Bust-A-Move Universe is totally Bust-A-Move, and that’s A-OK with me. If you were looking for anything more than the classic bubble popping, you won’t find it here as there are only two modes: Challenge and Puzzle. I originally thought that I was missing something as the main menu only has three options: select game, results, and options. What the game lacks in features, it makes up for in staying true to the original formula and not changing too much in order to take minimal advantage of the 3D effect.
Title: Bust-A-Move Universe
Release Date: March 27, 2011
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Taito
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Puzzle Mode tasks the player with making their way through eight stages, each containing ten rounds and a boss fight. The stages are really only distinguishable by their backgrounds and even then, there isn’t that much of a noticeable difference. While the game tries to give reason to the bubble popping madness, it’s a weak attempt at most and doesn’t really do anything in way of a story. There are three keys spread out between the ten rounds of a stage and when all three are grabbed, a “friend” is rescued giving the player the ability to shoot bombs rapidly during the boss battle.
A special meter is filled a little bit every time a bubble is dropped. And when the meter is full, the player is given a special bubble to use. This special bubble changes depending on how many times the meter has been filled. The first being Spark bubbles, which clear out any bubbles within its blast radius; Wild bubbles, which can adapt to any color that it is attached to, making it easier to complete a series for a drop; and Laser bubbles, in which the player takes aim at one area of the playing field designating a spot for the laser to come in and destroy every bubble in the area. Bonus Time is awarded to players when they manage to drop more than six bubbles at a time and essentially gives the player a certain amount of time to drop as many bubbles as possible. I found this to be lifesaver when I was nearing the certain doom of bubbles crossing my line. Boss Battles are quick and usually just feature a boss bubble flying around the screen, trying to run down the clock.
Challenge Mode is really just a way to play without having to worry about rounds or freeing some “friend.” There are three different modes: 100-sec. Bubbles, 300-sec. Bubbles, and Nonstop Bubbles. I found Nonstop to be the most fun based solely on the fact that the game isn’t over until a bubble crosses the line. The other two modes weren’t anything special and really didn’t grab me at all.
Perhaps the weirdest part of Bust-A-Move Universe is the fact that the only competitive aspect of the game is scoring. This is accomplished via leaderboards that are local only, which essentially defeats the purpose of having them at all. The 3D is hardly noticeable as the only use of the effect is moving the playing field to the foreground of the image. This is one of the few 3DS launch titles that I could play with the 3D slider fully on. The 3D doesn’t really affect the graphics in a negative way, mostly due to the fact that the graphics look as if they haven’t been updated at all.
Without much added, Bust-A-Move Universe is a competent version of the puzzle game but lacks the features that we’ve come to expect from titles these days. If you are a fan of Bust-A-Move or arcade puzzle games, Universe might be the launch title that you are looking for; but if not, skip it.
This review was based upon a copy of the game provided to the reviewer by Square Enix.
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