Bubble Bash

Michael (Admin) | Jul 30, 2008 Games

User rating:

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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I love this game! So far Bubble Bash is the only non-free app that I’ve downloaded and if you’re into puzzle games this one is definitely worth the $7.99 price tag. It’s basically a re-tooling of Puzzle Bobble (aka Bust a Move) but it incorporates some new gameplay elements and a unique tropical theme.

Starting with the title screen you can tell right away that Gameloft put a lot of effort into the graphics and sound. Everything about this game looks very polished - even the game menus are fancy with how they hang from the top of the screen and swing back and forth as you move your iPhone. Check the screenshots and video at the end of this review to see what I’m talking about. This developer doesn’t screw around when it comes to production values.

The new gameplay elements I mentioned before are significant enough that they make Bubble Bash a unique game in its own right, but the main object of the game (popping bubbles with like-colored bubbles) remains mostly the same for hardcore Puzzle Bobble fans. In the screenshots you’ll see the characters Kale and Malia standing on a giant skateboard that moves back and forth as you tilt your iPhone. Cool! It’s a very handy feature when you’re trying to squeeze a bubble into a tight spot. You can also turn the “Gravity” option off so your characters stay in the middle if that works better for you.

Game mode options include “Arcade Mode” which has Kale and Malia playing different types of challenges, defeating bosses, and collecting pieces of some kind of map, or you can play “Crab Fever” which is a straight-up survival challenge to see how long you can last before the bubbles completely take over the screen. Also unique to Bubble Bash are all kinds of special bubbles that carry certain properties that will either help or hurt (but mostly help) your chances of successfully clearing a level.

This game is packed with a ton of bells & whistles that I’m too lazy to explain so you’ll just have to trust me when I say that this game kicks ass. It even includes tutorials for the truly clueless!

On the negative side there are only a couple of very small things that annoy me:

1. I keep getting kicked back to my iPhone’s main screen every time I try to access the “More Games” menu selection. I’m guessing this is just a tool for plugging Gameloft’s other titles so I’m not too broken up about it.

2. Every time I tap “Main Menu” when navigating through the game’s rather large feature set, it asks me “are you sure?” Kind of unnecessary.

3. Bubble Bash’s icon changed from the stoner crab you see at the top of this review to a very generic pink ball. Bring back the crab!

That’s all I got. If addictive puzzle games aren’t your thing then this game probably won’t do much for you. Everyone else: buy it, play it, and come back here to tell me what you think ok?