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Of Puzzle Bobble, a.k.a. Bust-a-Move in some countries, there are so many different versions and modifications, that it is almost impossible to know them all. The game idea was copied many times and titles like Worms Blast are mere clones of the classic game.
The game would be yet another Tetris variation if it wasn’t for some unique things. Every player starts with a screen partly filled with coloured balls on the top. At the bottom sits a player controlled little dinosaurs, that using some sort of cannon, fires other balls at the ones at the top of the screen. Connecting several balls of the same colour this way causes them to explode and raise your score. What distinguished the game is the use of a cannon. Knowing where you WANT the ball to be is often not enough: you have to target with the canon at the position you want to hit, often using the sides of the screens to bounce the ball like in a game of billiard to a more desirable new position.
Puzzle Bobble is the first example of a poor port for the N-Gage. Parts of the game look as if they weren’t done yet. While the level-advance-screen in single player looks absolutely terrible, every opponent on the other hand features a nicely rendered introduction screen. Why this gap in quality?
This wouldn’t be a big problem if the graphical glitches weren’t in the main game too. The on screen balls are VERY small and to make things worse many colours can’t be distinguished from one each other if you don’t take a second look. Turqouise looks like grey, green looks like black and if this wouldn’t be enough to kill a game intended to offer fast paced action, the controls are quiet unforgiving. You cannon is, like everything else, too small and you will have a very, very hard time making hits that need more than most basic visual judgment.
Online & Multiplayer features
The possibility to fight a real life opponent is the fact that saves the game from a total score crash. A friend will have the same problem as you recognizing the tiny, tiny details and you can still enjoy this on other consoles.
