So, in the end, the Puyo Puyo Series has prevailed for over 20 years and seems to be going strong. There are, at minimum, 10 versions of the game, with each version becoming more popular than its predecessor.

Puyo Puyo has fascinating game play, interesting characters, and several sets of rules -- depending on which one you're playing.

If you want to learn all of them, I suggest you get started now.

Let us know what you think in the comments section!

Puyo Puyo Tetris

Puyo Puyo Tetris is a mash up between Puyo Puyo and Tetris (it's all in the name, right?). It was released in 2014 for the Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in Japan.  

Earlier this year, it became available worldwide for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.

The game has five modes: VS, Fusion, Swap, Big Bang, and Party. The VS version allows players to play with the basic Puyo Puyo rules or Tetris lines.n The Fusion version occurs when Puyos and tetriminoes are dropped into the same puzzle field. The goal is to clear the lines so that the puyo doesn't reset the chain count to zero.

The Swap version is where players use either Puyo Puyo or Tetris in the beginning. After a set time, the field swaps from one to the other. The goal is to tap out your opponent. The Big Bang mode is where Puyo Puyo is sent to Fever mode and Tetris players are sent to Lucky Attack.

Party Mode is where items drop into the fields, giving a special effects when cleared together with other Puyo or Tetrominoes. The goal is to be the player with the highest amount of points at the end.

Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary

Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary was created to honor the 20th anniversary of the Puyo Puyo!! Series.

It has 20 modes of gameplay, Pair Puyo, and Shop. Pair Puyo is a two-on-two play mode that allows for extra fun. In this mode, when one of the teams' field tops out, the board is replaced with a new board. The new board has a pre-made chain and can cost a life.

This game also has a shop where you can spend points from different modes in order to get Puyo skins, alternate character voices, and alternate character costumes.

The game also includes over 20 characters from Madou Monogatari, Fever and Fever 2, and Puyo Puyo 7, including: Arle Nadja, Draco Centaruos, WItch, Raffine, Klug, Sig, Rider, RIngo ANdou, Risukuma, Ecolo, and several others.

The rulesets of the game come from Puyo Puyo, Puyo Puyo Tsu, Puyo Puyo Sun, and Puyo Puyo Fever.

Essentially, the game is a Puyo Puyo fest!

The original game was released in 2011 by Sega. It can be played on the PlayStation Portable, Wii, Nintendo DS, and the Nintendo 3DS.

Puyo Puyo ~n

Puyo Puyo ~n (a.k.a. Puyo Puyo 4 and Puyo~n Party) is similar to Puyo Puyo Tsu, with the addition of character specials, Tokoton modes, and a Free Battle mode.

This version of Puyo Puyo has a serious storyline. It begins with Satan looking at books in a magical library. He finds a black box, which opens by itself. The next morning, a Puyo Circus arrives and Arle and Carbuncle go to explore. Once there, they're greeted by a jester-looking character and the story only gets wackier from there. 

The game was first released in the U.S.; it made its debut in 199 on the Sega Dreamcast. It was also released on the Nintendo64, PlayStation, and GameBoy Color.

Kirby's Avalanche

\\Kirby's Avalanche (known as Kirby's Ghost Trap in Europe and Super Puyo Puyo in Japan) is one of the most popular versions of Puyo Puyo. It was released in the U.S. by Nintendo in 1995.

In the Western version of the game, King Dedede has challenged Kirby and other Dream Land members to a Ghost Trap/Avalanche Competition at the Fountain of Dreams. The goal of the game is to defeat Dedede.

The game is different from its Japanese counterpart in that it doesn't focus on Arle and Carbuncle's stories. Instead, it uses Kirby characters as a way to appeal to its Western audience. It's also different in that Kirby and his opponents have full conversations instead of their usual mutters.

It was released on the Wii Virtual Console in 2007.

Puyo Puyo Tsu

Puyo Puyo Tsu (a.k.a. Puyo Puyo 2, Puyo Puyo Tsuu, or Puyo Puyo 2: Tsuu ... yeah, it goes by a lot of names) is the second game in the Puyo Puyo series. 

The game is similar to the first one in the series, but it includes three main modes: Single Puyo Puyo, Double Puyo Puyo, and Endless Puyo Puyo. The single mode of the game is a story mode where Satan attempts to steal Arle's heart and nab Kaa-Kun, two characters from the game. 

Fun Fact: Arle and Kaa-Kun are fascinating characters. A quick Google search will tell you that Arle is a young girl with immense power. She's a little on the snarky side, but for the most part, she's upbeat. Her age varies from game to game (in the Madou Mongatari series, she is about five, but in the Puyo Puyo series, she's about 16). She also wields elemental magic.

