Puzzle Bobble 3 (パズルボブル３ Pazuru Boburu Surī?), also known as Bust-A-Move 3, is a puzzle. It was released into arcades in September 1996 and later ported to the Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation, Game Boy, Nintendo 64 and Microsoft Windows. Like its predecessors, the player is tasked with shooting bubbles using a launcher at groups of bubbles, creating groups of 3 or more, which are then removed from play. A European rerelease was made for consoles entitled Puzzle Bobble 3 DX, and was released under the names Bust-A-Move 3 DX and Bust-A-Move '99 in western regions.
Gameplay[]
Unlike the previous installment, there is no longer a dropping ceiling bar to push bubbles downwards. In it's place are "nodes" that keep bubbles attached to and disappear once all bubbles surrounding it are popped. Instead of dropping the ceiling after every few bubbles shot, the bubbles simply advance downwards one row. This can reveal any of hidden lines that contain nodes, possibly forming even a "ceiling".
Also, the ceiling of the playing field has changed so that if a bubble hits it, instead of sticking to it, it now bounces off it like it was a wall. This can be used to create trick-shots to clear tough situations, or to dispose of un-wanted colors as if the bubble exits the playing field from the bottom, it will be used up without affecting the board.
Besides the Normal and Wide Stages from the previous installment, there is now Endurance Stages that are five times as high as normal Stages and count as five Stages, with each screen of bubbles counting as one Stage. Because of this, the Time Bonus has been balanced to fit the length of the stage.
Also, this game contains a new Bubble called the Rainbow Bubble. When bursting the bubble next to this bubble, the Rainbow Bubbles that are near it will change color to said color.
This is also the first installments to have a character select, in which, other than Bub / Bob, you can play as other characters. These characters are from in-universe arcade games. You can select the characters to play when you are doing the various modes in the game. In Player Vs Computer and Player Vs Player modes, each character has a different drop set when sending bubbles to their opponents. There are also unlockable characters in this game by completing certain feats.
Play Modes[]
Puzzle Mode[]
One of the three Arcade Modes. In this mode, the player goes through a series of stages to reach the ending of the game.
After selecting this mode, the player chooses any of three selections that makes up the courses of the game.
Practice[]
The player goes through five simple stages to get used to the controls, then they will be told to try the other courses before ending the game.
Normal[]
The player goes through the normal set of stages that compose of Puzzle Bobble 3. At the beginning of the game, the player selects any of two sets of five levels (Set A or Set B) to begin play. After clearing a set, then they can choose to either play the set on the left of it or the set on the right of it (for example, if you clear Set B, you can select either Set D or Set E for your next Set).
The map of each set is similar to Puzzle Bobble 2 / Bust A Move Again, with 2 Sets for the first stage, 3 sets for the second, all the way to seven for the final stage.
Sets B, D, G, K, and M are "Endurance" stages and they are new and only to this game. In these Stages, the height of the board is five times as high as the normal Stage. Because of this, one screen of the Stage counts as one Stage. While playing these stages, a progress bar is shown on the left side of the screen, which fills up as you advance through the Stage. Once the bar is completely filled, the Set will be cleared. If you clear all of the bubbles on the screen before new rows are added, you will get a 100,000 point Perfect bonus and the Stage will advance a lot. You will know that this stage is an Endurance Stage by the Set having classic Bubble Bobble enemies circling around it.
There are 27 different Sets that are available, from Set A to Set ?. This means that there is a total of 135 stages in the game, and you will only be able to see thirty of them. Once you clear the 30th Stage, the game will end and you will get an ending screen depending on the final set cleared. The credits shows various game background as Bubble Dragons move and fly across the screen. At the final screen, you will be seen your final score and a code on the Taito screen to access "Another World".
