Bust A Groove 2

"Hitting the dance floor once again."

Once again its time to Bust A Groove.The sequel to the smash hit Bust A Groove returns with a new look,characters,and gameplay.

Visuals::I didn't think that the graphics in the first game couldn't be surpassed.Boy,was I wrong.Not only are the character designs for each character improved but they have even changed.Kelly the baby suit wearing exec.Is now a sexy police uniform wearing exec.Shorty has gotten older and her style of clothing has as well.Not only that but old favorites have new dance moves.In the case of Kelly and Shorty new dance style animations to match their change of appearance.There are also 3 new characters to replace some old favorites.Pinky,Hamm,Gas O,and Frida have been replaced by Comet,Bio,and Tsutomu.Plus a new and improved Capoeira.The two aliens now compliment each other while dancing.Instead of doing the same dance animations.The motion capture animation is more smoothed out compared to Bust A Groove 1.They characters also have more facial expressions as well.Not only that but each character has at least 3 different Fever Time dances.Not only that but there is also a double Fever Time.Which I will discuss later
The stages of each character has under gone a facelift as well.Now the backgrounds are more animated than before.In the first game it would be just changes from one point in the stage.Shorty's stage in the first Bust A Groove had her in front of a concession stand.When you dance well the Dog vending machine would spit out candy and the Snowman in the background would move around.Shorty's stage in the sequel has you on a boat going around the stage.As you get your groove on.A hippo would follow behind the boat.A volcano would erupt while a fake tyrannosaur would roar and come down to scare you.The stages are more now connected with the gameplay as well.
The visuals overall are more smoothed than the first game.Making the sequel the better looking of the two.
10/10

Audio/Music::If your expecting the hard thumping body movin tunes of the first game.I would say prepare to be a little disappointed.Gone are the fast moving beats of Heat's and the Techno stylings of Kitty N stages.The music is more laid back and smoother overall compared to the first Bust A Groove beatfest soundtrack.Not only that but the American version re dubbing of songs went down a notch as well.Shorty stage song should have been left alone.It would have been better in Japanese.The American singer vocals ruined one of the best songs in the game.Kelley's stage song isn't bad but not good either.It should have stayed in japanese as well.There is one stage song that could have or should have really been left alone.And that is Comets stage song.The song is sung in english in the japanese version of the game.In very bad english,but it was english.I can understand that Enix wanted to just make the song so that it could be understood.But the American vocals for the song was no better than the japanese vocals.Kitty N's song is the one song that came out good in english.The American singer was better than the high pitched annoying voice of the japanese vocalist.
All nitpicks aside all the other stage songs(except those mentioned above) are intact from the original japanese soundtrack.The stylings of music range from Broadway like pop to Japanese Electronica in the case of the final boss's stage music.No need to worry Hip-Hop,70's groove,and techno are still there.The music is still good and the audio is superb.8/10

Gameplay::For those that are familiar you know the drill.Rhythm is the key.Even more so in this game.Because now it has a point meter to keep score.No longer will the screen determine who is winning.Its now whoever has the most points.Yes,the winner will still take up screen space.But not the whole screen like in the first game.With the game not keeping score it means you cannot fudge your way through combos and win.You know like how in the first game as long as you hit the last button on the fourth beat.It didn't matter how well you pushed the directional buttons to the beat.Not so in this game.You must push the directional inputs to the beat as well in order to get higher scores and get to higher combos.In the first game it was hard to come back after you mess up and the other player gets the screen from you.In this game the gameplay is more balanced.It rewards those who have more rhythm than others.
A new feature to the in the Bust A Groove system is the Groove Bars.They are located in between the score meters in the middle of the screen.What these bars do is increase every time you get a Cool(green),Chillin(red)and Freeze(Blue) combo.Whoever can get all three bars aligned first causes secrete events to happen in the backgrounds.Not only that but if both players get at sometime during the battle.You get to witness the rare Double Fever Time.Basically if you are really cutting a rug on any stage and win.Your character will do a solo dance rubbing in their victory.That is a Fever Time.Which also existed in the first game.A Double Fever time is a Bust A groove 2 exclusive.It happens when all the Groove Bars are full and both characters are really doing well.The secrete event in the background must also be unlocked as well.You and your opponents scores must be real close as well.Whoever won will begin their Fever Time dance only this time the opponent joins in.When the Double Fever Time ends the loser will bow down and kinda pay homage to the winner.It is very cool and surprising when it happens.
Another change to the gameplay is the attack buttons have been changed to the R1 and R2 shoulder buttons.Now you can reflect an opponents attack back at them.if you press your attack button on the fourth beat just as your getting attacked.Gameplay options have gotten a little boost as well.There is now Easy,Normal,and Mix options.The gameplay of the AI really doesn't change.But the control does.Under the easy option you just need to push the direction pad to execute the combos.In normal mode its the default setting that that is typical of Bust A Move gameplay.Where you push the direction press and then hit the final O or X on the final beat.The Mix option is for the hard core Bust A Groove players.Not only do you use button presses but every button on the control pad is involved in the gameplay.
The multitude of options and gameplay changes and enhancements make Bust A Groove 2 better than its predecessor. In terms of gameplay.10/10

Overall::Bust A Groove 2 compared with the first game is the better game.But for fans of the series alot of them pick Bust A Groove as being the favorite.I think it had alot to do with how the music was toned a bit that made fans not appreciate the sequel.Whats funny now is that this is one of the most sought after PSX games.It is also one of the rarest.I've seen it go up for 72 dollars on ebay.All I can say is good luck finding the American version of this game.Even though the import version seems to be easier to get.
Speaking of which the endings from the import version were removed in the American version.This alone is the reason I don't give this game a 10.The endings were pretty in depth and brought more replay value to a game that has enough replay value as is.I think the removal of the endings was from the fact that one over the secret characters has a different ''lifestyle''.This was explained in Kitty N's ending.Enix figured since we are taking out one ending might as well take them all out.They figured the American fans wouldn't know any better.Shame on you Enix!!
To fans and music game fans alike get this game!!!And to game players in general this game is a must have in your collection.That is if you can find it.^_^9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/08/02, Updated 07/08/02