But if her bad ass magic is too much for you, you can always hang around poor Kaa-Kun (a.k.a. Carbuncle). He's the unusually happy mascot of the Puyo Puyo games. Due to his curious nature, he wanders off in search of excitement and adventure, which generally puts him in wonderfully awkward situations. 

But enough about that.

If you want to play the versus mode, you should know that its menu has five predefined rule sets, and gives the player the chance to set custom rules. The multiplayer mode is exactly what it sounds like: super awesome amazing Puyo Puyo fun! 

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is a straight replica of Puyo Puyo madness. It was originally released in 1993 for the Sega Mega Drive, with the game's creators using characters from Sonic the Hedgehog to appeal to their Western audience.

If you've never played it, you should know that the game features Doctor Robotnik, the titular Sonic the Hedgehog villain. He decides to kidnap the residents of Beanville from the planet Mobius, turning them into robot slaves -- and he almost succeeds, unless you stop him.

The main character, named "Has Bean," is supposed to stop Robotnik and his henchmen by breaking into the dungeons that the bean-like creatures are being held in -- and breaking them out. 

It's really exciting stuff.

It was also available on the Game Gear and Sega Master system at the time, but can be found today in many Sega master collections for modern consoles.

Puyo Puyo! takes over the world! Okay. Not really, but these games might bring back some nostalgia. After all, Puyo Puyo! has been around for nearly forever, releasing in 1991 for the MSX2 home computer. 

So although it may be a franchise as old as The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past or Mega Man 4, Puyo Puyo! has remained nearly as popular as those franchises for good reason. Like Tetris, Puyo Puyo! is an addicting, skill-based puzzle game. The only difference is that it has Japanese characters and a killer story line (depending on the version that you're playing).

And that really matter, because there are quite a few games in the series. So to help you whittle the selection down to the games that really matter, here are the Puyo Puyo! games that'll get you frothing at the mouth. 

Puyo Puyo Tetris is taking the world by storm. Developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega, Puyo Puyo Tetris is a mash-up of the two franchises that takes gameplay to a whole new zany level. 

But if you can't pick up this newest iteration to the growing set of franchises -- or just want another puzzler that's in the same vein of Puyo Puyo Tetris -- there are plenty of competitive (sometimes cutesy) games out on the market that will help you scratch that itch. If Puyo Puyo Tetris is what you seek, but cannot find, then look here to see versions of it that are divine.

That may be a really bad rhyme, but I think it pretty much sums up what you're about to read. Let's dive in. 

Octomania

Octopi are undeniably weird creatures. They have eight legs and are pretty darn squishy. They even have a beak and squirt ink any time their under duress. So, why put them in a video game? 

The better question is: why not? 

Octomania is a game where the player uses the Wii remote to control a cursor over a field of colored octopi. There are numbered nets all over the playing field, and the idea is to get the same colored octopi -- or octopi connected orthogonally -- together and under the nets. After the player's done this, the octopi are removed and he or she can then send sea urchins to their competition's field (they can't be removed unless they are orthogonal to other octopi are being removed).

The player loses the game if his or her field is completely covered with sea urchins for three seconds. 

Octomania features a single-player story mode and a multiplayer mode for up to four players. If you enjoyed Puyo Puyo, you should check this game out. Not only does it include cute little octopi, but the gameplay is similar to Puyo Puyo. So trade out your puyos for octopi and enjoy the ride!

Egg Mania: Eggstreme Madness

I don't know about you, but I love eggs or, I at least like eating them. But seeing them in games is cool, too. In Egg Mania: Eggstreme Madness, an egg-shaped character controls the pieces for you -- and it's complete madness. 

Just like with Puyo Puyo, the player is supposed to reach the top of the screen faster than their opponent -- who is either a CPU or a human. The Tetris component of the game is that the rows you create have to be complete in order for the tetrominoes (and similar blocks) to disappear. If not, they'll collapse under weight and dissolve in water.

Egg Mania: Eggstreme Madness is worth playing because it has interesting mechanics, where enemies randomly appear to halt your progress and shorcuts open in several levels, adding a unique quality to the game. On top of that, the backgrounds on each level change. They're a mix of fantasy, sci-fi, martial arts, and other genres. 

It's a wild ride with wild visuals and mechanics to go along with it. 

Egg Mania: Eggstreme Madness is on GameBoy Advance, PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox.

