P U Y O P U Y O 4 : P U Y O P U Y O N 　　　ぷ　　よ　　　ぷ　　よ　　〜　　ん t h e f a q Puyo Puyon FAQ Created by: shidoshi [shidoshi@relief-goddess.org] Version: 0.5 Game statistics: 1-4 Players Puru Puru pack compatible 6 VMS blocks needed The lastest version of this FAQ will always be available at: http://relief-goddess.org You can also find it on GameFAQs and various other websites. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This FAQ is still in alpha release and is very, very early and unfinished. However, it has been released as the sections already completed may be useful to people out there currently playing Puyo Puyon. If you can help in any way with the sections of the FAQ that are incomplete, PLEASE contact shidoshi. All people contributing information which is used in the FAQ will get proper credit. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ C O N T E N T S : [ 00 ] FAQ Terminology [ 01 ] The Story [ 02 ] Game Basics [ 03 ] Menu Translations [ 04 ] Characters [ 05 ] Super Attacks [ 06 ] Stage Information [ 07 ] Puzzle Mode [ 08 ] Secrets [ 09 ] Credits ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [ 00 ] FAQ Terminology ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The following terminology is used in this FAQ to help clarify certain things. Arena : The portion of your screen that your puyos fall into and where all of your puyos collect. Chain : The effect of planning your puyos so that when one combo goes away, it will cause another combo to occur, and so on. Combo : A combo is when you make four or more puyos of the same color touch, making them go away. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [ 01 ] THE STORY ------------------------------------------------------------------------ For now, we'll just say this: the Puyo Puyo circus has arrived in town, and Arle and Carbunkle decide to go check it out. While Satan is performing magic, he uses Carbunkle as part of the act, making him dissapear. Arle loves the trick, but when Carbunkle never returns, she begins to get worried and sets off to find him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [ 02 ] GAME BASICS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ** HOW TO PLAY This section goes into little real detail about the game, as I expect most players have played Puyo Puyo before. If this is the first Puyo Puyo title you have ever played, since the game is pretty simple to learn and understand, you probably won't really need this section either. But anyhow... If you've never played Puyo Puyo before, the idea is simple: colored "puyos" (little blobs of jelly) fall from the top of the screen into your arena in groups of two. Before they touch the bottom of the arena, you can move them around, or rotate them to position them in either a vertical or horizontal line (rotation always occurs with the puyo that has a glow around him being the "center" of the rotation). When one color of puyo sits next to another puyo of the same color either horizontally or vertically, they connect together. When you get four or more puyos of the same color to connect, you create a "combo" and they disappear. By using strategy, you can make multiple combos go off one after another to create a "chain." When you pull of a chain with two or more combos, you send penalty puyos over into your opponent's arena. Penalty puyos are clear puyos that do not go away when next to other clear puyos. Read the section on penalty puyos below to learn how to get rid of them. When penalty puyos are sent to either side, they rest at the top of the screen until the person receiving them has fully dropped their current falling puyos. If you do a chain while you have penalty puyos waiting to fall, it will help to reduce the amount waiting to fall. Puyos always fall from the same point at the top of your screen, and if your arena gets filled so that no more puyos can come down, your game is over. ** CONTROLS The following are the standard settings, and are how the buttons are situated unless you go into the Options menu and change them. L, R, and D refer to directions pressed on either the digital pad or analog stick. [L] Move the falling puyos to the left [E] Move the falling puyos to the right [D] Speed up the descent of the falling puyos [A] Rotate the falling puyos Counter-Clockwise [B] Rotate the falling puyos Clockwise [Y] Perform the falling puyos Super Attack ** PUYO TYPES Clear Puyos Basic penalty puyos. To clear them you must do a "Combo Removal" - this is when you clear a combo that is touching the clear puyo. When the combo that is touching the clear puyo goes away, so does the clear puyo. Block Puyos Doing a combo removal against a block puyo will turn it into a clear puyo (thus, you must do a combo removal twice to get rid of them). Sometimes there is a number of the block - when you have a block puyo like this, the number tells you how many times you must do a combo removal against it before it will turn into a clear puyo. Number Puyos These puyos are clear with a gold ting to them with a number at the bottom of them. They can be cleared with one combo removal, just like a basic clear puyo. The purpose of these are currently unknown - anyone? