Manic and enjoyable puzzler
After the immense success of Bubble Bobble in arcades and later through home conversions, someone thought it would be a great idea to take that game's adorable dinosaur-like heroes and place them in a puzzle game. Strange though it might seem, it was a great move as it resulted in this, the first in a series of popular puzzle games that will prove appealing to fans of Columns, Pang and other such colourful adventures. The basic idea here is pretty simple, with the game taking place on a 2D static screen which is filled with bubbles of various colours. Players must burst them by firing single bubbles up the screen and when three or more bubbles of the same colour meet, they burst. Clear all the bubbles, rack up some points and then you move on to the next even more challenging level. Simples! However, adding to the difficulty is the fact that the ceiling moves ever closer to the bottom of the screen, increasing the pressure on the player to make an effective move that bursts as many bubbles as possible and gets you one step closer to the number one position on the high score table. Bust a Move really is a classic of the genre. Later instalments like Bust a Move 4 introduced several new elements, but the original shows the core genius of the gameplay in its purity and remains a hectic and fast-paced experience that really keeps players on their toes. When played in two-player mode it becomes even more enjoyable and competitive and this really is the best way to play. The graphics and sound are simple enough, but do their job well and are certainly bright and appealing. If you want an enjoyable slice of action puzzling, then you could do far worse than check this out.
