Puzzle Bobble Everybubble! from TAITO, Zuntara, and ININ Games is ready to take you back to Rainbow Island on Nintendo Switch. Check our Puzzle Bobble Everybubble! review!
Puzzle Bobble Everybubble! from TAITO, Zuntara, and ININ Games is ready to take you back to Rainbow Island on Nintendo Switch. Rainbow Island is home to many bubble dragon children who can blow bubbles, which they use to take down bad guys. It’s also the home of many Miniroons. Miniroons can’t blow bubbles, so they wished on a rainbow for that gift. It’s then that a wizard decides to give them a magic potion that makes them unleash an onslaught of bubbles all over Rainbow Island, encasing everyone in a bubble! It’s up to Bub and Bob to use their puzzle expertise to save everyone before it’s too late!
The first Puzzle Bobble game was released way back in 1994 in arcades as a spin-off from 1986’s Bubble Bobble. The title – also known internationally as Bust-a-Move – spawned several sequels on many, many console platforms, with the Nintendo Switch being home to several of them, thanks to ACA NEOGEO PUZZLE BOBBLE and ACA NEOGEO PUZZLE BOBBLE 2, as well as Puzzle Bobble 2X/BUST-A-MOVE 2 Arcade Edition & Puzzle Bobble 3/BUST-A-MOVE 3 S-Tribute, as well as Puzzle Bobble / Bust-a-Move (16-Bit Console Version), which also launches tomorrow.
The premise is simple: it’s a match-three puzzle game in which you’ll shoot puzzles from the bottom of the screen to try and match at least three – or more – bubbles of the same color to make them pop. Clear the screen of all bubbles, and you win! The game is split into three different game modes. There’s Story Mode, which is the main attraction. It’s there that you’ll be trying to fix things after the Miniroons encased everything and everyone in bubbles.
There’s also a Versus Mode where you’ll be going up against other humans locally or online or go up against CPU-controlled bubble dinosaurs. As you clear bubbles, your attack power will build up. If it exceeds that of your opponent’s, you’ll be able to fire bubbles at them. If you drop some bubbles, that will build up even more power. Your goal will be to get your opponent’s bubbles to go below the danger line in order to win. And then there’s the Baron’s Tower, where you can compete against players from around the world!
On top of that, there’s the special Puzzle Bobble vs. Space Invaders Mode. For this one, you’ll be moving your bubble dinosaur with the left analog stick or the D-Pad as you shoot with the A button, switching to the next bubble with the B button. The Space invaders within bubbles will attack, and you must fire back as you move your character while trying to clear the bubbles. If an attack hits your character, then you won’t be able to move for a while. You can play this one with other local humans or with CPU characters. Clear all bubbles and defeat all Space Invaders before the bubbles go below the danger line!
For Story Mode and Vs. Mode, you’ll be controlling the cursor with the left analog stick or the D-Pad as you shoot bubbles with the A button. Bubbles can bounce off the walls and ceiling. If you pop the bubbles on top of other bubbles that are holding them, they will fall. You can press the B button to switch to the next bubble in case its color is more advantageous to your plans. Pressing the Y button will allow you to switch to special bubble power-ups. These include the star bubble, which will pop all bubbles of the color it hits; the bomb bubble that will explode on impact, popping bubbles in the area; or the blank bubble that will change to the color of the bubble it makes contact with.
Some stages will also have a time limit for you to keep in mind. You’ll be able to pop Time+ bubbles to add 10 seconds to the clock. Just be careful not to pop a Time- bubble, or you’ll lose 10 seconds! Some levels will have bubbles with Chack’n trapped inside, which you must free by popping the bubbles. This will be a requirement to clear those types of stages. Other levels will have the nasty Baron von Blubba for you to avoid. If you hit it with a color bubble, you’ll lose. You’ll have to make it drop or hit it with a bomb or blaster to get rid of it.
If you’re a Puzzle Bobble fan, then getting Puzzle Bobble Everybubble! is a no-brainer. It offers a Story Mode in which you’ll have to save everyone from the mess made by the Miniroons, a Vs. Mode where you can battle against other players, the Baron’s Tower where you’ll have to try and get the highest score possible as you compete with gamers from around the world, as well as the bonus Puzzle Bobble Vs. Space Invaders Mode which is a mash-up of both games for some fun results. You can also unlock EX stages in story mode by getting a three-star rating on every level for that area. EX stages dial up the difficulty, so be sure to plan each shot! Puzzle Bobble Everybubble! launches tomorrow on Nintendo Switch with a $39.99 price tag.
Disclaimer
This Puzzle Bobble Everybubble! review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by ININ Games.
