harmonicbox's Guide Into Getting Into Puyo Puyo!

So I randomly got interested in the Puyo Puyo franchise again after being in Project SEKAI hell (and literally dropping 58 dollars USD on a Rui plushie), so I wanted to talk about the game. Unfortunately for me, this series isn't that known outside of Japan because of how little of a fuck SEGA gave about letting this game out of Japan. Luckily for me though, I know plenty of information about the series!

What IS Puyo Puyo?

Puyo Puyo is a falling block puzzle video game currently owned by SEGA. It is similar to Tetris, to the point where the two franchises have collabed, twice. Although its main format is video games, there are also audio dramas, light novels, and various other things. 

What are the different eras I keep hearing about?

There are two “eras” of the franchise, the Compile era (1991 - 2001) and the SEGA era (2001- now). 

Puyo Puyo was originally made by Compile as a spin-off to their Madou Monogatari series in 1991. I will not go into that because I don't know shit about Madou, and I don't want to lose the topic, but a lot of the Madou cast transfers into Puyo Puyo.

The series was only really released in Japan, but it was a huge success. However, this got to Compile's head, and they flew a little too close to the sun. They made some bad business choices and went bankrupt.

Because they published a lot of their games on SEGA consoles, they decided to give the rights to the Puyo Puyo series to SEGA, who has owned the series since 1998 and has been publishing the games since 2001. 

List of mainline (at least, in my opinion) titles:

Puyo Puyo (1992)

Puyo Puyo Tsu (1994)

Puyo Puyo Sun (1996)

Puyo Puyo~n (1999)

Puyo Puyo Fever (2003)

Puyo Puyo Fever 2 (2005)

Puyo Puyo 15th Anniversary (2007)

Puyo Puyo 7 (2009)

Puyo Puyo 20th Anniversary (2011)

Puyo Puyo Tetris (2014)

Puyo Puyo Chronicles (2016)

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 (2020)

Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop (2024)

Where can I play the games?

If you're looking for ways to play a lot of these games officially AND in English, you're just fucked. Most of them were not released outside of Japan, so you will have to rely on fanmade translation patches. Do NOT go to CDRomance if you want to find pre-patched roms. (Wink wink, nudge nudge

However, there are some games released outside of Japan:

Puyo Puyo (1992) and Puyo Puyo Tsu (both SEGA ages ports) 

Puyo Puyo Fever (Localized as Puyo Pop Fever. You'd still have to sail the seven seas because it hasn't been released on modern consoles)

Puyo Puyo Tetris

Puyo Puyo E-Sports/Champions 

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2

Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop (If you don't have an Apple device and/or are not willing to pay for Apple Arcade, sorry.)

Other stuff:

To find more information on the series, check out the Puyo Nexus Wiki! DO NOT USE THE FANDOM WIKI.

https://marisexmas.tumblr.com/post/159369422259/ppf2-library-translation-masterpost

^ A bunch of translations to the extras menu in Puyo Puyo Fever 2, which reveals some very interesting world-building and facts about the characters.

https://www.precisemuseum.com/resources

^ A master post of translated Puyo Puyo resources!

Regarding name changes:

Ever since the English localization of Puyo Puyo Tetris in 2017, there have been name changes for some of the cast.

Satan -> Dark Prince

Seriri -> Serilly

Lagnus The Brave -> Ragnus

P.S: Don't ask me about Puyo Puyo Quest.