Showing posts with label Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo print ad (1997). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo print ad (1997). Show all posts

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo for PlayStation (1997)

Original ad published in the February 1997 issue of EGM (no. 91).
Press to enlarge or download in higher resolution.
An addictive puzzler that calls for some brainpower

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo was built on the foundations of the excellent Baku Baku Animal, but added some astute gaming elements from the previous generation of puzzlers, namely Super Puyo Puyo ("Kirby's Avalanche" in America) and Tetris Attack!, both released for SNES. 

Capcom's game was released in 1996 for the arcades, followed by releases on the PlayStation and Sega's Saturn the following year. But unlike the games mentioned above--classics, most would agree--Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo added a fair degree of arbitrary conditions to its basic gameplay.


For example, different characters from the DarkStalkers and Street Fighter universes affect the behaviour of the gems you receive. Your goal is to gather four gems of the same color, something seen before in other games of the genre. One of the game's twists, however, come in the shape of a "crash gem" that breaks the four gems you previously arranged, as well as everything touching them. This made the game easy for experienced veterans and highly arbitrary for newcomers. Excellent music and graphics made most gamers forget those noticeable flaws.

Today, you can buy the game in both PlayStation and MicroSoft's on-line services. Oh, and by the way: here is no first chapter of the game. This is not a sequel. It's just Capcom being clever with their marketing and clinging unto their most lucrative franchise ever. 



The printed ad for the game is better than average. A primary figure of a cranium is highlighted with by a cobalt blue x-ray effect. The gems are inside the brain. To the right sits the advert's copy. Since the background is black, the overall contrast of the image is very eye-catching. These primary elements hit a basic grid of thirds, yet also draws a big "X" where your eyes should naturally fall. The first is the upper-left tip of the "Z" of the game's title. The second part of the "X" places your vision at the beginning of the ad's copy ("Symptoms"). The main action of the scene leaves the eye of the cranium straight in the middle of the X, just a few centimetres away from the eye cavity and smack in the middle of the gems. Nice!


Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo print ad copy

[Diagnosis > Mind Block]

Symptoms:

  • Uncontrollable compulsion to play Super Puzzle Fighter
  • Obsession with color patterns and fallings gems
  • Victory induced Euphoria

[Warning: highly contagious]

Rx:

  • Continue regimen of frequent game playing
  • Defeat friends repeatedly to relieve anxiety

Capcom

"Ferociously competitive, unfairly addicting...a fantastic puzzle game...you won't be able to stop." **** (four stars) Next Generation Oct. '96