"Finally in the states, but not entirely whole..."

A great game has finally made its way to the states. Released only a few weeks ago, I was privvy to being told when it was released at the local Babbages, where they sold it for only about $35. Apparently they don't expect it to do all that well. But for those people who have played and enjoyed the original Bust-a-Groove, it is a must have. However, not everything from the Japanese version made it to the states. So it's a bit of a mixed bag...

Now for the review tho...

Graphics and Sound: 8

What sort of dance game would this be without it?? The music is good, not quite as catchy as the tunes from the first game, but still enjoyable, and they definately grow on you. You'll be finding comments like ''Look out Boulavard, here comes trouble'' from Strike's stage running through your mind at the oddest of times. Kelly's very slow paced but enjoyable music leaving you humming long after the game is over. Some of the music is a step down from the first one, Kitty-N being the most notable of these. Her old theme and near dance/techno sound has been replaced with a rather oddly paced hip-hop sounding song. But as I said before, the songs do grow on you with time. The sounds are all there, but there really doesn't need to BE much to them, does there...

The graphics aren't much of a boost from the first one. The outfits have changed (And I am SURE that most guys playing this game will be very happy that Kelly ditched her ''baby suit'' for the more adult and interesting police uniform.) New costumes are good, and the new characters look as good as everyone else. Tsutomu looks like the kid that used to do the signs for ''Bob's Big Boy'' resturaunts, but otherwise the stuff looks good. But it's not much of an upgrade either. The extra stuff and details are still done in 2-d graphics, which is fine normally, but with the camera-pans, the stuff just looks wierd. Some of the new costumes and such look strange, and Pander is perhaps the single wierdest guy you'll ever see in these games, but all in all, the graphics are solid, even if they don't stand out. What earned it a slightly higher then normal ranking was thier new camera angles and the like for when the stage goes through changes (when you are doing well enough). It's a bit distracting, but VERY well done, and once you get used to them, they make an excellent addition to the stride of the game. My other problem with this game comes in the form of how the characters move. Every now and again they seem to have problems, suddenly pulling to thier feet and the like. The same problem existed in the first game, and it's not really bad, but it IS a little distracting, and would love to see it corrected...


Controls: 8

What can you say. It's a little touchy when you have a controller that makes doing diagnal directional button pushes easier. But with a normal controller, it's no different then playing something like Parrappa. So what do you say? It's responsive to the buttons, and it's quick and easy to pick up. It takes some time to get used to, but once you're used to it, you'll be dancin' like a champ.


Playability and Replayability: 8

A great game in any way shape or form. You'll find yourself wanting to play it at the oddest times, struggling to make it through the secret boss, Pander. The speeds of each song, which varies from tune to tune, makes it tough to develop patterns and adds challenge to the game play. The songs will have you tapping your feet, and as with any Parrappa or song based game (A small, but growing, genre) such a thing helps you in the long run. The game sucks you in, grabs you, shakes ya around a little bit, and then makes ya wanna learn to dance, or at least (like me) didn't have 2 left feet and could actually dance...


Story: 5

What story?? I mean really, what story? Not that there NEEDS to be one, you are dropped into the game in a series of dance competitions. What needs to be said? BUT, if you've read anything of the FAQs on the import version of the game, you've no doubt seen things on the endings for each character. Well here's the bad news... THERE ARE NO ENDINGS. I heard rumour that there was some controversy over Kitty-N's ending, enough so that there were questions if the game would even make it to the states because of it. I fail to see what was so bad, as far as I know, Kitty was in love with Michael Doi (A secret character...) and he turned out to be gay. And the big deal is?? I don't follow personally, BUT if this rumour is indeed true (I know the ending is true, it's been confirmed) then the response was overly drastic. ALL the endings were pulled from the game, only Pander's ending (Such as it is) was left in the game. All other endings have been pulled completely from the game, dropping the winning character into the cool solo dancing at the end (and a pretty catchy jazz tune). While that ending is fine, and pretty good, the removal of ALL story from the game really hurts this game in my opinion.


Overall Score: 7

Not quite as good as the original, but a worthy sequel none the less. The removal of the endings in my opinions was the only thing that really hurt this game. This game is alot of fun, and you'll be playing this game for years to come. But the loss of the endings and any sort of story or explination for the character really hurt the game, especially after having heard (From the FAQs held here on Gamefaqs.com ) how funny some of these endings truly are. A sad loss, but it doesn't kill a good game.

Recommendation: Buy

If you liked the first Bust a Groove, this is a must have. If you never played either before, find either and rent it. If you like Parrappa or any of those sort of games, you'll feel right at home in this game, and likely find the competition of this nature a bit refreshing. If you don't have rythm tho, you'll probably end up more frustrated then happy with the game.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/28/00, Updated 08/28/00