Magical Drop

Magical Drop is the last game on our list. It's an interesting game where the characters are named after tarot cards. You can play as the Fool, Magician, High Priestess, Star, Devil, or Chariot. The game has two modes: the single-player mode is score based, while the versus mode is played against either a computer player or another human.

In this game, a "clown" arranges the players' colored bubbles into stacks of three. Like with all Tetris and bubble games, this causes them to be destroyed. Chains can be formed with either a single drop or several drops in quick succession.

The game was originally named Chain Reaction, and it is a tile-matching puzzle game that was developed by Data East for arcades in 1995. It's also an adaptation of an obscure Russian DOS game called Drop-Drop.

It's been released on Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), PlayStation, Saturn, Arcade, the Wii Shop, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Portable (PSP).

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Did you all enjoy reading about games that are like Puyo Puyo Tetris? Rhyming aside, I hope that you all take the time to check out these three games. The cuteness of these games alone should scream "Yes, I'm fantastic!" which is something that you can't ignore.

So, settle down, and play some Puyo Puyo Tetris wannabes. It might surprise you!

Sony polled 10,000 Japanese PlayStation fans about their favorite games in PlayStation's 20 year history. Sony broke down the raw data to compile different category lists, such as "Most Popular Among People in Their 40s" and "Most Exhilarating Games Among Women." This list, however, concentrates on the Top 10 games overall, as decided by the fans.

Interestingly enough, the majority of the top games were only released in Japan, and multiple games in the same series made the list. Due to this, I will only elaborate on the highest ranked game in each series. The entire Top Ten list is found at the end of this article.

The Dragon Quest series swept the competition, with different sequels taking first, third, sixth, and eighth place on the Top Ten List.

Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride

Ranked #1

Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride is a role-playing game for the PlayStation 2. It was released in 2004. The game has first-person turn-based battles with monsters that can be enemies, yet later join your party. The story-line follows our hero throughout his life. The first part of the game has our hero at age 6, but the hero ages as chapters pass. Each chapter has a different age and facet of the plot, which comes to a culmination when the hero is an adult man with grown children.

The PlayStation 2 version of Dragon Quest V is actually a remake. The game itself was the most successful Dragon Quest remake, selling 1.5 million copies.

Final Fantasy VII

Ranked #2

Final Fantasy also did well in the Sony survey, taking the second, fourth, and seventh spots in the Top Ten List.

Final Fantasy VII is a role-playing game released on the PlayStation 1 in 1997. It involves turn-based gameplay with multiple party members. It is currently the best-selling game in the Final Fantasy series.

In Final Fantasy VII, gamers play as Cloud Strife, a mercenary for hire. Through a series of events, Cloud goes from working with an eco-terrorist organization to protecting the world from Sephiroth, the main antagonist. While the game is older, it is a fan favorite, with a rating of 4.5/5 on Metacritic.

Resident Evil

Ranked #5

 Resident Evil is a horror video game based on surviving a zombie attack. It was released in 1996. 

In Resident Evil, characters Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine investigate the disappearance of their S.T.A.R.S. elite task force, but get trapped in a mansion with zombies. They need to fight and navigate their way out through puzzles, traps, and enemies.

Resident Evil was one of the pioneers of the modern survival horror genre, and is getting an HD remake that will be released in 2015. 

Puyo Puyo!

Ranked #9

Puyo Puyo! is a tile-matching puzzle game made in 1991. The object of the game is to clear your side of puyos to fill your opponent's side with garbage.

To do so, you must connect and remove puyos. Four or more puyos of the same color must be connected vertically or horizontally to be removed; diagonal puyos do not count. Chain reactions and multiple removals score extra points.

Puyo Puyo! was only released in Japan, and its creation sparked a multitude of spin-offs.

Tetris

Ranked #10

Tetris is an iconic game for any player. It is the highest-paid downloadable game of all time, having sales since 1984 on various consoles. The PlayStation 1 version made the Sony list.

In Tetris, blocks of various shapes fall from the top of the screen. Players attempt to clear the board by filling in every piece of a line by rotating blocks. If you fill up the screen, you lose.

While the gameplay is simple, the game itself is fairly addicting. There's no other reason for the game's success, and the fact it is continuing to come out on newer consoles.

Entire Top Ten List

1. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride 
2. Final Fantasy VII 
3. Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen 
4. Final Fantasy X 
5. Resident Evil 
6. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King 
7. Final Fantasy 
8. Dragon Quest VII: Warriors of Eden 
9. Puyo Puyo! 
10. Tetris

Was there anything that surprised you on this list? What games have you played?