Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S (Nintendo Switch 2) Review

Tetris is a simple game. So is Puyo Puyo. These strategy games are simply engaging in that they hit that sweet spot of arcade strategy without overly complex mechanics, rulesets, and/or silliness. It’s part of why these games have stood the test of time and have a core fanbase of players worldwide. Imagine if these games collided to feature gameplay from both while also iterating on the simple strategy formula that players love!

That’s Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S in a nutshell. Not to be confused with Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 (which came out in 2020, Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S was updated and made to take advantage of some of the Nintendo Switch 2’s hardware upgrades and novelties that new Switch 2 owners like you and I are wanting to see.

If you’ve already played Puyo Puyo Tetris 2, here are the major updates in the Switch 2 version:

• Doubles Play has returned from the Wii version of Puyo Puyo. Great for 2v2 battles with your friend and another duo.
• Mouse-controls in case you want to use your Switch 2’s Joy-Con!
• Switch 2 Camera support in the instance where you want to play with your friends and react to your progress alongside them.
• Haptics! Oh, the haptics are glorious.
• Online play with other Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S players*

Because of its name, you can expect to play Puyo Puyo, Tetris, and other amalgamations of these puzzle games fit for party play against AI or other players. Tetris has simple rules – simply place blocks strategically to fill the screen. Once blocks fill an entire row, you gain points. Keep playing until your screen fills up or you defeat your opponent (more on this in a moment). Similarly, Puyo Puyo utilizes the same simplicity, but revolves around positioning colored blocks that earn scores in groups of 4 or more. Chaining block combinations is especially effective in versus matches.

The Versus/PvP element of Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S makes for high stakes, exciting, and frenetic puzzle gameplay. When you clear lines of Tetraminos (the Tetris blocks) or chunks of Puyo Puyo bubbles, your opponent will receive traps and barriers that push them closer to filling their screen and losing. Conversely, if your opponent is clearing several lines at a time or large chunks of bubbles, you’ll be hit with traps, too! Thus, there’s a constant push-and-pull involving strategic placement of blocks/bubbles and thinking ahead of your opponents.

This is especially true in the Swap mode, which swaps between Tetris and Puyo Puyo boards every few seconds. As a puzzle gamer, the swapping of the boards keeps me amped up and on my toes, constantly reminding myself of the current board’s ruleset all the while I’m attempting to clear lines faster than my opponent.

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S is not your average Tetris or Puyo Puyo, that’s for sure. Versus iterates on the strategy formula by changing the pace of its source material. Even when you end up losing against another player or the CPU, it’s so easy to want to play again just for the satisfaction of clearing line after line of blocks/bubbles and filling your opponent’s screen.

Beyond the traditional versus and solo play modes, Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S has an Adventure mode that takes the player through multiple missions containing varying win conditions, incorporating Puyo Puyo characters and some special guests (like Sonic!!). The fully voiced story is cute, but I found it hard to become attached to the characters given my lack of experience playing Puyo Puyo (I’m a Tetris fan – sue me).

The Adventure mode is a great way to slowly learn the ropes of the novelty rulesets and additional modes that Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S have added to the typical Puyo Puyo and Tetris formula. Its adjustable difficulty ensures that missions can be completed after a handful of tries. Wanting the “chase” (read: optional) win conditions is worth a try, but it’ll take some time to complete everything in full.

In Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S, I would have wanted some iteration on the Adventure Mode’s means of onboarding the player, especially as it relates to the Skill Battle mode. Skill Battles let the player put a team together (like Pokemon) of characters that can use special abilities in the middle of a Versus battle. If you’re in a pinch and need to clear several clumps of bubbles to make room for other Puyo bubbles, Sonic can turn all of the bubbles blue in the first two rows. The idea of configuring a team of skills is a great addition and increases the game’s complexity, but its execution falls short when the mode suddenly becomes available and lacks a firm, but optional, hand in teaching the player as to what the game’s stats mean, what abilities work well together, and so forth.

With the Switch 2, it’s clear that Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S has been refreshed to incorporate the new hardware. The notion of including a camera is strange, but it makes sense when playing with friends online. I especially love how Sega has incorporated the Switch 2’s haptics – clearing multiple lines of blocks/bubbles vibrates the new Joy-Cons in a delightful and satisfying fashion. It feels so good to see the visual effects and feel the haptic responses of my in-game actions.

The mouse support is a nice touch, but I have yet to find a reason to use it when the haptics feel so good when holding the Switch 2 in tablet mode. Even when the controllers are detached, I find myself gravitating toward that feels right instead of trying the Mouse function out. It works fine, don’t get me wrong, but it feels too foreign and less intuitive than using a traditional controller.

I’ve spent several hours playing Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S and I just love it. Barring the unnecessary complexities of its Skill Battles and attempting to learn its nuances, the additional modes and Versus setup makes for satisfying, frenetic, and highly replayable puzzle gameplay. It’s an excellent game to take on the road and play with friends.