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [ 03 ] MENU TRANSLATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ** MAIN MENU: - ひとりでぷよぷよ Hitori de Puyo Puyo / 1 Player Single player Puyo Puyo - ふたりでぷよぷよ Hutari de Puyo Puyo / 2 Player Two player Puyo Puyo - とことんぷよぷよ Tokoton Puyo Puyo / Time Attack Time Attack - Variable sized arenas - とことんなぞぷよぷよ Tokoton Nazo Puyo Puyo / Puzzle Attack Time attack with requirements that you must complete - みん でぷよぷよ Minna de Puyo Puyo / Group Play Three or Four player Puyo Puyo - おぷしょん Option *** 1 PLAYER - ? - Quest You play as Arle on a quest to save (?) Carbunkle (the little yellow creature) from the clutches of Satan. You must play against and beat the characters of the game in a preset order. You begin the Quest mode with no Super Attacks, but then gain the Super Attacks of specific characters when you defeat them (you choose which you want to use before each match). The following characters give you access to their Super Attack (in order): Doraco, Seriri, Witch - Vs. Computer Versus mode where you choose a computer opponent to play. Background and play settings seem to be random. *** 2 PLAYER - Circus Stage - Volcano Stage - Aqua Stage - Floating Stage - Ruin Stage Stage starts with clear and block puyos - Edit Stage (uneditable) - Edit Stage (editable) Exacts of what each option do coming soon *** TIME ATTACK - Play on a 4 x 7 arena (probably the strangest part of the game) - Play on a 6 x 12 arena - Play on a 10 x 16 arena - Play on a 16 x 26 arena *** OPTIONS - Button Layout Change which buttons do what. - CPU Difficulty Change the difficulty of the computer opponent(s) - Versus Rounds Change the number of rounds for 2 player mode - Demo Cut Turn off the demo scenes (default On) - Sound Change sound from Stereo to Mono (default Stereo) - Cinema Theater Watch all of the cinema scenes that you've already seen in the game - Ranking Look at the Top 5 scores for each mode - Backup Manually save or load (default Save) - Exit Options ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [ 04 ] CHARACTERS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ** Arle Nadja 「アルル　ナヅヤ」　- the Consummate Hero Profile: - Super Attack: "Arle Special Sheild" Arle puts a shield up at the top of her arena, which holds any clear puyos that your opponent sends your way for a short time. Don't forget to do some combos to reduce the amount that will fall, however, or else you could forget and suddenly be surprised with a HUGE drop. ^_^ ------ ** Doraco Centaru 「ドラコ　センタウ」　- the Fiery Dragon Girl Profile: - Super Attack: "Doraco Burning" Doraco does a flaming uppercut which clears away her clear puyos. ------ ** Seriri 「セリリ」　- the Shy Mermaid Profile: Super Attack: ? ------ ** Witch 「ウｲﾂチ」　- the Cunning Sorceress Profile: - Super Attack: "Rolling Thunder" Witch clears completely away the highest column of puyos in her arena. One of the most useless supers in the game, IMHO. ------ ** Chico 「チコ」　- the Native Elf Girl Profile: - Super Attacks: Name Unknown Unsure - some puyos just go away. Not sure what the exacts are. Anyone? ------ ** Skeleton-T 「スケルトンーＴ」　- the Skeleton Who Drinks Tea Profile: - Super Attack: "Super Dynamic Ultra Bomber" I have no idea whatsoever. Skeleton-T powers up, but what exactly this does I'm not sure of. ------ ** Archan 「ア〜ちゃん」　- the Young Archery Girl Profile: - Super Attack: "Homing Shooter" Archan shoots away up to twelve of the puyos in her arena ------ ** Kikimora 「キキ〜モラ」　- the Elegant Sweeping Girl Profile: - Super Attack: "Let's Clean This Mess!" (my name, not official) Kikimora sweeps away all of the clear puyos on her side. ------ ** Suketoudara 「すけとうだら」　- the Jolly Fish Profile: - Super Attack: Name Unknown Suketoudara washes away all puyos of one color (color is chose at random, AFAIK). ------ ** Panotty 「パノﾂチｲ」　- the Cheerful Muse Profile: - Super Attack: Name Unknown Panotty plays a cheerful tune, which clears away any colored single puyos that are not connected with another of the same color. ------ ** Nohoho 「のほほ」　- the Frog of Chance Profile: - Super Attack: "Gero Gero Chance!" (my name, not official) Nohoho pulls a slot machine handle, and his colored puyos begin rotating like a slot machine, stopping in a new vertical order. ------ ** Harpy 「ハ〜ピ〜」　- the Masterful Songstres...?!? Profile: - Super Attack: "Angelic Serenade" (my name, not official) Harpy sings a song, turning all clear puyos in her arena into colored ones. ------ ** Dragon 「ドラゴン」　- the Baby Dragon Profile: - Super Attacks: Name Unknown Unsure - some puyos just go away. Not sure what the exacts are. Anyone? ------ ** Scheze Wegey 「シェゾ　ウｲゲｲｲ」　- the Silver Haired Boy Profile: Super Attack: Name Unknown Scheze slashes his arena in an X shape, and any puyos hit are cleared away. ------ ** Rulue 「ルル〜」　- the Elegant Woman Profile: - Super Attack: "Shin Jyoouranpu" Rulue gives her arena a series of punches, which flips it vertically, making the puyos fall down and re-line up. ------ ** Satan 「サタンさま」　- the Handsome Devil Profile: - Super Attack: "Satan/Saturn Cross" (not sure which it is) Satan uses his powers to clear away puyos in his arena in the shape of a cross. ------ ** Pierrot 「ピエロ」　- the Mysterious Clown Profile: - Super Attack: Unknown - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [ 05 ] SUPER ATTACKS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Probably the biggest difference between Puyo Puyon and other Puyo Puyo titles is the inclusion of [Super Attacks]. Super Attacks are special abilities that each character has which can affect what is going on in the game. Now, thanks to Super Attacks, a game is no longer over if you're side is totally full of puyos and all seems to be lost. At one time, a player can have up to three Super Attacks stores. The little numeric counter - [SP x.xx] - is sort of your super meter. Each time the counter reaches a whole number - 1.00, 2.00, or 3.00 - you are given another Super Attack you use. The SP counter increases with each puyo that you clear {and by other means?