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Taito is back, again, with its newest incarnation in the bubbly (pardon the pun) Puzzle Bobble series with Puzzle Bobble 3. Historically, the Puzzle Bobble games have always relied on the old-school gaming adage that it is the playability that comes first, and for that reason alone, the game has proven very popular against games like Street Fighter and Tekken.
The aim of the game is simple: you must destroy all the colored bubbles on the screen before they are pushed down to you by a falling ceiling. This is achieved by shooting colored bubbles with a crossbow (of sorts) at a bubble of a corresponding color. Once they are grouped into two or more bubbles of the same color, a subsequent bubble of that same color will cause them to explode, causing anything that is exclusively attached to it to fall off as well.
This game, as games of this type typically do, excels in its two player competitive mode. Players compete by destroying large quantities of bubbles at a time, which results in bubbles going back to their opponent. It makes for very frantic gameplay at times, and is hilarious fun.
So what’s different from Puzzle Bobble 2? In the face of new competition such as Capcom’s Puzzle Fighter 2, the motivations behind some of the changes are quite obvious. For instance, instead of using the two lil’ dinos, players can now select from a vast array of characters. All of them are revoltingly cute and are animated to exploit their kawaii-ness.
The other notable change is that bubbles can now be bounced off from the ceiling, as opposed to sticking to the ceiling in the previous games. To facilitate this change, bubbles are now attached to fixtures that remain in mid-air. This is a significant tweak to the gameplay as it adds a whole extra dimension to the strategy. Players can get that extra little thrill now by performing a triple rebound around the entire screen to clear all of the bubbles. What this has also lead to are puzzles that are meaner than ever. Some of the harder puzzles have bubbles in absolutely devious placements, often requiring pin-point accuracy to your shot. But fret not: even if you do muff the shot, the game can still be saved by the tried and true process of slowly chipping away at the edges.
Graphically and aurally, this game is absolutely simple, but cute. There are many humorous touches to the animations, and the music creates the same peppy environment for a great party game. Put simply, this game is designed purely to entertain, not stun.
For puzzlers, this game is a must-have. Other players, on the other hand, may want to avoid this game if they already have Puzzle Bobble 2, because the changes are largely aesthetic. Aside from those considerations, Puzzle Bobble 3 is a fantastic little game, and for those who haven’t figured it out yet, it’s a real hit with the girls. Here is yet more testimony that it is playability that matters more than graphics and sound.