"Sega Ages: Puyo Puyo 2" Review

The once-obscure "Puyo Puyo" series has been granted a renaissance thanks to the Switch. After the 2017 port of "Puyo Puyo Tetris" comes the latest in the conga line of revamped 1990s Sega originals in the "Sega Ages" lineage.

A quarter-century after release, the simple-yet-satisfying block puzzles retain their charm and appeal. A surprisingly stressful experience, the increasingly frantic frenzy of tile placement inflicts you with the Tetris effect after your close your eyes following long, intense sessions.

A simple reissue of the original game might have been enough to hook you once again, but Sega took welcome measures to plus it up to modern standards.

With two-player online matchups, an online leaderboard and offline quick rewinds, the old standby gets the equivalent of a fresh coat of paint and a new transmission as it hits the road once again.

The years have been kind to the rock-solid structure of the puzzle dynamics in "Puyo Puyo 2," which will probably still be in puzzle gamers' rotations 25 years from now. That's par for the course for the brand, which may as well be renamed "Sega Ageless."

Publisher provided review code.