Bust-A-Move (Arcade)

Bust-A-Move
Also known as: Puzzle Bobble (JP/EU/Asia) Developer: Taito Publisher: Taito Platforms: Arcade (Neo Geo) Released in JP: December 1994 Released in US: December 1994 Released in EU: December 1994 This game has debugging material. This game has regional differences.

They're Bustin' and Movin' all over the place.

Debugging Features

Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move has a curious debug list with various modes that is only accessible if played using the Universe BIOS (UniBIOS in short).

2-3 Arkanoid Type Game...? (A.k.a. Bust-A-Move Mode)

US (North America)	Europe/Asia (Eurasia)

Curiously, there's a debug dip labeled as, Arkanoid Type Game which can be enabled through the Debug Dip Settings. When it's enabled, the game will be set in Bust-A-Move mode which is basically a port of its unreleased B-System version, Bubble Buster. When it's set to the US region, anything will play as usual. But when it's set to the Europe region, the title screen it's completely different. Instead of showing the cutey animation with Bub and Bob, it shows the same bouncy animation of Bubble Buster/Bust-A-Move and when it ends, an animated version of the name entry background of Bubble Buster and a shadow behind the game title appear. Presumably, this is how originally Bust-A-Move had to be in the US, before Taito America decided to go with the standard Puzzle Bobble mode.

Regional Differences

Title Animation

The Japanese and European/Asian versions shows an animation of Bubblun and Bobblun popping several bubbles to reveal the Puzzle Bobble logo. In the US version, there's no such animation and the Bust-A-Move logo just appears on the screen right away.

Title Screen

The Japanese version shows the same title screen as its original B-System counterpart. The North American version recreates the style of its US prototype version Bubble Buster with the only difference that uses the same spacey background of Puzzle Bobble instead of a black background. The European/Asian version shows the same title screen except that the Japanese subtitle was removed.

Japan	North America	Europe/Asia

Play Selection Menu

The European version is missing the Play Selection menu before you start the game. The game just starts right away after pressing Start. This makes 2P VS Play inaccessible in the European version. So it only has the single join-in match.