Game Review: Pretty Girls Pop Match

By Al

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5

I'm here once again reviewing one of those games! I seem to be a sucker for ecchi titles, as I've reviewed about ten or so up to this point. I've even reviewed two other games within this Pretty Girls series already. (Check out my review of Pretty Girls Klondike Solitaire Plus HERE, and my review of Pretty Girls Escape Plus HERE!) Though never very deep, I tend to prefer this series over the games that seem to barely even try to attach gameplay to their drawings of big titty anime girls. With that in mind, I present to you all Pretty Girls Pop Match, a puzzle game that is out now on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. We're going to be taking a look at the Nintendo Switch version today, and see if the streak of me enjoying this series more than other ecchi titles continues. There's no need for any further intro, so let's dive right in!

If you've ever played a match-three puzzle game before, then you've pretty much played Pretty Girls Pop Match before too. There are some things that make it unique, but it's not really out to break the mold. You have a grouping of gems on screen, and it's your task to switch the positions of two of them in the hopes of lining up three or more of the same kind of gem. These can be in a straight line, or in a square of at least four gems. Any gems that fall into that matching criteria disappear once lined up, and more gems fall from the top of the screen to replace the empty space they once occupied. Some stages do have dead zones that can't be refilled with these falling gems, but most will simply refill after each match is made. These new gems can then match up too, causing a chain reaction that can net you even more points. Speaking of points, you get plenty of them for each set of gems you match up, and said totals go up the bigger the chain. Score isn't necessarily the be all end all though, as you more often than not have a set goal of gems or special items that must be cleared first. These goals are the only way to actually complete a stage, and you have a limited number of turns in which to fulfill said goals. As mentioned earlier, these goals usually involve clearing out special items or gems of a certain color, achieving a high score, or a mix of both of those. Clearing the goals move you on to the next stage, and you're even given a point bonus for having turns left over. Actually, said end level bonus comes in the form of bombs that clear away even more gems, but in order to understand those, we'll have to talk about items next.

You may have noticed that I usually start my reviews by going over story, but I didn't bother with that this time. I don't think it's going to surprise anyone to learn that there is no story at all in this game, and that each of the girls exist more as eye candy than as fully fleshed out characters. I will give credit where credit is due though, and mention that they do work with a much smaller cast this time around, and that helps each girl stand out more than they would have otherwise. That's still not saying much all things considered, but it's a step in the right direction as far as game design goes. There are four girls to interact with, with one of them being rather noteworthy early on. The Priestess girl, who I don't think actually has a name that's ever given in-game, exists to give you tutorials and hints along your journey. She'll teach you how to play, and also explain some of the more advanced mechanics as they become available. You can interact with her somewhat in some of the other game modes, but it's the other three girls that you're going to be using for much of the game. This means that there are only four girls in total in this game, and they all only have their single starting outfit. I guess this might be a negative point for some, but this is the first Pretty Girls game that felt like it focused more on the game aspect, as opposed to just giving you lots of similar-looking girls. Once again I don't want to imply that any of this makes Pretty Girls Pop Match a truly great game, but it must be pointed out nevertheless.

Aesthetics aside, each of the girls actually serve as ways to enhance the magic items found in game. There are four magic items you'll encounter in Pretty Girls Pop Match. The sword gets rid of the gems near it, and then clears at least one gem or special item that is part of your current goal. The bomb clears all gems or special items around it within a certain radius, and is best detonated when in the center of a stage. The rockets clear all gems in the direction that they're facing, and can go either horizontal or vertical. Lastly, the wand clears all gems of a particular color, and it's the only magic item that can't be enhanced. I believe most of these items drop randomly, but they can also be triggered by pulling off certain gem clearing combos. Each have their own uses that you're going to want to master if you plan to fully clear the game, and using them effectively means picking the right girl for the job. Thina Ariosto, who I think is a thief, enhances the rocket power-up, the warrior Sonia Judith enhances the sword power-up, and the witch Sara Magnus enhances the bomb. By "enhance", I mean that each of those items becomes more powerful, and you can actually use collected gems to further power up each of the girls' abilities through the options menu. This adds a layer of depth to an otherwise simple game, as you'll some stages are more difficult, or easier, depending on which girl you select at the start.

