Puzzle Bobble: Dynomite’s daddy

Well, it’s just how I see them, father and son (or mother and daughter). I remember looking for a PC version of Puzzle Bobble, also known as Bust-A-Move, a few years back but ended up downloading a copy of Dynomite, which is pretty similar.

What the hell was I doing looking for an arcade game when I had dozens of role-playing game titles waiting to be installed? I really don’t know, suffice it to say that I spent a considerable amount of time playing Puzzle Bobble in the arcades with, uhmm, lady friends.

Anyway, for those who have no idea or can’t remember what Puzzle Bobble is, here’s a brief description:

Puzzle Bobble, known in the United States, Canada and some parts of Europe as Bust-A-Move, is an arcade game series developed by Taito.

The main screen of the game contains several elements, including a number of bubbles (hence the title) of different colors arranged in a pattern. At the bottom of the screen is a cannon that fires bubbles in a straight line.

The objective is to fire the bubble loaded in the cannon at similarly colored bubbles at the top of the screen. If the bubble you fired comes into contact with identically colored bubbles to form a group of three or more, the bubbles and any other bubble hanging onto them removed from the screen.

Yes, yes, exactly like Dynomite, only cuter, and more mobile.

You see, Puzzle Bobble has been ported to various platforms, including mobile phones. The game also had an online version called, well, Puzzle Bubble Online, which supported up to six players and several team modes. How’s that for a 1994 classic.