ACA NEOGEO Puzzle Bobble 2

Genre: Match-3 Puzzle

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Local), Online Leaderboards

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Review:

Puzzle Bobble 2, sometimes known by the title Bust-A-Move 2, is a Match-3 Puzzle game released in 1995 in arcades. This modern release sees the game coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2019.

Puzzle Bobble 2 takes the great Match-3 Puzzle gameplay of the first game and expands on it in multiple ways. There are new specialty bubble types that do various things to help and hinder you, wide stages that challenge you to tackle a larger area, different “routes” that give players a choice of stages to tackle through the campaign, and a Vs. Com mode, something I’m still surprised was missing in the first game.

Still, it’s lacking features that are present in later games, as well as some of the many copycat games that have been released over the years – there’s no option to swap out the current bubble for the next one if your current bubble just won’t be useful at the moment, nor is there an option in the options menu to leave on the aiming guide for players who want less of a challenge or more of a focus on the puzzle side of things without the skill-based aiming that’s also a part of the gameplay.

Also, as a personal preference thing, I just don’t think the music is quite as catchy as what was in the first game, though graphically this is definitely an improvement, with some really nice, detailed stage backgrounds compared to the more simple, abstract backgrounds from the original game.

This release of the game includes a new “Hi-Score Mode” that challenges players to score as much as they can in one run before seeing a game over screen. There is also a new “Caravan Mode” that does much the same, but with the limit being five minutes. In addition, this release of the game includes both English and Japanese versions, and gives players a decent array of options, including various display options, sound options, challenge modifiers, button mapping, and online leaderboards.

Before finishing, there’s one other glaring issue I need to address here. Not only are there multiple Puzzle Bobble games and multiple Puzzle Bobble copycat games on Nintendo Switch, there is also another version of this Puzzle Bobble game within the Compilation Puzzle Bobble 2X/Bust-a-Move 2 Arcade Edition & Puzzle Bobble 3/Bust-a-Move 3 S-Tribute. This Compilation costs almost twice as much as this ACA NEOGEO release, but as you can tell by the title, it also includes an additional game, Puzzle Bobble 3. Aside from this, it’s worth pointing out that the version of Puzzle Bobble 2 contained within this release contains a 2X variant of the game containing alternate, more challenging levels, and it also includes an “Edit Mode” to create your own custom levels. And while 2X lacks this version’s Hi-Score Mode, Caravan Mode, and online rankings, honestly I think I prefer to have the wealth of extra content and features included in the bundle.

With this being the case, it’s hard to recommend this version of the game, unless you really want to compete on leaderboards on this game specifically, or if the $15 price tag of the bundle seems like more than you’re willing to spend. But personally, I think it’s well worth the extra expense to get the bundle.

Still, despite this, I do still think Puzzle Bobble 2 is an excellent Puzzle game. It may still lack features we’re used to from later games in the franchise, and it may not be as good a value overall as the Puzzle Bobble 2X/3 bundle, but none of that changes that Puzzle Bobble 2 is a phenomenal Puzzle game well worth getting… at least if you’re not going to be getting that bundle.

tl;dr – Puzzle Bobble 2 is a Match-3 Puzzle game where players aim colored bubbles at other bubbles to match and clear them. This is a huge improvement over the first game, though it still lacks features modern players may be used to from this style of game, and it is sorely lacking in content compared to the Puzzle Bobble 2X/3 bundle also available on Nintendo Switch. Still, while it may not be the best version of this game, it is still a superb Puzzle game.

Grade: B

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