and combos an intellectual feasibility.

Unlike Columns, chain reactions and combos are planned rather than a sign
of good fortune. Once you have a look at the examples, you'll soon get the hang of a simple chain reaction. This basically involves setting the beans up so that after one group disappears, the falling beans form a new group.

Soon, you'll be reeling them off with relish, watching as each of your brilliant chain reactions sends annoying ghost beans to your opponent's screen.

Of course, as much fun as it is to beat the game for the first time, the best way to play is against a human who is as good as yourself.

The competitive juices get flowing and a good time is had by all.

///You may also want to know this stuff.

When Puyo Puyo was redesigned for the western Snes audience, Hal Labs included their little fat mascot: Kirby.

Whereas in the Japanese versions, you got a ninji jumping around between the 2 playing fields, giving you encouragement, now Kirby does the same job.

Unfortunately, whereas in Puyo Puyo you battled crying skeletons and fish heads with legs, you now fight the slightly more mundane cast of the Kirby games.

Kirby's game has a 1 player endless mode (which is a bit weak) and you can handicap a player on the versus mode. You can tinker with a few options such as sweat beads coming off the characters' pictures, but these aren't that important.

Oh, and the 1 player battle mode has a fair few difficulty levels, so everyone is catered for.

In fact, the only real thing I would say against this game is that it doesn't have the pure madness of Puyo Puyo.

(Also, Puyo Puyo Remix 2 has a 4-player mode, but I've been looking for that for ages and still not found it, so you're as well getting this.)

However, if you want to play an English version of the game, then you'll have to put up with the absence of the great characters and just appreciate the fact that Kirby's Ghost Trap remains the only bean-centred
puzzle game compatible with an unmodified British Snes.

///It's a puzzle game. It's on the Snes. Being Puyo Puyo, it's even something that could be called great. I recommend it.

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