Bust-a-Move Universe - Nintendo 3DS

awesome I have always enjoyed the bust of move games and this is right up there with the rest! I would buy another just for back up because it is fun and it doesn't take up much room!! Love the item!!!

Visuals: The 3D effects are nice but not overwhelming. It's a fair balance of the pieces falling from view special effects popping out of the screen. Yet, the main play board has very little depth which allows you to play longer sessions. The main game board has two gears (or other doodads) on the left and right that spin non-stop during the game. While the effect of the spinning is amazing to behold in 3D it does get old and/or distracting after a longer game session. 3/5 Stars. Audio: Classic songs remixed and a few new tunes make this game really fun from an audio perspective and when set to surround sound the game has quite a few back-channel effects. The sounds effects are nice and don't get old too quickly. They are up-sampled versions of the TAITO arcade system sounds. Gameplay: Super simple, those familiar with the game play can just jump right in and 100% the first world. Those unfamiliar will have a tutorial that explains all of the facets of game play with you. You shoot balloons of a color, trying to match 3 to make that set of balloons pop. When you do they fall off the board and you shoot another balloon. You can pop balloons in the back and cause cascades of falling balloons in-front for massive points. The version brings in a few new mechanics like special attacks that you can level up as well as boss fights where you launch bombs onto the boss, when 3 touch, they boss takes damage. Overall: A great game -- very fun. A must have for fans who have a 3DS but not a system-getter title if you dont have a 3DS (but with ocarina of time coming -- might as well get this while you wait). But it's also great for those new to the series. All-in-all the game has quite a bit going for it but this game falls short of being great. I give it... 3 out of 5 stars (good)

I've been playing the Bust-a-move series for years, and this is the blandest most bare bones version I've ever played. the basic gameplay is there except you spend the entire time playing puzzle mode. I don't know why, every version except this one has you go up against colorful cpu opponents, in this one you're just "rescuing" palette swapped versions of Bob and Bub. What happened to the other characters? I mean you see some, but they're these tiny little sprites you fire bombs at to defeat. And from what I can tell none of them are playable. In short this game lacks everything that makes Bust-A-Move games fun and entertaining. Do not buy.

Well, I've played the Bust a Move series since back in the days of SNES and I loved it. Everyone loves a good puzzle game once in a while. Now THIS game is in 3D, O_o I mean wow it was cool! You don't know how many times I tried catching the lil creatures that popped out of the bubbles and into the background!

When the Nintendo 3DS made its debut in the spring of 2011, Bust-A-Move Universe was one of the first titles to be released in the U.S. The graphics and the background have much improved, but I can't say the same for the musical soundtrack. Also, the gameplay modes are a bit more limited to just Puzzle Mode and Challenge Mode. Those are the minor complaints that prevent me from giving this game 5 stars. However, I do appreciate how the 3D effect causes the graphics to POP. In Puzzle Mode, you will have to traverse through several worlds in order to rescue your fellow friends by unlocking keys. If you manage to get all of the keys, you will receive a rapid-spin power-up to help you defeat each boss (just hold down the A button to throw bombs until the boss is finally eliminated). As usual, the object of the game is to eliminate 3 of the same colored bubbles. One of the additions to the Bust-A-Move series is a Special Gauge (seen on the right side of the screen). When it fills up to Level 1, you can press the X button to use a Spark Bubble (this will change the bubble color), Wild Bubble at Level 2 (it can be treated as ANY colored bubble), or Laser Bubble at Level 3 (this is the best power-up; it lets you virtually eliminate an entire left or right side of bubbles!). I prefer to wait until Level 3 to use the Laser Bubble because it's the most effective. Challenge Mode lets you burst bubbles within a 100-sec or 300-sec time limit. You will put to use some Gimmick Bubbles, which consist of either Bomb Bubbles, Rescue Bubbles (it moves the rows of bubbles further up the screen), Bonus Bubbles (allows you to score massive points), Side Bubbles (moves the bubbles to the side of the screen), or Rainbow Bubbles. This might not seem like the pivotal Bust-A-Move installment to some casual players, but it's still worth a shot.

Meh

This is a great game, my wife loves it! I would recommend to purchase if you were on the fence. The seller made everything easy as well! A+ Rating!

I've always been a fan of the Bust a Move titles, but this title has to be up there with my least favorite titles. The entire game is on the top 3D screen, which I understand is so that it can utelize the 3D effect. However this makes the bubbles tough to see at times since they're so small, and the blue and purple look so much alike that I made several mistakes. The puzzle mode is extremely lacking, I beat puzzle mode in 5 days. The game didn't really add very much in the way of new content. There are new special bubbles that you can use as well as interact with, and the addition of the old school bubble bobble enemies was fun, but the game is still very lacking. Now, the game is only $30, compared to $40 for most 3DS titles. However I would personally recomment picking this one up used at your local used game store. It should be pretty cheapr very soon since I'm sure a lot of people will be beating it very quick like I did.