Seventh time's the charm!

Sega of Japan's "Project Ringo" has finally been revealed in this week's Famitsu magazine. To the surprise of very few here at Nintendo Life, it's an all-new Puyo Puyo game!

Imaginately titled Puyo Puyo 7, the latest entry in Sega's classic falling-block puzzler series appears quite similar to previous Puyo games, with the majority of the basic rules remaining intact. As always, though, there's a new scoring mechanic to play with; the new "Transformation" mode allows you to build up energy by countering enemy attacks and then use that energy to either enlarge or shrink your character (and their Puyos), adding another level of strategy.

Puyo Puyo 7 is set for release on the DS on July 30 in Japan and will feature both local and online multiplayer, as well as support for download play. Versions for PSP and Wii will follow at some point during the latter half of the year. The Puyo series hasn't seen an international release since Puyo Pop Fever in 2004 so it's hard to speculate on whether the new title is likely to leave Japan, but one would imagine that a new Puyo game wouldn't warrant so much hype unless a worldwide release was on the cards.

The official Project Ringo site will be providing a full reveal on April 3, so until then, stay tuned to NintendoLife!

[source 1up.com]