The Super Play Top 100 was the 1990’s SNES culture magazine’s final ranking of the platform’s catalogue mere months before the publication ended. This regular monthly feature takes a look back at each title, how it fared back then and how it fares now. This month, it’s puzzle time, with the first of its type in this list, Hebereke’s Popoitto.
So, you’re scrolling through a list of Super Nintendo puzzle games thinking, “I’ve played Tetris. I’ve played Dr. Mario. I’ve screamed at Puyo Puyo. What’s next?” Well, dear reader, allow me to gently slap Hebereke’s Popoitto onto your radar — a game with a name that sounds like someone sneezed into their coffee mid-sentence.
Let’s start with the basics: Hebereke isn’t just a nonsense word from a Scrabble fever dream. It’s a weird little franchise from Sunsoft, creators of such hits as Blaster Master and most of the Warner Bros character-based titles of the 8-bit and 16-bit era. This series stars a crew of what can only be described as escaped plush toys with unresolved emotional baggage. Hebereke’s Popoitto is one of the weirder entries — and that's saying something for a series where the main character looks like a penguin who gave up on life halfway through evolving.
At first glance, it’s your typical match-the-blobs-to-make-them-go-away scenario. Four of the same colour in a line — boom, they’re gone. Easy, right? But wait! What’s those creepy little things called Unyos just vibing in the playfield like they’re waiting for a train? These freaky gremlin-squid hybrids won’t leave unless you trap them between matched blobs, which adds an extra layer of strategy and/or screaming. It’s puzzle gameplay for the tactically inclined — or the criminally stubborn. Think of it like Puyo Puyo, but with enemies that just won’t take the hint and leave the party. In other words, it’s Puyo Puyo With a Psychology Degree.
The story mode pits you against a bizarre gallery of AI opponents who range from mild-mannered blobs, to demonic masterminds with names like "BOB" or "I’m Going to Make You Cry." Each opponent has their own bizarre behaviour pattern, like only matching on the left side of the screen, or pretending to be bad for five levels before going full Rain Man on your last life. It’s less “learning curve” and more “accidental cliff dive.” Multiplayer is where the chaos truly shines. If you have a friend who’s too confident in their intelligence, throw this game at them and watch as they slowly descend into colour-matching madness and betrayal.
Graphically, this game is aggressively 1995. Bright colours? Check. Round, wobbly characters with large eyes and questionable motives? Double check. It’s all very kawaii until you realise you’ve been staring at the same smug penguin for 40 minutes. The music is the kind of bubbly chiptune loop that either keeps you awake at night or haunts your dreams — possibly both. The sound effects, meanwhile, suggest someone at Sunsoft recorded their rubber duck collection being tortured.
Unusually, Hebereke’s Popoitto was never released in North America, despite getting a release in both Japan and Europe, which is something of a rarity. Sunsoft apparently took one look at the U.S. market and said, “Yeah, they’re not ready for Popoitto.” And to be fair, they weren’t. Europe got it, Japan loved it, and the rest of us were left with Yoshi’s Cookie. But what did Super Play have to say about it to make the top 100?
“Sunsoft's second 'tribute' to Super Puyo Puyo (their first was Hebereke's Popoon) sees them getting just that little bit closer to its greatness. Popoitto uses the same link-four-colours concept and peppers the gameplay area with a number of nasties which have to be removed before you can even think about moving on to the next stage. And before you ask, no, we've no idea what Popoitto means, either.”
Hebereke’s Popoitto never became a household name, but it quietly nestled itself into the hearts of retro puzzle nerds and import gamers everywhere. Is it groundbreaking? Not really. But is it charming, slightly deranged, and sneakily strategic? Absolutely. If you love weird Japanese puzzle games, or just want a game that lets you match pastel-coloured monsters while battling a shrimp wearing a fez (probably), Hebereke’s Popoitto is your jam. It's a deeply strange, oddly addictive relic of a time when developers were allowed to ask, “What if we made it weirder?”
