Remember those early Nintendo Switch promotional videos we all made fun of? The ones where grinning, Joy-Con-gripping millennials giddily gathered around the console at a rooftop party? Well, if you pick up Puyo Puyo Tetris, plan on becoming one of those blissfully smiling idiots.
Featuring the titular pair of classic puzzle games, Puyo Puyo Tetris feels like it was tailor made for Nintendo's new home console/portable platform hybrid, especially when using the hardware in its kickstand-enabled tabletop mode. Coupled with the game's simple, responsive controls, the Switch's Joy-Cons are, well, an absolute joy to use. Toss in the ability to compete locally with up to three of your friends and, much like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Puyo Puyo Tetris becomes an incredibly compelling pick-up-and-play party game.
Of course, the game—which is also available on the PlayStation 4—does just fine without any help from Nintendo's cute new console. Sporting solo, competitive, adventure, local, and online modes, it piles the content options higher than an unwieldy stack of Tetris blocks. There's even dedicated “lessons” modes for complete newcomers or those simply looking to brush up on their tetrimino-manipulating, puyo-popping skills.
On top of the core games and a surprisingly lengthy—and charmingly silly—story mode, there's a number of cool variations on the familiar puzzling formulas. Swap mode, for example, taxes both the strategic mind and sharp reflexes by switching back and forth between the two games mid-match, while Big Bang puts a thumb-blistering focus on speed and offensive skills.
While some of these fresh versions of old favorites left our thumbs instinctively twitching for more long after our Switch was in sleep mode, others felt a bit more frantic than fun. The signature Fusion mode, for example, ambitiously mashes Tetris and Puyo Puyo together—literally presenting elements from each game on the same playing field—but the union feels more like a one-off gimmick than the groundwork for a new genre classic.
Whether you're a puzzle game fanatic craving your next fix, or a new Switch owner looking to show off the hardware's addictive party game potential to friends, this content-packed offering is an easy recommendation.