ACA NEOGEO Puzzle Bobble

Genre: Match-3 Puzzle

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

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Review:

Puzzle Bobble, sometimes known by the title Bust-A-Move, is a Match-3 Puzzle game released in 1994 in arcades and on the NEOGEO home console. This modern release sees the game coming to Xbox One and Nintendo Switch in 2018, then to PlayStation 4 in 2019.

Puzzle Bobble is one of the most influential Puzzle games ever made, or at the very least one of the most-copied – there are currently at least a dozen different Puzzle Bobble copycat games on Nintendo Switch, and I can’t even imagine how many on mobile devices and PC.

It works off of a simple formula – multicolored bubbles are slowly lowered down from the top, and you need to remove them by shooting like-colored bubbles from a turret in the center at the bottom, trying to match 3 or more of the same color. However, in addition to trying to be smart about your placement, you’re also dealing with the challenge of making sure your aim is good enough that you get the bubbles you shoot where you want them to go, sometimes requiring you to ricochet your shots off walls.

While the core gameplay here is excellent (and this game’s classic theme is immensely catchy), there’s a lot missing that I think players will have come to expect from later installments. There’s no “Vs. Com” mode, no selectable levels, no ability to swap out your current bubble with the next one if your current bubble just can’t be used in a good spot just yet, and no option to leave on the aiming guide for novice players or players who want less of a skill-based game and more of a puzzle-based 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, Puzzle Bobble / Bust-a-Move (16-Bit Console Version), which is selling at the same price point as this version. And while the “Console Version” lacks this version’s Hi-Score Mode, Caravan Mode, and online rankings, it does have one feature not present in this version: a “Vs. Com” mode, allowing you to play against an AI opponent. While having online rankings is nice, honestly I think I prefer to have the Vs. Com mode to get more gameplay variety. And of course, that’s if you want this specific entry in the series.

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. I feel like if you really value leaderboards, just get the sequel at the same price… or if you really like this game’s soundtrack and aesthetic, get the 16-Bit version of the game. In both cases, you’ll be getting the Vs. Com mode that this version of the game lacks. And that’s if you specifically want one of the classic Puzzle Bobble games and not just a game that plays much like them, since there are a ton of those.

Make no mistake, this is an outstanding and highly-influential Puzzle Game, but it is so lacking in features and there are so many better alternatives that I think only the most die-hard fans will want to get this.

tl;dr – Puzzle Bobble is an exceptional, highly-influential Puzzle game where players aim colored bubbles at other bubbles to match and clear them. However, by “highly influential”, that means there are an absolute ton of game on Nintendo Switch that play exactly like this, including another version of this exact game, and the ACA NEOGEO release is sadly lacking basic features. This is a truly exceptional Puzzle game, but even if this is exactly what you want, there are better ways to get it.

Grade: C+

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