

Bust-A-Move (also known as Puzzle Bobble) is a real-time puzzle game in which the player controls a device called "pointer" at the bottom of the screen, aiming and releasing randomly colored bubbles upwards. Depending on the aiming, the bubbles may float up directly or bounce off the walls, changing their trajectory. The goal is to aim the bubbles in such a way that they will touch identically colored ones. When such bubbles form a group of three or more, they pop and disappear from the screen. If the ceiling of the area is covered by too many bubbles, it will gradually descend; the game is over when it nearly reaches the player-controlled pointer. Should the player fail to release the bubbles within a specific time limit, they will be released automatically, unaffected by the pointer's aiming.
PuzzleArcadeFantasyComedyKidsdigital distributionbroadcastretroachievementsArcade, Neo Geo AES, Neo Geo MVS, PlayStation 4, WonderSwan, Super Nintendo Entertainment System
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Is it the best puzzle game of its decade?
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Is this Taito's best work?
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Would Bust-A-Move hit harder if it came out today rather than in 1994?
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Answered from what people have written, never made up: a verdict, how much when it's a matter of degree, and the sentences that say so, quoted with their names. Reviews here first, then TMDB's reviews and the title's Wikipedia plot and reception. If nothing settles it, you can put it to the curators.
Character
Plot-driven, spare, classical in form and warm.
- character-ledplot-driven
- sparerichly built
- classical in formformally daring
- warmbleak
- intimateepic
Who loves it, who doesn't
No profiled raters yet.
Reviews
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About the game
- Platforms
- Arcade, Neo Geo AES, Neo Geo MVS, PlayStation 4, WonderSwan, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, PC (Microsoft Windows), 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, DOS, Neo Geo CD, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Super Famicom
- Developer
- Taito
- Publisher
- Taito
- Released
- June 30, 1994
- Modes
- Single player, Multiplayer, Split screen
- Perspective
- Side view
IGDB rating 7.6/10 from 39 ratings.
Screenshots






Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Curator Co. Other media included when they land close.
Dr. Mario Online Rx 200888% alikeBoth plot-driven, warm, spare.
Both plot-driven, warm, spare.
Hungry Horace 198285% alikeBoth plot-driven, spare, earnest.
Tapper 198385% alikeBoth plot-driven, intimate, warm.
Beef Drop 200484% alikeBoth plot-driven, spare, classical in form.
Ultra Bust-A-Move 200484% alikeBoth plot-driven, warm, classical in form.
Baku Baku 199584% alikeBoth plot-driven, spare, intimate.
Magical Drop II 199683% alikeBoth plot-driven, intimate, warm.
Countdown 198266% alikeSeries · Both plot-driven, spare, classical in form; this one is more contemporary.
Car S.O.S. 201366% alikeSeries · Both classical in form, spare, warm.
Often played with
Similar games per IGDB. Opening one adds it to Curator Co.










