Classic bubble-busting action as Puzzle Bobble returns on modern platforms

Don’t just stand there, Bust-A-Move

We all remember that, in the ’90s, an absolute deluge of colour/block-based puzzle titles swamped the arcade and home market, all looking for a piece of that L-shaped Tetris pie. While many of these titles fell by the wayside, Taito’s Puzzle Bobble was one of the more successful and memorable efforts, and would spawn a whole new franchise.

The first game in the series hit the arcades in 1994, before being ported to a host of home and handheld formats. Puzzle Bobble sees players controlling Bubble Bobble heroes Bublun and Boblun, who must destroy a fast-approaching wall of coloured bubbles with well-placed shots, matching colours in order to keep the heat off. Ehh, you know all this already. After clearing an area, our dino pals move on to tougher challenges.

This week, as part of their Arcade Archives range, Hamster has released the Neo Geo edition of this title on PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. Puzzle Bobble is still a fast, frantic and fun puzzler, but it’s a shame it’s not one of the later releases in the series. Regardless, Puzzle Bobble remains a perennial classic, if you want to check it out, then it’s available right now on PS4 in Japan and Xbox One and Nintendo Switch worldwide, priced at around $8.