Video: Calcolo! is a puzzling import shoot-’em-up

Most games make you choose between shooting ’em up or matching ’em together, but not Calcolo! This obscure import tries to do both at once, and… it actually works, for the most part! Check out our video for a quick overview.

Calcolo!, released only in Japan in 1997 for the original PlayStation by Japanese studio CLEF, combines a falling-block puzzler with the controls of a scrolling shooter. You match together blocks of different numbers until they form chains of, well, that number, but instead of simple D-pad controls, you push the blocks around with directional bullets.

Topics include: comfortable human life, all the numbers, story importance in puzzle games, cool characters, dunks, good play, less good play, learning to persevere.