Bust-A-Move 3

"One of the Saturn's best games"

Back in the '90s, Taito released a puzzle game based on their classic arcade game, Bubble Bobble. That game was Puzzle Bobble, better known as Bust-A-Move in the US (Why they changed the name has always confused me. Puzzle Bobble makes sense, while Bust-A-Move makes it sound like a dancing game). In 1997, when most people had a PlayStation (Or an N64, like myself), Natsume released the Saturn version of Bust-A-Move 3 in the US (And thankfully, the box art for Bust-A-Move 3 looks much better than the box art for Bust-A-Move 2: Arcade Edition). Is this game any good, though?

Graphics
It's bright, colorful, and near perfect for the time. The character sprites next to the bubble shooter look great, but don't have the same level of detail as the sprites in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Of course, detail in character sprites isn't really needed in a puzzle game. There is no slowdown here, even when a lot happens on screen.
Graphics: 9 out of 10

Controls
It's simple and perfect. There are 3 different control layouts, but I mainly use the standard one. You use the d-pad to aim, the shoulder buttons for precision aiming, and the A, B or C buttons to shoot the bubbles. The main control setup works perfectly, though I haven't tried any of the other control setups yet.
Controls: 10 out of 10

Music \ Sound Effects
It defiantly has a Japanese style to it (Not on the level of Katamari Demacy, though). The music is quite catchy; you'll probably have at least one song stuck in your head after playing it for a while. The sound effects are fairly standard, but fit the game well. There is some voice clips in the game, but they are entirely in Japanese, so I don't know what they are saying. Still, it's perfect.
Music \ Sound Effects: 10 out of 10

Gameplay
It's standard Bust-A-Move fare, but with a few changes from Bust-A-Move 2. Notably, the machine pushing the bubbles down is gone, but the bubbles still come down. It adds a new level of strategy to the gameplay, because you can bounce the bubbles off the top of the screen. Also, there are more playable characters, all coming from various Taito games (Most of which where only released in Japan). The gameplay is easy to learn; using your bubble shooter at the bottom of the screen, you shoot colored bubbles; line up 3 or more of the same color, and they pop. It's quite addicting, and features multiple modes for your bubble-bursting needs. There's 1P Puzzle mode, where you work your way through a series of puzzles trying for a high score (With many different paths to take, and Version 2.5 (With more puzzles), this mode has a lot of replay value), Player Vs. CPU, where you work your way through multiple puzzle battles against various opponents (Each character has their own special abilities from combos and their own unique ending for finishing the game. I'll get to the special abilities a little later), Player vs. Player (Great fun if you have someone to play with), Collection (Featuring various puzzles created by the programmers), and Challenge (Where you work your way through a series of puzzles to get graded on how good you are).

The characters each have their own unique ability, which is activated by creating a combo. When you perform a combo in multiplayer or in Player Vs. CPU, you'll not just get a lot of points out of it, but your opponent will suffer as their side of the screen will get a random amount of bubbles covering the bubbles already there (The number is based on how many extra bubbles you take out from a single shot). Each character's assortment of bubbles is different; While Bub (The green dinosaur) covers the opponents with a mix of standard bubbles, Twinkle (The court jester girl) will cover them with the dangerous Rainbow bubbles (A rainbow bubble won't turn into a normal bubble unless normal bubbles pop close to it), and Luna Luna (The lady with the crystal ball) will push down the opponent's stack of bubbles down 1 line. The characters add even more strategy to the multiplayer because of their unique pros and cons, which makes multiplayer even more interesting and fun. The only problem I can think of is the multiple load screens at the start (Making it take longer to get to the title screen) but the load times in general are short compared to the Saturn version of Sonic 3D Blast. It's the first puzzle game I've played to surpass Tetris Attack.
Gameplay: 10 out of 10

Overall
This game is one of the Saturn's best games. If you're looking for a great puzzle game, look no further than Bust-A-Move 3.

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

Game Release: Bust-A-Move 3 (US, 12/31/97)