Design
Puzzle Bobble: Bust-A-Move is a spin-off puzzle game of the Bubble Bobble saga, in which with the help of the dinosaurs Bub and Bob we must shoot bubbles into pairs of three in order to advancing into the levels. The bubbles have the enemies of the arcade game Bubble Bobble trapped inside, and when the player pops any, they fly out.
There are 8 different enemies:
-Super Socket / Invader is the one trapped in the red bubble.
-Hullaballoon(a.k.a. Boaboa) / Pulpul is in the yellow one.
-Willy Whistle(a.k.a. Bonner) / Drunk in the green.
-Bubble Buster(a.k.a. Benzo) / Zen-Chan in the blue.
-Beluga (a.k.a. Blubba) / Monsta in the purple.
-Coiley (a.k.a. Bonnie-bo) / Banebou in the orange.
-Incendo / Hidegonsu in the black.
-Stoner (a.k.a. Boris) / Mighta in the white.
It was the first game of the Bust-A-Move series than soon took off turning into multiple clones and sequels.
For the sake of creating our game, we have taken the a similar approach to each set of levels, which can be appreciated thanks to the change of background every 3 of them. During the first 3 stages of the game the basic mechanics of the game are shown indirectly, making it impossible to get through them without using the intended mechanic for each level.
Level 1
In this first level the need to make groups of bubble in order to pass onto the next level is the most evident trait, making it the most basic rule in order to win it. With the clear agroupation of balls in different sets of colors it just lets you shoot towards them and see what happens.
Level 2
For this second level, the balls are put in a line right towerds the limit which makes it impossible for the player to shoot straight into it as it would make us lose almost immediately. Making the ball you shoot bounce of the walls is the one that is the only way to solve this level and having us introduced the second mechanic of the game.
Level 3
The third level is the one that finishes what would be the tutorial introducing us to the most important mechanic of the game, which would be proper target selection while taking into account the ball that we will have available next turn. The display of the balls is rather simple, without beign in early danger of loss by reaching the limit but the balls are put in a way that makes every shot count.
After these tutorial stages, the levels just keep increasing the difficulty with more complex disposition of the balls but all the main elements needed in order to keep advancing in the game are already shown.
The main traits of the games is the puzzle approach, different than the main saga Bubble Bobble. The stage is set with a prearranged pattern of bubbles which have to be cleared, making them either pop or fall by making groups of 3 bubbles of the same color. To do that you have the 'pointer' which is the device used to fire bubbles to the bubbles set. Each bubble that will be shot next time is chosen completely randomly between the colours of the bubbles left in the screen. But if the bubbles are not cleared at some point of time they will reach the limit line near the pointer and the game will be over.
The bubbles follow a straight line with the possibility of bouncing off the side walls, but colliding and sticking to other bubbles or the top wall. As previously said, when 3 or more bubbles of the same colour get stuck, they pop, being removed from the field and giving a specific amount of points.
After a set amount of shots for each level and amount of colours remaining, the height of the ceiling decreases, making it easier for the bubbles to reach the limit line. The closer the bubbles get to the limit, the faster the music is played in order to put the player in a hurry.
If the player remains idle for a too many time, the pointer will automatically fire the bubbles in the last direction set. But it does not come without a warning, the bubble dragons will warn you of the lack of time and then go into a countdown from 5.
For each bubble you pop, you are awarded 10 points without any type of scaling factor besides the amount of bubbles. But the bubble that are dropped when the other ones that were holding them get popped follow a different formula: 10 * 2 ^ Bubbles dropped (colour does not matter here). This is the most effective way of getting the highest strings of scores, being it a maximum of 17 dropped balls at each level (1.310.720 points) with few exceptions at different levels.
There are also bonus points awarded for clearing the level in a specific amount of time. The starting bonus is 50.000 points that after 5 sec will start decaying until the 65 second mark is reached from where no bonus points will be awarded to the player.
For the multiplayer, the controls and mechanics remain the same, but the objective is rather different. The stage is set with a random set of bubbles, identical for both players which will be pushed down every each 16 shots, and bring more bubble to the stage. The winner is the one that will keep playing the game afterwards. The score obtained during the competition does not add to the total score of the run through the puzzles, and the score system remains the same as before.