1. Coming to Bust-a-Move Deluxe as someone unfamiliar w/ the series, I can say now that it seems like it's a pretty okay series of ball-based puzzle games.
2. The object is you shoot little balls at a bunch of other balls and if you get three balls of the same kind touching, well, something good happens. This is just like real life.
3. The main mode is called puzzle mode. You are given a setup of a variety balls in a preordained pattern. The balls you get to shoot at the puzzle balls are not completely random balls but neither are they balls in a completely in fixed order as far as I can tell. The puzzle is in getting rid of all the balls as efficiently as possible.
4. The balls are actually called bubbles. This is set in the extended Bubble Bobble universe, which is a thing that exists for some reason. I'm going to keep calling them balls.
5. In addition to the standard colored balls, there are specialty balls. Some of these balls are really good. One ball makes all balls of whatever color it touches disappear. There is also a ball that just blows up any ball it runs into.
6. There are also a few balls that will only ever show up in the preordained ball patterns. These include balls that have no matchable ball color so must be dropped by removing the balls that connect them to the rest of the balls. Then there is an even more insidious ball that does not fall until every ball touching it is removed. I hate these balls.
7. Bust-a-Move is generally considered a puzzle game but really the challenge tends to be more in putting your balls exactly where you want them. You will really spend more time developing your ability to place your balls than anything else really.
8. Number 7 is slightly less true when you get good enough to really start going for high scores and the time it takes to shoot a few extra balls has a big impact on your bonus scores.
9. Speaking of time, the aiming reticle in this moves at a rate that can be frustratingly slow. It moves constantly at the speed you would use for finer adjustments so when you gotta one ball somewhere vastly different than the ball before it, it can take a minute.
10. There are 300 puzzle levels, which is plenty really. They all seem the same after a while and there's no rhyme or reason to how hard they are. They do not get progressively more difficult, which makes each session a game of attrition. It's all about not making mistakes and really nailing your ball-shots.
11. Additionally, there are like six or ten extra game modes which are fun distractions but none of them feel essentially different than the main mode. One mode that is noticeably missing is some sort of marathon mode where new balls come down from the top of the level until you can no longer handle any more balls.
12. Overall, having thought about this a considerable amount, I stand by my opinion this is an okay ball-based puzzle game. When you are playing it, it gets addictive and you want to keep pushing on but it does not persist in your memory well enough that you continually feel an urge to play with these balls when you aren't already doing so.
13. I think I could have done more w/ these ball jokes. (That's what she said.)
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