Susume Taisen Puzzle Dama - 1998 - Sony Playstation & Nintendo 64 (Japan only)
I'll come clean - I don't like Susume! Taisen Puzzle Dama a great deal, although I'm hard pushed to think of a good reason why. A fairly straightforward sequel to the original TPD, Susume! features slightly beefed up puzzling action complemented by allegedly largely graphics and sound. And as a release on two different consoles, this time with neither a Tokimemo or a Twinbee license to lend support, the game represents a commitment by Konami to (re)establishing the franchise in consumer's minds. Nonetheless, Susume! doesn't really do it for me.
Why not? These games are all the same, barring the characters and theme...unfortunately, it's in these areas that my problems with Susume! lie. Ironically, in picking up where Taisen Puzzle Dama left off, the game has somehow managed to lose whatever charm its predecessor had. As goes without saying, this is a highly personal response - some people may love the changes Konami have introduced. And these changes are not obviously crippling, it has to be said. There's a new line up of characters - a racing car driver, a puppet ghost, a few generic men and women, a baby and a cartoon dog. The trouble is...I don't like any of them. Well, actually the ghost is pretty cool (he lives down a well!). The new additions all mug and animate and do all the sorts of crazy things you'd expect them to do...it's just that by and large they're not funny...or charming...or even likeable. Quite a few of the original cast have been axed, including some of my favorites (especially the Mad Scientist) and somehow, the returning characters aren't quite the same either. The Penguin for example, though you can't tell from the picture below, spends most of the time vomiting up food...it's less fun to watch than you'd think. Complementing this vague sense of disappointment is the feeling that the music isn't that great (though TPD never excelled in this area, it has to be said), and the thought that Konami really didn't need to make the town look quite so pixellated - check out the background of the above-right screenshot.
It's obviously unfair to criticise Susume! for failing to match the same unspecified qualities I consider it's predecessor to possessed. The game looks quite nice and a lot of effort has clearly been put into drawing the various characters. Certain innovations have also been introduced into the gameplay - new kinds of Puzzle Ball, including Mario-style Piranha Plants which eat anything in their path. The speed at which you progress through the game is determined by how well you play - the higher you score, the quicker you'll reach the boss tower. And there also seem to be little mini-games to play, including bowling...it's just that I haven't worked out how to access them yet. There are several other nice touches - while you watch the 'how to play' demo, you can hear in the background a vocal track which is clearly describing the game (the word 'Pazurudama' seems to come up a lot). There are several bosses, including our old friend the Makeup Man, each challenging, each with their own backing tune. And, as I've said before, the Ghost is a great character.
So basically, there's nothing actually wrong with Susume! Taisen Puzzle Dama...I just don't happen to care for it much. If anyone else has played the game, it'd be nice to have a second opinion or a guest review - let me know HERE if you're interested. At the end of the day, Susume! is, for better or worse, as representative of the series as any other TPD game.
