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Puchi Puchi Virus (DS)

• Developer: Jaleco Entertainment
• Publisher: NIS America
• Genre: Puzzle
• Official Website: http://www.nisamerica.com
• Score: 4 of 5: Niche

Many recent game releases are overly complicated. This is not to say that they aren't fun games, but there is something great about a simple game you can pick up and play for just a few minutes. Puchi Puchi Virus is exactly that, a simple game that you won't want to put down.

Puchi Puchi Virus takes place on a planet similar to Earth. One day, a virus named Puchirus began to infect the residents of this quaint planet. The residents begin to transform into odd creatures due to the virus. The protagonist of our story, Dr. Kevin Longfellow, sets out to help the residents. With the help of his assistants, Honeydew and George the Chicken, Dr. Kevin developed the "Virus Buster DS". The Virus Buster DS is how Dr. Kevin cures the patients.

Puchi Puchi Virus has single and multiplayer modes. The single player mode allows you to "Examine" new patients or enter the "Research" mode where you replay patients you've already cured. The way you cure patients is with the Virus Buster. Each patient has a goal that you must meet to cure them. Goals range from scoring a certain amount of points within a time limit to executing a certain number of chained moves.

As each "level" starts, viruses begin appearing on the screen. To eliminate viruses you click 3 viruses of the same color. Individually clicked viruses remain partially white. When 3 viruses have been clicked, the color of the clicked viruses changes to a more solid color. The selected viruses form a triangle and begin blinking. Clicking on any of the viruses a second time causes them all to disappear. Wait too long and the viruses become solid and cannot be clicked again. Any viruses inside the initial triangle also become selected. If you complete a trio for each of the viruses inside the triangle, you will begin forming more and more triangles. Click on one of the initial viruses and the triangles begin to disappear and form a chain. For each independent level of triangles that disappears, you are awarded more and more points based on the length of the chained move.

The game can be played by simply eliminating individual trios of viruses, but to cure the higher level patients you will need to master the art of chaining together moves. This makes Puchi Puchi Virus, like all great puzzlers, simple to learn and difficult to master. With more than 100 patients to cure, the game is sure to keep you busy for a while. Some of the patients are very easy to cure, while others are very difficult. The level of difficulty scales up at a pace that is perfect for allowing you to begin to master the more advanced moves necessary to complete the higher levels.

While Puchi Puchi Virus' story is weak at best, it does a great job of providing a solid and addicting pick-up-and-play game experience. Most levels take around 3 minutes to complete, which makes it perfect for short commutes or in between classes. If you are a fan of puzzle games, add Puchi Puchi Virus to your library.

May 1, 2008 | 0 comments
Chris Rasco