Kidou Gekidan Haro Ichiza: Haro no Puyo Puyo

Kidou Gekidan Haro Ichiza: Haro no Puyo Puyo
Developer	Arowana
Publisher	Bandai
Platform	Game Boy Advance
Modes	Single Player, Multi Player
Players	1-2 players
Release date	July 21, 2005

Kidou Gekidan Haro Ichiza: Haro no Puyo Puyo (機動劇団はろ一座 ハロのぷよぷよ, Mobile Theatrical Company Haro: Haro's Puyo Puyo) is a Puyo Puyo game published by Bandai (with a license granted by Sega) for the Game Boy Advance. It is based on Mobile Suit Gundam, the inaugural entry of Sunrise's Gundam mecha anime franchise, and utilizes art and storytelling akin to the satirical SD Gundam OVAs.

Gameplay

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.)

Characters

The characters are listed by their appearance in the introduction demo.

Main Characters

• Amuro Ray - A teenage boy from Side 7 who falls into the Earth Federation's experimental "Gundam" and finds himself thrust into the One Year War.
• Char Aznable - A charismatic, masked pilot from the Principality of Zeon nicknamed "The Red Comet."
• Sayla Mass - A young woman thrust into the Federation army, who is actually Char's long-lost sister.
• Lalah Sune - A mysterious girl with powerful "Newtype" psychic abilities who assists Char but also takes a liking to Amuro.
• Bright Noa - The young, stern captain of the Federation battleship White Base.
• Ramba Ral - A determined middle-aged Zeon soldier who Amuro battles in the desert after having met on friendly terms.
• Sleggar Law - A flirtatious, carefree Federation ace who joins the White Base during their second trip to space.
• M'Quve - A Zeon colonel with an unusual fascination with vases.

Final Bosses

• Gihren Zabi - The fascist leader of Zeon in everything but name. (Final Boss, becomes playable after defeated)
• Shibo - A sentient vase. (True Final Boss that challenges you at the end of story mode if you don't use any continues. Becomes playable in multiplayer/endless mode after being defeated in story mode.)

Trivia

• Haro no Puyo Puyo naturally features several references to events and other elements found in Mobile Suit Gundam:
  • Amuro's field background is Tem Ray's Circuit, a useless piece of hardware provided to Amuro by his father after the latter suffers from oxygen deprivation. Amuro's victory pose references his excitement over having taken a photo of his crush Matilda Ajan, while his defeat pose references a notable instance of Amuro suffering PTSD while on Earth.
  • Char's background is the bar from where he watches Gihren Zabi speak at Garma's Zabi's funeral. His theme is his personal image song Char ga Kuru.
  • Sayla's background is a bathtub within White Base, referencing a particular scene involving Sayla late in the series.
  • Lalah hovers and flies around as she does in several "Newtype visions" throughout the franchise. Her background references the swan in the rain that Amuro sees before first meeting her, while her defeat pose references the fact that she dies. Her stage theme is Eien ni Amuro, the TV series' ending theme.
  • Bright's theme is Tobe! Gundam, the TV series' opening theme that also plays on the title screen.
  • Sleggar's background is the White Base's waiting area, where he shares his final conversation with would-be suitor Mirai Yashima.
  • Gihren's background is the Zabi family's capital on Side 3. His defeat portrait references his death at the hands of his sister Kycilia Zabi.
• Haro no Puyo Puyo is the first in a trilogy of Kidou Gekidan Haro Ichiza games. However, it is the only one to involve Puyo Puyo; the other two are Mahjong games for the Nintendo DS focused around the original Mobile Suit Gundam and Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam respectively.
• Haros in Mobile Suit Gundam and its canon sequels are exclusively green. The blue, violet, yellow, and orange Haros featured in this game were introduced in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, a series that takes place in an entirely-unrelated universe.