Cranky Food Friends

Cranky Food Friends
Cranky Food Friends title screen
Developer	Sega
Publisher	Sega
Platform	iOS, Android
Players	1 player
Release date	August 2015

Cranky Food Friends was a mobile game developed by Sega for iOS and Android OS platforms. It was soft-launched in Canada and various European countries, and lasted less than a year before being shut down on March 31, 2016. The game revolves around sentient battling foodstuffs; said food characters were designed by Natalie Butler.

Gameplay

The core gameplay of Cranky Food Friends was identical to that of Puyo Puyo!! Quest, including board and level-up mechanics.

Relationship with Puyo Puyo and Reaction

International Puyo Puyo fans very quickly noticed the aesthetic and mechanical similarities to Puyo Puyo!! Quest. The realization that Cranky Food Friends was a fully-fledged "reskin" akin to Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine and Kirby's Avalanche resulted in near-universal criticism from Puyo Puyo and general Sega fans. The frequent issue cited is that, much like Mean Bean Machine, Cranky Food Friends was perceived as an indication that Sega did not have interest in bringing over a Puyo Puyo game with its original setting.

Legacy

The game was unceremoniously shut down on March 31, 2016 on roughly two weeks notice, with Sega concluding that the game was not viable.

Coincidentally, by the time it was shut down, Sega 3D Classics Collection (which includes 3D Puyo Puyo 2), had been announced for release outside of Japan. The series would later see fully-localized entries in Puyo Puyo Tetris 1 and 2, Puyo Puyo Champions and Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop.