"A sweet puzzler"

Hmmm, I normally never write reviews, but after I saw RockguyKev bash this game (which is his good right ofcourse) I felt obliged to stand up for it. I myself did in fact play previous versions of this game: Bust a Move 2 and Bust a Move 3DX (both on the PSX) to be exact. Now, on with the review.

The first thing you'll notice upon starting the game, is the kiddish look and presentation. While it is not for everyone, I kinda like it. It's good enough to turn a bad day in a good day. Sort of anyway. The graphics themselve are nothing to brag about, they don't at all push the graphical capabilities of the DC. They do however, have a nice feel to them: pretty colours, sweet characters and smooth animation. Also notice the higher resolution and the overall cleaner look of the game than on the PSX. Overall: 7

As for the sound and music. I have mixed feelings about them. On one hand I like the cute sounds and voices (sorry Kev, hehe). They sound clear and add to the overall whacky feel of the game. The music on the other hand is a slightly different story. It's not at all bad. It's kinda funky, very cheery and somewhat catchy. It fits marvelously into the game. So why complain? Well, because BaM 2's and BaM 3DX's music (3DX had one original song and some great remixes of BaM 2's songs) was, in my humble opinion, much better. BaM 4's music is, to me, somewhat too childish and definately less catchy. I won't go further into this; after all, I'm reviewing a game, not a soundtrack. Just don't expect the same aural bliss that were BaM 2 and 3DX. Overall: 8

Am I required to write something about the story.....? Hehe, well anyway, here goes: ''Cronoa, Governess of the Future has some problems and asks for your help. The Arcana cards, mystical cards, have fallen into people's dreams causing the energy of the cards to go out of balance unless someone brave and skillful can enter the dream world and seal the cards! '' Well, not much of a story, but what the hell. If I want a story I'll play an RPG! Overall: N/A :P

Okay, BaM's main attraction is ofcourse the gameplay! And it is, in one word: SWEET! The basic idea of all BaM's: Pop your bubbles into the screen using the arrow shaped pointer. Connect three or more of the same colour and they disappear. Bubbles connected to the disappearing string will fall of the screen. This is vital when playing versus the cpu or another human, as the amount of bubbles falling off your screen will be ADDED to your opponents screen. If one or more bubbles reach the bottom of your screen (the limit), you are dead! That goes too for your opponent ofcourse. So,......what's new to BaM 4? Well,....gameplay wise not all that much. In fact the only new thing I've found, is a scales-like puzzle. Make sure one side of the scales doesn't get much heavier than the other, or they reach the limit and it's GAME OVER! It's harder than it sounds. And as any BaM, this one lasts forever. At least I never grew tired of it. :)
Overall: 10

Rent or buy? Hmmm....let's see. If you don't like cute puzzlers, then don't bother at all. If you like puzzlers, but you don't own ANY BaM version, do yourself a favour: rush out and buy this game! If you have previous version of BaM, you must ask yourself if prettier graphics, new music, new puzzles and more characters are worth 30 bucks. To me the answer was yes, and I'm happy I made the decision. BaM 4 is, in a nutshell, a bigger 'n better version of previous BaM versions, except for the music, but you may disagree ofcourse.

Well, that basically covers it all. The game has a nice look, sounds nice and is a hell lot of fun. The lack of a four player mode doesn't matter all that much to me. One on one it just as fun! Reccommended!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/19/00, Updated 06/19/00