|
Game Information
|
Preview
|
Review |
Forum |
»Bust-A-Move Deluxe
"It's not Deluxe per se, but it's still a good game."
If there’s one stereotype that the PSP
consistently fails to break free of, it would have to be the one about
how its library consists of little more than ports, sequels, remakes
and compilation games.
What? Were you expecting me to say this game breaks that stereotype? It
obviously doesn’t – I mean, this is another sequel in the well-known Bust-A-Move
series, which has crept its way onto several systems in the past. I
guess what I’m trying to say is that, well, that isn’t really always a
bad thing. Sure, Bust-A-Move Deluxe falls short in some areas, but it still delivers a nice take on the BAM series, as well as offering a few twists to the classic puzzler.
Now for anyone whose experience with classic puzzle games goes beyond Tetris, the system behind Bust-A-Move
should be fairly obvious. For those who weren’t so lucky, I’ll explain.
It’s not your standard “stack-‘em-up” style puzzler, instead, players
take control of Bubblen (Bub), Bobblen (Bob) (both of Bubble Bobble
fame) or any of the six new characters exclusive to BAMDX, and try to
connect bubbles of the same color. The set-up’s pretty different
compared to most puzzle games. While generally, players are forced to
arrange groups of pieces together as they fall from the bottom, BAM
takes things in a different direction. As opposed to stacking pieces
upward as they fall from the top of the screen, the game field is
filled with bubbles, all hanging from the field’s ceiling. Pieces don’t
come out in pairs, triads or tetrads in this case: they come out as
singles, as they are fired from the bottom of the screen. Players are
allowed to aim each bubble’s trajectory, but it’s a little hard to tell
which way it’s going. Connect three or more bubbles of the same color
and they explode - and as a bonus, if any pieces are hanging solely on
those destroyed pieces, they fall as well.
Deluxe changes a few facets of the classic Bust-A-Move
engine. Don’t worry though – it’s nothing major, just a few tweaks. For
starters, while in the earlier games, pieces that hit the ceiling were
stuck there, DX elects to allow them to simply ricochet, much
like they would off of the walls. There’s a pretty good reason for
this, but we’ll get to that later. Secondly, while those falling pieces
would generally just fall to oblivion, DX gives them new
purpose: they can act as fodder for “chain attacks”. If any of those
falling pieces are of the same color as any grouping of two or more
congruent bubbles, that piece will come flying back up and destroy
them. Nice trick, huh?
In addition to the classic game mode, BAM Deluxe
elects to add seven [!!] additional ways to play, each offering their
own unique take on the classic puzzle game. There’s Blind Mode, where
each stationary piece on the field is unknown until they either are
congruent with a fired bubble or in proximity of some reaction; Seesaw
Puzzle, where the arena tips, based on the balance of “weight” on the
field; Time Warp Puzzle, where the speed of the player’s shots vary
from lightning-quick to wading-in-molasses-slow; and three others. My
personal favorite among these new modes would have to be Shot Mode –
where players are only allowed one shot to complete each stage, but the
real star attraction would be Ghost Mode, where each piece is
intangible until it makes contact with the playing field’s ceiling or
walls. This is especially evident in the European version of the game,
which is known as Bust-A-Move Ghost.
To
add even more variety to the game, each of the eight modes has three
ways to play: single-player, a competition with a CPU-controlled
opponent, or a competition with a friend – with a grand total of 24
possibly modes of play. Unfortunately, BAMDX lacks Wi-Fi connectivity, which is in all likelihood the game’s Achilles’ heel, at least when it comes to gameplay.
Let’s just say that the graphics are the major reason I prefer referring to this game as BAM Ghost. Sure, they remain as nauseatingly cutesy as the earlier games in the series, but BAMDX
trades out the bright backgrounds for a spookier motif, trading the
colorful areas of the earlier games for cemeteries and haunted houses.
Despite the new look, the game’s graphics haven’t really improved that
much. Sure, they look nice, but they’re not at all impressive.
The
same can be said for the sound. It’s an okay soundtrack, fitting with
the spooky motif of the graphics, but the music doesn’t live up to
earlier games. It’s fairly generic and at times, it even gets a little
annoying. The same can be said about the sound effects – hearing my
character’s death rattle once in a while is okay, but when it goes
beyond five times in a row, it starts grating my nerves.
This
game has a lot of replay value going for it. In addition to those 24
modes of play I mentioned earlier, there are also unlockable
characters, hidden in various vs. CPU modes for the most part, as well
as unlockable alternate attack patterns for each character. There’s
also the fact that the game’s got inherent replayability simply because
it is Bust-A-Move. However, there is that one aforementioned blemish
keeping this game's replay at a meager eight: lack of online play. It’s
a shame really. Ah well, maybe next time.
Article by: Wolfdogg
Posted on: Oct. 31st, 2007 |
|
|
|
Review Recap |
| Gameplay |
| The new game modes add some depth to the game, but netplay would’ve been a nice touch. |
 |
|
|
Graphics |
| The graphics look nice, but they’re nothing special for the PSP. |
 |
|
|
Sound |
| Eh, the soundtrack’s okay, but it doesn’t really live up to earlier games in the BAM series. |
 |
|
|
Replay Value |
| There are at least 16 different ways to play. 24, if you’ve got a friend nearby with another copy. Need I say more? |
 |
|
|
Comments |
|
|
|
|
