Puyo Puyo

Puyo Puyo (ぷよぷよ) refers to a series of puzzle video games created by Compile and later Sonic Team. Puyo Puyo, originally released by Compile in 1991, featured characters from the 1989 RPG Madou Monogatari, also made by Compile. Puyos were enemy monsters in said game, as the rough equivalent of the slime monsters from the Dragon Quest game series.

Sega had hopes of releasing it outside of Japan, and, although they did, they didn't have the original names or characters. The first was released in February 1993 under the name Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine for Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear. Nintendo would also get their version of Puyo Puyo for the Super NES named Kirby's Avalanche. Spectrum HoloByte also released Puyo Puyo for the Microsoft Windows 3.1 and Macintosh in August 1995, under the name Qwirks.

After the demise of Compile in 2002, Sonic Team continued development of the Puyo Puyo series (as Sega held partial rights to the game since the first arcade release). Nowadays, the Puyo Puyo merchandise uses its own original name, replacing the second Puyo with Pop. The original game produced sequels like Puyo Puyo Tsuu, Puyo Puyo Sun, Puyo Puyo~n, Puyo Pop Fever, Puyo Puyo Fever 2, ''Puyo Puyo! 15th Anniversary, Puyo Puyo 7 and Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary''.