BUST A MOVE '99 / Playstation one / A
I was first roped into buying the Playstation when Wal*Mart was having a sale on Playstation and Saturn games. The two games I wanted most, Bust a move and In The Hunt, were available in both formats, same price...so which system should I get? The deal breaker was I found out they had EIGHTEEN Saturns left and only ONE Playstation! I made the right choice I think! BAM On the original playstation was one of my most played PSX games ever and still one of the most addictive puzzle games.
I got BAM '99 as "payment" for testing some stuff for our local second hand store. Sadly, the disc was in a rental case with no instructions, but none are needed.
BAM '99 is very similiar to BAM...you can choose several new modes (such as VERSUS and COLLECT) in addition to the two standard games, Arcade and puzzle. The idea in all games is to clear colored bubbles from the screen top by shooting other bubbles up at them, lining up 3 or more of the same color. To "Bust" a move means to clear a TOP row of bubbles, thereby clearing everything under it as well. After some time the bubble feild moves down and if it reaches bottom you lose. In puzzle mode you play solo, while in arcade you play against another character-either the CPU or a human. There are 3 difficulty levels for the CPU.
Only small touches have been added to BAM '99 but it made a great game even better. The arcade theme now is Taito japanese arcade machines; in between levels your character "walks up" to a new machine like BUBBLE BOBBLE, a quiz machine and a Crane Game. (It would've been neat if these were playable but they are just cut scenes). You can choose from a bunch of new characters. Most are Manga type humans this time; my favorite must be the cool chick with the blue hair (I have a thing for blue hair. I always did like Grover and Cookie monster.)..she fiddles with a deck of cards and leas against the machine in cool confindence. Other characters include a girl in a wizards hat, a guy that looks like Ken from Street Fighter and a Dr. Robotnik look alike. Oh yes, and you can still be Bub the dinosaur if you want (or Bob in two player).
Other additions are new bubbles-bust a move and send garbage bubbles to your opponent that have no matches; bomb bubbles destroy everything around them and so on.
The graphics are as good as the first game, the backgrounds quite nice, and the music is better, more varied this time. Controls are excellent. This game works fine on my PS2 slimline model by the way. I recommend it highly!