If this were a simple match-three game, it wouldn't be very fun, but there are quite a few quirks to the level design that keep things interesting. First off is the stage layouts themselves. Some stages have gems that are hard to reach outside of the use of magic items, while others have special goals that require you to either free gems from a bubble, or collect special items by clearing gems next to them. These latter goals can be made harder still when combined with the unique level design. It won't take long before you realize that you'll have to employ special tactics in order to clear some stages, and you'll more than likely hit a game over a couple of times. That's another interesting aspect of the game, as you can sometimes run out of moves you can make. Thanks to some levels having narrow passages, you can lock yourself into a corner if you're not careful. Magic items can usually save you, but seeing as you usually have to clear gems to get them to spawn, it can still be a long ways off from actually doing you any good. You do have the ability to pick a girl at the start of each stage attempt, so you can at least play around with tactics if you're having trouble. I personally found the puzzle game aspect most interesting of all, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I spent several hours beating each and every stage. This is probably the first Pretty Girls title where I didn't care that new costumes and girls weren't being unlocked regularly, as I was fine with the core game itself. It's really nothing special, but it is just good enough that I was able to lose myself in it more than once.

I think I'm going to cover visuals and music together, as I don't really have a lot to say about either. Visually the game looks pretty simplistic, but that's to be expected considering the overall scope. The game is split into a hundred levels, with those levels being further split into five groups. Each group has its own are background, and you also unlock diorama backgrounds as you clear each level group. Seeing as this is a Pretty Girls game, it's no surprise that the Diorama Mode makes a return, but it's far more limited this time around. There are only four girls with one outfit each, and only about ten backgrounds for you to use. This limits the scenes you can create, but I never really bothered with this mode much in the first place. Design-wise, I think the girls look great, but they are on the generic side of things. If you're not a fan of puzzle games, or if the four girls on the cover image don't look appealing to you, then it's safe to say that this might not be the game for you. Sound-wise things fare a bit better, as the soundtrack is pretty good, and the game even features voice acting. The music isn't going to get you to run out and buy its soundtrack, but it also isn't going to be grating either. Neither the music nor the voice acting are anything to write home about, but they both add to the otherwise limited presentation. I can't remember off the top of my head if the previous games in the series had voice acting, but I don't think they did. Including it here was probably due to the much smaller cast, and that's definitely a bonus I wasn't expecting to get.

There are 100 stages to complete in Pretty Girls Pop Match, and a handful of things for you to unlock along the way. Each level is challenging though, so it does feel like there is more substance to this game than the level count might imply. There is also a timed puzzle mode where you aim for a high scores. It's a very basic mode, but there are implications that it also acts as something of a leaderboard. Even though the game makes that claim, I was not able to find said leaderboards during my playthrough. I guess they could be inactive since I played the game before its official release, but I have to assume that the presence of leaderboards is either a lie, or maybe a mistranslation. Either way, it's not unfair to say that there isn't a whole lot to do once you've fully cleared the game. Doing so isn't an easy task though, and it can easily take you upwards of 5-10 hours to 100% it, depending on you luck and skill. I personally feel that's more than enough content for its current $5.99 price tag, but I'll admit that might be a matter of preference. Either way, this is a game that won't give you much buyer's remorse, if for no other reason than it costs less than a combo meal at most fast food restaurants.

Even though this is the kind of game that will only appeal to a certain type of gamer, I have to say that I enjoyed my time with Pretty Girls Pop Match more than I ever thought I would. It may be an odd recommendation for me, but I think you should pick it up. That said, I do have to point out that I enjoyed it for the reasons most people probably wouldn't care for. I found it to be a decent puzzle game, and didn't care that it was light on the ecchi content. The problem lies in the fact that many puzzle game fans may be put off by the visuals, and those looking for a harder edged ecchi title might be put off by the overall lack of that sort of content. It sort of exists in an unfortunate middle ground, but I can't bring myself to say anything truly bad about it. My advice is to pick it up if you've enjoyed other games in the series, and if you're the least bit curious, then grab it also. I honestly don't think you'll regret it either. Anyway, that's all I have for now. See you in the next one!

Check Out Pretty Girls Pop Match on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/pretty-girls-pop-match-switch/

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Story: N/A
Gameplay: A-
Graphics: B
Music/Sound: B+
Value: A

Overall: A-

Pros:
+ A surprisingly fun puzzle game that kept me entertained far longer than I thought it would.
+ It manages to add some original elements to the match-three formula that make it a puzzle game that fans of the genre will enjoy.
+ Having each of the girls enhance in-game powerups was a nice touch, and gives them more character than other titles in the series usually do.
+ Even though the cast is rather limited this time around, each of the girls manages to feel a bit more special because of that fact.
+ Has great replayability, and is more than worth its $5.99 asking price.

Cons:
- There aren't a lot of options as far as the girls go. You only get four girls, and they each only have one outfit.
- Players expecting lots of ecchi content might be disappointed.
- Part of me wishes there was more content to the game, as there isn't much reason to keep playing once you've cleared the 100 levels.
- Lastly, I don't think the implied online leaderboards are actually a thing...

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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What a suspicious thing to have to declare...