Kidou Gekidan Haro Ichiza: Haro no Puyo Puyo

About

Kidou Gekidan Haro Ichiza: Haro no Puyo Puyo is a puzzle game for Game Boy Advance that blends the frantic block-matching of Puyo Puyo with the Mobile Suit Gundam universe. Players swap traditional Puyos for Haro, the franchise's mascot robot, and take control of iconic characters like Amuro Ray and Char Aznable. The game offers story mode with anime-inspired cutscenes, a head-to-head verses mode, and a survival mode where random opponents hurl garbage Haros at your field. Matches rely on quick reflexes and chain-building strategy to clear lines and overwhelm rivals. The game shines in its customization and quirks. Each character has dozens of quotable lines from the series that trigger during chain reactions, and players can assign specific phrases to unlock through single-player progress. Movement feels tighter than standard Puyo Puyo titles with fixed lateral speed and a slight delay when clearing nuisance pieces. While the 2005 release date means it lacks modern polish, dedicated fans of the franchise or the puzzle genre will appreciate the niche charm and replay value from its branching story scenes and phrase editor.

Storyline

Haro no Puyo Puyo uses a five-color variation of Tsu rule. There are slight changes to the overall game flow; namely, lateral movement speed is constant when the D-Pad is held left or right (most Puyo Puyo games increase movement speed when the joystick/D-Pad is held), and there is also a notable delay when the player fully offsets Nuisance Puyo. Visually, the game replaces Puyo with the Gundam franchise's iconic mascot, Haro. The game features single-player, multiplayer, and Endless modes. The single-player mode is an AI gauntlet akin to most Puyo Puyo games, with cutscenes featuring Mobile Suit Gundam's most iconic characters; there are multiple potential scenes for each character matchup that encourage repeated playthroughs. In Endless mode, players attempt to match Puyo until they are defeated while fending off periodic garbage attacks. The game places a heavy emphasis on "chain phrases," the vocal clips that play when characters make chains. In Haro no Puyo Puyo, each character's phrases are fully customizable, with several phrases unlocking whenever the player clears the single-player mode. The player can also choose to either make the character restart their chain phrases with each new chain sequence (as in most other Puyo Puyo games), or loop. (For example, if the player made a 5-chain, the next chain sequence would start with the 6-chain phrase.)