Bust-A-Move 4 comes back with brighter graphics, a wackier soundtrack, colorful characters, and even a story-mode to boot!
I've always been a big fan of puzzle games, but truthfully, I wasn't too keen on playing this one. The cutesy characters were a little off-putting and made me believe that the game was for kids and thus way too easy for me to even bother. After some nagging, my sister, who had played the game, finally convinced me to give the game a try - and let me tell you, I was completely wrong.
Why didn't I pick it up sooner?!
The gameplay is simple. Shoot the colored balls onto balls of the same color if you hit 2+ balls of the same color, they disappear. As the game progresses, the rows of balls move down faster and faster, and if the balls hit the bottom of the screen, it's game over!
But don't let the simple gameplay fool you, the story mode can be very challenging as you play against relentless computer players. I found myself struggling to get to the end after several hours of gameplay. There are a wide variety of characters to choose from including cute dinosaurs, ice princess, a totem-pole, and a hulking knight in black armor - in other words, there's a persona for everyone.
Every character has a different playing style and storylines so it's possible to play this game over and over and over with different twists and turns. And once you beat them all? - well, you can up the difficulty level. With over 10 characters, over 10 stages, and 3 levels of difficulty - I'll let you do the math. I admit that the storyline isn't very creative and the dialogue gets a little corny, but trust me, the gameplay makes up for it!
There's also a multiplayer mode where you can invite a friend over and battle each other. Acquire a combo and you can send a variety of well-animated attacks over onto your friends bubble-screen. The sound effects can get a little tiresome after a while, but the character animations definitely make up for it.
It has definitely become one of my favorites. With the intense and fun gameplay, the cute characters and equally cute soundtrack, and a multiplayer mode - how can you go wrong? You definitely don't want to miss out on this!
