315 yen (£2/$3) a month is a pretty reasonable price to pay for freeplay access to keitai versions of some of SEGA’s finest games, and that’s exactly what a “Puyo Puyo! SEGA” membership gets you. New titles still get added to the “roster” from time to time in spite of the iPhone’s popularity here, because tens of millions in Japan still use Japanese phones. Recent SEGA keitai adventures include a Rainbow Islands-esque vertical platformer of a game called Sonic Jump, where you mustn’t stop going UP.
The latest addition to the line-up, Sonic Bowling, has Sonic sliding down a lane and clattering into pins like a common drunk. The game also features Cream the Rabbit (Big up the UK:R massive!) and nasty Eggman, who sets a series of ever trickier challenges in the game’s Mission Mode. Players around Japan can upload and compare their hi-scores if they’re that way inclined.
Bonus info: “Puyo Puyo! SEGA” members can even play a Burning Rangers quasi-sequel, a weird sudoku-meets-Sonic Team type of affair that looks rather a lot like this:
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