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PUZZLE BOBBLE: BUST-A-MOVE
review | SUPER NINTENDO
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Publisher: Taito.
Developer: Taito. Released: June 1995 (Europe). Genre: Puzzle. Other versions: NEO; 3DO; PC; GG; WS. Posted 14th August 2025. By Tom Clare © 2025 |
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Puzzle Bobble marked a quiet revolution for the puzzle genre in the mid-1990s. Taito decided the static platformer had finally run its course, and mascots Bub and Bob of Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands fame needed a change of scenery to remain relevant. Taking the baton from Puyo Puyo in engineering conundrums for the solo player and frantic head-to-head competition with friends. Although the series wouldn’t gain the notoriety it deserved until 1996’s Bust-A-Move, much of the groundwork was already in place.
Known as Puzzle Bobble in Japan, Bust-A-Move in North America, and a somewhat indecisive combination of the two in Europe, this puzzler immediately instigates a significant change to the formula, with bubbles fired from the bottom of the screen upwards. Whilst orthodox puzzle games of the time flooded players with ever faster drops, B-A-M rarely places time constraints on the player. Instead, they must contend with increasingly crowded, elaborate layouts and tighter gaps. Inaccuracy is the real killer here, with the player often the architect of their own undoing.
Visually, it isn't the most exciting of Taito's 90s output, but PB: B-A-M is chock full of addictive gameplay
The aim in the one-player mode is to clear the screen of all bubbles. The catch is, every few shots, the window is pushed down a layer, gradually piling on the pressure as space reduces and angles contract, all the while your bubbles edging closer to the bottom of the screen. If the bubbles reach the level of the cannon, you guessed it, you’re wiped out. As stages get harder, you’ll have to deal with large numbers of bubbles in a multitude of colours from the outset, and it becomes a race against time to eliminate all bubbles of a single colour, because they won’t reappear in your cannon.
PB: Bust-A-Move is all about breaking chains. If you can find a way to cut off strings of bubbles higher up the board, there’s a chance to clear large portions of the level quickly. In some instances, you’ll spot an opening straight away, such as all the level’s bubbles being attached to a single row at the very top. You might therefore finish some stages in 2 or 3 seconds, whilst others descend into tense, 2-3 minute slogs where mistakes must be kept to a minimum. The 100-level single-player mode gets tricky towards the end, though with 10 credits and a password system, it’s fairly forgiving. Though a password system may seem a touch generous, it’s likely to acknowledge the impracticality of trying to finish 100 levels in a sitting: even skilled players might find this a bit of a headache. Requiring that the player ‘die’ to obtain a password is also a little daft. Why not simply display one at the beginning of each level, or on the pause menu? Of greater annoyance in the latter stages is the game’s refusal to allow a simple retry option upon defeat, dumping you back to the menu where you must keep re-entering the password every time.
PB: Bust-A-Move is all about breaking chains. If you can find a way to cut off strings of bubbles higher up the board, there’s a chance to clear large portions of the level quickly. In some instances, you’ll spot an opening straight away, such as all the level’s bubbles being attached to a single row at the very top. You might therefore finish some stages in 2 or 3 seconds, whilst others descend into tense, 2-3 minute slogs where mistakes must be kept to a minimum. The 100-level single-player mode gets tricky towards the end, though with 10 credits and a password system, it’s fairly forgiving. Though a password system may seem a touch generous, it’s likely to acknowledge the impracticality of trying to finish 100 levels in a sitting: even skilled players might find this a bit of a headache. Requiring that the player ‘die’ to obtain a password is also a little daft. Why not simply display one at the beginning of each level, or on the pause menu? Of greater annoyance in the latter stages is the game’s refusal to allow a simple retry option upon defeat, dumping you back to the menu where you must keep re-entering the password every time.
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The Puzzle mode is good, but it’s the Vs. Play matches where B-A-M really comes to life. Duelling with the CPU is a decent, absorbing challenge, whilst social bouts against friends are fantastic fun. An evolution of Puyo Puyo’s formula, players aim to create large combos and multi-bubble drops. The bigger the better, because those bubbles end up flooding your opponent’s screen. It becomes a careful balancing act: too slow, and you’ll find your carefully crafted strings clotted by rogue bubbles. Too aggressive, and you risk being sucker-punched by a well-timed combo whilst you have your own precariously close to the bottom of the screen. Taito’s puzzler rewards accuracy and planning more than split-second reactions, and consequently, it feels like a more rounded, versatile experience than many of the match-3s that went before it. Proof of this is offered by a third mode: Challenge Record. This is the game in its most uncomplicated form, a relaxing(ish) endless scoring mode, where the player must survive regular deployments of new bubbles. With few options and unadornments, it’s delivered largely without fanfare, but presents a strong showcase of the game’s versatility, offering a similarly addictive experience to Columns and Tetris.
Perhaps surprisingly, the game’s weakest facet is its presentation. Gamers could reasonably expect a fair bit of pizazz from mid-1990s Taito’s efforts, but even by puzzler standards, B-A-M leans significantly more toward function than style. Many of the backgrounds appear basic and incidental, whilst the menus look bland. In-game screens lack the lustre of competing games, whilst the tiny sprites are somewhat crude. For anyone who’s played a Bust-A-Move, the superlatively catchy calypso theme is entirely synonymous with experience. It seemed to cause problems across many of the original game’s ports, however. The Neo Geo edition sounds clunky, whilst the 3DO rendition is completely out of tune. The Super Nintendo’s tune would have been an excellent interpretation… were it not for a horribly repetitive, pitchy squeak which, if you’re playing for more than five minutes, becomes unbearable.
Perhaps surprisingly, the game’s weakest facet is its presentation. Gamers could reasonably expect a fair bit of pizazz from mid-1990s Taito’s efforts, but even by puzzler standards, B-A-M leans significantly more toward function than style. Many of the backgrounds appear basic and incidental, whilst the menus look bland. In-game screens lack the lustre of competing games, whilst the tiny sprites are somewhat crude. For anyone who’s played a Bust-A-Move, the superlatively catchy calypso theme is entirely synonymous with experience. It seemed to cause problems across many of the original game’s ports, however. The Neo Geo edition sounds clunky, whilst the 3DO rendition is completely out of tune. The Super Nintendo’s tune would have been an excellent interpretation… were it not for a horribly repetitive, pitchy squeak which, if you’re playing for more than five minutes, becomes unbearable.
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As the levels progress, the boards get busier and more elaborate in their layouts
Nevertheless, barring a few teething issues, Puzzle Bobble: Bust-A-Move is an excellent puzzle game. It’s built to last, with three difficulty settings for puzzle and head-to-head setups, ensuring it’s got plenty of staying power. A new approach to the genre that Taito would soon build on, it’s only marginally let down by uninspired presentation and some issues with the sound. As a side note, it also represented an incredibly rare instance of re-establishing successful characters, Bub and Bob, in an entirely different territory, and making a success of it. Likely the most readily available of the game’s ports, Super Nintendo fans should waste no time adding it to their collections.
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VERDICT"Good on your own and great with a friend, Taito's bubble-busting puzzler is packed with levels and built to last. Overlooked a little due to the timing of its release, it's worthy of a place in any Super Nintendo owner's library." OVERALL: 8/10 |
OTHER CLASSIC PUZZLE GAMES OF THE 1990s REVIEWED
Columns (1990, Master System)
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Lemmings (1991, Amiga)
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