ic-games Review - Bust-A-Move Ghost - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

ic-games Review - Bust-A-Move Ghost - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii ic-games Review - Home - Review, Preview and Interview for PC, Xbox,Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

Bust-A-Move Ghost

Information
Reviewer: James Collins
Developer: Taito Corporation
Publisher: 505 GameStreet
Reviewed: Others
Genre: Puzzle
UK Release: 24th Mar 2006
Article Date: 01st May 2006
Difficulty: Medium
Retail Price: £24.99
Price Comparison:
0

Score Breakdown

Experience:
Game Play:
Graphics:
Sound:
Overall Score: 72%

Discuss this review in the Forums

Pros

Addictive

Loads of puzzles

Multiple modes

Cons

Will not push the PSP

Price

Screenshots

8 of 20

There have been so many different versions of Taito’s classic Bust-A-Move that it’s sometimes difficult to keep up. The latest version to hit the shelves is the brand new PSP version, aptly named Bust-A-Move Ghost, another in the long line of recent puzzle releases from publishers 505 GameStreet.

Following the latest release of the DS version, Bust-A-Move DS, Taito could certainly never be accused of ‘giving up’ on the popular franchise. The trademark gameplay is of course simple, yet frightfully addictive no matter what format it has been released on. You control a wheel at the bottom of the screen that shoots single coloured bubbles. At the top of the screen you have multiple bubbles that can be ‘popped’ if you manage to link three together. Once you have dispatched the row of bubbles at the top, you move on to the next level. If you take your time and the bubbles reach the bottom of the screen, well its game over sadly although you can restart exactly at the level you failed. Just about everyone knows the formula, and it seems Taito knows it, with Bust-A-Move Ghost all that is set to change, sometimes for the better, and in some modes, sadly sometimes not.

Straight off the bat you know you are at least getting value for money even if the graphics are shallow. There are a plethora of different game modes each with its own unique ‘take’ on the game included, the main mode, (with the ghost flavour), differs from the classic version in two main ways. Firstly the bubbles you are firing are actually ‘blank’ until they hit the side of another bubble and secondly matches must be made within a certain amount of moves or you fail the task. On paper it might sound a little too difficult but the actual changes do work surprisingly well.

There are also other variations of the familiar theme. On one of the more challenging modes, aptly named the see-saw puzzle, the play area tilts from side to side depending on how weighed down the bubbles become. Essentially this means that you not only concentrate on matching the bubbles up, but you must also make sure that the play-area of bubbles is equally distributed. If too many bubbles pile up on one side of the screen the whole stack could fall over and of course end your game.

The presentation is top notch with some nice animated menu’s and crisp and colourful graphics although nothing special graphically which may surprise some and at the current selling price of the game, they may have a point. PSP purists could also justifiably mock the game as it hardly pushes the envelope but Bust-A-Move aficionados will easily forgive this small point as they revel in more of that old school gameplay.

Bust-A-Move Ghost is exactly the sort of game these handhelds were made for, although certain corners of the gaming world will always demand graphics over gameplay. Yes Bust-A-Move doesn’t harness the power of the PSP but it does offer some challenging and addictive puzzles that simply melts away your spare time. Take the game on a journey and you’ll be there before you know it. It might not push the capabilities of the PSP, but it’ll still be ‘that’ game you constantly come back to.

Discuss the Bust-A-Move Ghost review in the Forums

IC-Games RSS Feed

IC-Games Reviews and Previews (c) 2002-2007

Designed by James Collins

To have your product featured contact The Editor
Found some news? contact The News Desk
PR Dept - Andrew St.Denis
Additional Coding by James Collins and Phil Douglas
Get credited, submit breaking news at The News Desk
Want to hire one of our journalists? Enquire here
Want to see your advert on site? Enquire here

Ic-games.co.uk banner Ciao.co.uk

Find the best console offers for the video game lover like Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii and all types of PC games.

Xbox 360 Games

Internet bingo is played by large and a vast amount of gamers, so you’re sure to make a network and friends. Whatever age or gender.