2001 · Port · Altron · Puzzle

Super Bust-A-Move

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Super Bust-A-Move (also known as Super Puzzle Bobble in Japan) is a 2000 game developed by Taito and published by Acclaim.

Released: 27 November 2001
Platforms: Game Boy Advance
Genres: Puzzle
Developers: Altron Taito
Publishers: Taito
Modes: Multiplayer Single-player
Perspective: Side view
Themes: Fantasy
Age ratings: ESRB E
Languages: English, Japanese

About

Super Puzzle Bobble (スーパーパズルボブル, Sūpā Pazuru Boburu), released as Super Bust-A-Move in Europe and North America, is a puzzle video game in the Puzzle Bobble series. It was developed by Taito, and released on November 27, 2000 by Acclaim Entertainment for the PlayStation 2, and by CyberFront and EON Digital Entertainment for Windows in 2001. It was later ported to the Game Boy Advance that same year, the Japanese version under the name Super Puzzle Bobble Advance (スーパーパズルボブルアドバンス, Sūpā Pazuru Boburu Adobansu). It was re-released in Japan for the PlayStation 2 in 2004 as part of Super Puzzle Bobble DX (スーパーパズルボブルDX, Sūpā Pazuru Boburu DX) (along with its sequel, Super Puzzle Bobble 2), which is Volume 62 of the Japan-exclusive Simple 2000 Series. This compilation includes a few graphical enhancements.

Super Puzzle Bobble was ported to the GameCube in 2003, under the name of Super Puzzle Bobble All-Stars (スーパーパズルボブルオールスターズ, Sūpā Pazuru Boburu Ōru Sutāzu) in Japan, Super Bust-A-Move All-Stars in Europe, and Bust-A-Move 3000 in North America. The game is a direct port, except for the inclusion of new backgrounds and remixed music. It also features new box artwork, more in line with the in-game artwork.

›Story

The gameplay is standard Puzzle Bobble action, but with features brought over from the arcade iteration of Super Puzzle Bobble such as giant and mini bubbles (with the sole exception being co-op.) The GameCube ports outside North America are a later version of the game and includes bonus game modes called "Shoot Bubble" that plays in a similar fashion to Space Invaders and "4P Battle" where up to four players complete their puzzle first before the others.

Keywords

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Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Super Puzzle Bobble gameplay is essentially the same as the rest of the series. It bestows some audiovisual improvements, adds and removes gameplay elements, adds a new art style, and adds a new character roster. It has single player, training, computer competition, and two player competition modes. New to this game are large-sized bubbles and a two player cooperation mode, in which players work together to solve a stage.

The GameCube All-Stars version has a four player option and a Space Invaders-style mode called "Shoot Bubble".

Reception

The PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance versions received "generally favorable reviews", while Bust-A-Move 3000 received "mixed" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 28 out of 40 for the PS2 version, 24 out of 40 for the Game Boy Advance version, and 26 out of 40 for the All-Stars edition.

Ryan Davis of GameSpot said the PS2 version has the best graphics and sound of the series to date, "with extraordinarily sharp 2D graphics and a healthy amount of visual splendor", but that its gameplay represents an "incredibly stripped-down" disappointment to the series which "brings virtually nothing new to the franchise" and is missing a lot of features from the previous year's Bust-a-Move 4. As for BAM3000, there was nothing new and the analog controls were awkward, but the multiple gameplay modes kept players happy. Geraint Evans of NGC Magazine regarded the game as worth owning, but only on one console. Tom Russo of NextGen found the Japanese PS2 import a bit disappointing and no different from the original game.