Bust-a-Move (or Puzzle Bobble) is one of those timeless games that no matter how many “reincarnations” there are, you still like playing it. I think the last time I played a Bust-a-Move game it was still back in Portugal on an arcade machine, and my mom thought it was so cute that she ended up playing a few games herself. Space Bust-a-Move turned out to be a very nice surprise, as I really wasn’t expecting to receive it.
The story in the game is quite simple, short and to the point. Bub and Bob (the cute little dinosaur-like creatures) live their carefree life in their far away planet, when one day a strange object crashes near them. A voice asks for their help in finding the Cosmo Bubbles and pleads to be set free from the evil Devilin.
The gameplay is the traditional Bust-a-Move that we have seen for years; move the arrow to shoot a bubble in the direction you want, make combinations of three or more of the same color to clear the bubbles. As time passes, the rest of the bubbles will slowly come down, and if they cross the line down below, it’s game over. You can play with the stylus and use the arrows at the bottom to control your aiming and touching the bubble to shoot, or use the D-pad and A button to aim and shoot (I prefer the latter).
The Single Player Story mode takes you through the different planets in search of the Cosmo Bubbles. Each planet is composed of three stages and a boss fight. Each stage has five levels, and the Cosmo Bubble for each stage will randomly appear in one of those levels. To collect the Cosmo Bubble you must free it instead of bursting it, by clearing the bubbles connecting it to the main cluster and letting it fall.
Once you have completed all three stages for a planet, you can access the boss fight. Boss fights are interesting. They span through both screens and not only you must clear the bubble barriers on the bottom, you must also clear the clusters surrounding the boss on the top screen – and these change position every so often, circling around the boss.
Aside from the Story mode, there is a Versus mode against AI opponents and an Endless mode where you keep playing and bursting bubbles until they reach the line at the bottom. As you play, you are rewarded with points, which can be exchanged for extras at the Shop. You can purchase bubbles, arrows and mini-games, which you can then play by accessing the Extra menu. There is also a Challenge mode with 3 and 5 minute matches, that tracks your daily progress in the form of graphs. To top it off, there is a Multiplayer option as well, either through DS Download Play for up to four players, or via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to play online with friends or find random matches.
I am a sucker for puzzles games and match-three, so I’ve been enjoying Space Bust-a-Move quite a bit, even the wacky little bit of rushed plot. I’ve always liked the cutesy characters, the adorable little sounds they make, and the upbeat music in the franchise, and this time around, I am very pleased with the different bubble power-ups, the boss fight mechanics and the variety of game modes. It’s fun, challenging, and will definitely please fans of the series.
Special thanks to Klee Kuo and Square Enix for providing a copy of this title.