}. The amount that your counter goes up is determined by a number of options, most of which I currently don't begin to understand. Right now, I'm not sure what determines how much your counter goes up - all I know is that it goes up with each combo that you do, and that different characters seem to go up quicker. Each character has a different Super Attack, so in Puyo Puyon, character choice is now actually something to consider. For full specifics on what each character's Super Attack is, please check the CHARACTERS section. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [ 06 ] STAGE INFORMATION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In Puyo Puyon, the stage that you are playing on seems to affect gameplay in different ways. ** Circus Stage "Normal" stage. ** Volcano Stage Clear puyos only drop down onto you one horizontal line at a time, until there are none left to fall. Good for a frustration factor. ^_^ ** Aqua Stage If you put your falling puyos horizontally, where one will break off and fall down, the falling puyo falls much slower than normal. ** Floating Stage Unknown ** Ruin Stage Unknown ** Netherworld Puyos fall slower as on the Aqua stage, but the biggest point to this stage is that puyos on each side of your arena can connect with one another. Thus, if you have two yellow puyos on the far left side of your arena, and two yellow puyos on the far right at a height where they would touch if they were next to one another, then they will disappear.　As well, players are unable to use their Super attacks. This stage seems to only appear after you've beaten the Quest mode. ** Edit You can edit various aspects of this stage in certain modes ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [ 07 ] PUZZLE MODE ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Jeremy Goodwin I've pretty well figured out puzzle mode. You can play it without actually knowing Japanese, provided that you can either recognize the characters or that you are not color blind. The commands appearing on the right side of the screen come in three colors (possibly more, but I have only seen three) red, blue and yellow. There is a numeral at the top of the command box, but it just indicates the number of the command (1st, 2nd, 3rd...) and is not especially important in gameplay terms. Red is a command to create a combo as you term it, using that many Puyos (there is a numeral beside the command). Blue is a command to create a chain with that many levels. Yellow is a command to remove that many combos at a single time. For instance, you have two vertical stacks of purple and green Puyos, three in each, right next to each other. If you get a purple/green pair, you can position it horizontally to combo both the green and the purple piles of Puyos. This action would satisfy a yellow 2 command. Any more than that would require a well-orchestrated chain, since all of the combos have to be made at a single point in time. I think that puzzle mode is potentially the most rewarding part of the game, and adds a lot of replay value to it for a single player. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [ 08 ] SECRETS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ** SECRET CODES ** Big Awesome 112-combo Chain (aka the "Puyo Puyo Nudity Code") For a very interesting little demo, choose the Tokoton Puyo Puyo mode (Time Attack) and pick the option which gives you the biggest playing field. Move to the middle difficulty setting, hold buttons X + Y, and press button A. Now, sit back, and enjoy. ^_^ ** SECRET CHARACTERS ** Carbunkle - the Lovable Little Yellow Thing How to get: Beat the Quest mode How to play: Go beyond the "sides" of the top row on character select Profile: - Super Attacks: "Carbunkle Cannon" (my name, not official) Carbunkle comes out and blasts his puyos, turning them all into a random colored puyo (even the clear ones) ------ ** Shadow Arle - the Dark Girl How to get: Beat the Quest mode How to play: Go beyond the "sides" of the top row on character select Profile: - Super Attacks: "Arle Super Shield" Shadow Arle has the same Super Attack as Arle. ------ The booklet shows a number of characters from Puyo Puyo Sun that aren't available in Puyo Puyon which makes me a bit suspicious. As well, even though you can play as Shadow Arle, I'd be willing to bet that you can play as Pierrot. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [ 09 ] CREDITS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Compile - for making the game, of course ^_^ Sega - for making the Dreamcast on which I'm playing PP4 Raymond McKeithen II - various translation/menu help Amisokoy - rgvs poster of the Puyo Puyo Nudity Code Jeremy Goodwin - Puzzle mode help