Ultra Bust-A-Move

Bust-A-Move is a simple puzzle game where you shoot gems at other gems of the same color at the top of the screen to make them disappear. It is very simple, but very fun. This Ultra version of BAM features online play via Xbox Live, and if you have a competitive bone in your body it is easy to get hooked on playing online. For $20, this game is a very good deal and worth picking up.

Simple, Yet Effective ... And Addictive

Similar to the almighty Tetris, Bust-A-Move uses a very simple concept to lure you in and then easy to learn, tough to master gameplay to keep you hooked. You shoot gems from the bottom of the screen to the top and you try to match like colored gems to make them disappear. When you clear one of the over 1,000 boards, the next one loads up and you continue playing. The gem layout in each board is predetermined, but the gems you can shoot are randomly generated, which is the little hook that keeps the game from getting stale. Everything sounds simple enough. But as you play, the puzzles get progressively harder and the gems at the top start sliding downward at an ever increasing pace. You reach that crazy state of mind where it seems like your hands are moving on their own. It seems that way because your mind is already two shots ahead, desperately figuring out how you are going to clear this puzzle. Everything slows down and you are in gaming bliss. And when you fail a puzzle, you immediately start another game to try to get back to that state of mind.

Single Player Modes

In addition to the classic mode where you just plow through board after board to see how far you can get and rack up the most points, Ultra Bust-A-Move also has three bonus modes. Seesaw mode forces you to keep the board balanced. If there are too many gems on one side, it will tilt and end the game. The shot mode gives you one gem shot to clear the entire board. It starts off easy, but gets pretty difficult very quickly. The final single player mode is called blind. In this mode, you don’t know the color of the gems on the board until a shot gem touches them. This is a fun mode because you are setting off into the unknown every time you play.

Xbox Live Play

A main feature in Ultra Bust-A-Move is the ability to play online via Xbox Live. You play in versus mode where the gems you drop appear on your opponent’s side. You can choose the level of your opponent and that is about it, but that is all you really need. Online play is just as fun and addictive as you would expect, and with voice chat you can kind of chill out and really have fun. There aren’t any leaderboards, but the game keeps track of your wins with a cool points system. There are five different levels of players and you get more points by beating players that are a higher level than you. Levels and points don’t have any impact on the game, but it is fun to see where you stack up to other players. Since levels are determined by points and not necessarily skill, they are more a marker of how much someone plays rather than how good they are. All in all, online play is pretty darn fun.

Graphics, Sound, and The Bottom Line

The graphics and sound in Ultra Bust-A-Move have some serious issues, though. The graphics are just hideously cutsey and the sound effects and music are absolutely grating. Simplicity would have definitely been better here. It isn’t so annoying that the game is unplayable, though, because it is still fun enough that you’ll put up with pretty much anything. Simpler graphics and a custom soundtrack option would have been very much appreciated here.

If you are looking for a puzzle game on Xbox, look no further. Ultra Bust-A-Move offers all of the puzzle action you could want along with great online play. All of the single player modes are fun in their own way and it is great to see the classic BAM formula tweaked a little bit to try to squeeze a few more drops of fun into an already great package. Xbox Live play is just icing on the cake. For only $20, this game is definitely worth picking up.