Bust A Groove 2

"The BEST game ever made!"

We in America rarely ever get the games that shine in Japan. Due to overall noninterest of the genre or a game just isnt censored enough(stupid American censors), we don't get it. And its a real shame too, because some of the greatest games are the ones that we don't get. We did however get Bust A Groove. This game was just way too good to pass up. I spent hours upon hours playing it, but it was too easy, even on the highest difficulty. Regardless, I spent many days and nights just having fun listening to the music and playing the game. Then, out of nowhere, I heard that a sequel(Bust A Move 2: Dance Tengoku Mix) was being made. I about flipped out. Needless to say, I had to get the game and I did by importing it, and so here I am, about to tell you what I think(just incase you didn't read the one line synopsis already).

Story: 10 - I know, what the hell kind of story could a dance game have? A very good one! Your character is just trying to out dance their competition, what more do you need? Ok, yes that is semi-lame, but what do you expect from a dancing game? As long as we are on the topic of stories, I might as well go over the endings in this game, but not so much that you wouldn't want to still try to beat it. The endings in the Bust A Groove were all too confusing(I would love for someone to explain what Pinky's ending meant), thankfully that has been remedied in Bust A Move 2: Dance Tengoku Mix. The endings show basically either who these dancers are, something about their past, why they are this way, or something really humiliating. Its rather cool to find out how Heat became all firelike or what the hell happened to make Bi-O look the way he does. And I have heard many websites say that the game won't be released here because of Kitty-N's ending. I think they are really stupid because there is nothing wrong with it(I won't say why because it would spoil the ending).

Character Design: 10 - Enix somehow found a way to make the characters even cooler than the first game. Gone are Frida, Hamm(yay! I hated him with a passion), Gas-o, and Pinky(yay yet again! I hated her as well, more for her song though than her dancing). While they, well ok, Gas-O, will be missed, three new characters join the line up. Comet, Tsutomu, and Bi-O(ok he makes up for Gas-O because he is Gas-O's father) are the newest dancers to join the game. This game has it all, from a disco-loving playboy to a roller blading waitress. The dancing has improved greatly. Every last move looks a lot more fluid than moves from the first game. And the greatest surprise is that Capoeira now dance with each other!

Control: 10 - The control in the first one was great, except for the fact that it took about five minutes to memorize the direction commands, because every character had the same. Plus you could only use the circle and x buttons to dance. In the sequel, however, you have a wide variety(ok three) options to pick from. For people who have no real rhythm or have no idea where the buttons are on the controller, you could pick Easy mode, which is all directional commands, with the exception of attacking and blocking(I will get into that soon). For novices, you could pick Normal mode, which is just like the first game, directional buttons for the first three beats, then circle or x. And finally, for the pros, there is Mix mode, where every single button on the face of the control pad is used. Mix mode takes some getting used to, but it makes the game far more fun. Now about attacking and blocking. The actions have moved from the triangle and square buttons. R1 and R2 are now designated as the attack and block buttons(unless you play easy mode, which is messed up anyway) respectively. The new feature they added was reflecting, which can be done in the middle of the fourth beat when someone attacks you. Its hard to do, but makes you feel just a bit more special if you can pull it off.

Graphics: 10 - Nothing compares to this game in the graphics catagory. All the characters are so smooth looking and every last image is just pretty. The lihgting effects are spectacular as well. This game could easily hold its own when put up against recent games.

Sound: 10(yeah 10, like times a bazillion) - This catagory is the most important one for a game of this nature. If you are going to dance, you better have good music. And what can I say? This is the best music EVER made for any game! The songs are just far too good. Not a single song on here is horrible(in the first game, Pinky and Hamm got the honour af haveing the worst songs in a video game). The first time I heard Tsutomu's song "Gotta Be Happy," I knew Enix had outdone themselves, well ok not Enix, but EWJ. The songs are so catchy that I find myself singing them where ever I go.

Replayability: 10 - This game never gets boring. There are a lot of hidden characters to unlock and if you have a second player join in on the fun, you could end up playing for hours. A single player game is fine as well if you have no one to play.

Overall: 10(should be followed my like a hundred 0s) - Not only is this game great, in my opinion, its the best game ever made. Sure, there are other systems with good games, but this takes the cake. I own a Dreamcast and Soul Calibur, but I play Bust A Move 2 way more than Soul Calibur. I mean you don't see Kilik rocking out to "The Heat is On" in Soul Calibur, nor is that game as funny. At the moment, this is only an import game. I shelled out $70 for the game its self, $30 for a converter(which is going bad now, so I must buy another one), and $30 for the soundtrack. so I spent around $130 just because this game is so great. You could always wait for some developer to pick the game up in America, but more than likely they will butcher it(especially the great Japanese songs). Anyone who loves Bust A Groove will not be dissapointed, its truly worthy of the word sequel.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 07/09/03