2.5[]
The player goes through the set of stages that compose of Puzzle Bobble 2, as well as some of 2X. As with the Normal Course, the player selects any of two sets of five levels to begin play, and work their way through the branching tree until their chosen sixth Set. As with the normal Course, there are 27 different Sets that are available, from Set A to Set ?. This means that there is a total of 135 stages in the game, and you will only be able to see thirty of them.
About "Another World"[]
You might have seen after the credits of Puzzle Mode's Normal or 2.5 Course a code below the Taito screen. It tells you to press the Fire button, then the Left and Right keys, then the Fire button again. Doing so on the Title Screen will show a rotating Drunk icon on the lower right corner of the screen. This means that you have unlocked the "Another World" for this play only.
"Another World", as like in Puzzle Bobble 2 / Bust A Move Again, allows you to play a completely different set of stages in Normal and 2.5 Courses, effectively doubling the amount of stages present in Puzzle Mode. If counting regular courses and Another World courses, there are a total of 540 different Stages available.
Player vs Computer Mode[]
One of the three Arcade Modes. In this mode, the player goes through a series of battles between computer opponents to reach their chosen character's ending.
After selecting this mode, the player chooses any of three selections that makes up the courses of the game.
Practice[]
The player goes through three simple battles to get used to the battle mode, then they will be told to try the other courses before ending the game.
Normal[]
The player goes through a series of battles that compose of Puzzle Bobble 3's main story. There is no route of characters per character, all characters play through the same order of opponents, in which there are ten in total as opposed to 2's twelve.
The list of opponents you must face are as follows:
- Bub / Bob
- Twinkle
- Priccio
- Marina
- Musashi
- Luna Luna
- Jack
- Super Sonic Blast Man
- Deb
Once you defeat Deb, he will reveal that Drunk is actually disguising him, and you have to fight him in the tenth and final battle.
Once you defeat Drunk, the game will end and you will get an ending sequence depending on the character you cleared the game with. The credits shows various character's backgrounds as bubble dragons walk past or fly across the screen. At the final screen, you will be seen your final score and the same code on the Taito screen to access "Another World".
Hard[]
The player goes through the same series of battles as the Normal Course, but on a higher difficulty.
Player vs Player Mode[]
One of the three Arcade Modes. Basically it's the same as the previous two installments, where both players choose a character and fight until one of the players won two matches.
Challenge Mode[]
In this mode, the player goes through a series of 5 levels containing five stages each.
- In the first level, there are only standard levels.
- In the second level, there are levels that test the player on speed, as these levels drop the ceiling faster than normal stages.
- In the third level, there is an endurance level that the player must complete.
- In the fourth level, there are levels that test the player on shooting bubbles with the puzzle composing with many colors.
- In the fifth level, there are levels that test the player on accuracy, testing them on how well they can shoot bubbles.
The player must play all five stages (or the endurance level, which is five stages) in order. If they fail to clear a stage, they can still move on to the next stage without retrying it. At the end of each level, the player is graded on their performance. The performance grading is based on:
- Their total amount of stages cleared, up to five (one in level 3)
- Their average time spent per stage
- Their amount of bubbles used and burst
- Their speed, technique, and accuracy
Their grade can be anywhere from E, D, C, B, or A, with E being the worst and A being the best.
After beating the fifth level, they will be presented with a certificate showing their "Bust-A-Move / Puzzle Bobble Grade". This rank is the cumulative totals of all the ranks of the five levels, with E being no grades, D being 1 grade, C being 2 grades, B being 3 grades, and A being 4 grades. Their grade can go as low as 1, and can be as high as 20.
The high score table does not count score throughout this mode, but the highest Grade achieved. (default high score being Grade 5)
Win Contest Mode[]
In this mode, it's basically the "Endless Mode". After selecting the character, the player keeps on fighting computer controlled opponents as the difficulty increases, until they eventually lose.
As the player wins more rounds, the more a sliding picture puzzle gets closer to completion in the final results screen, and at around 12 wins, it will be completed. Some secret characters will be unlocked in this mode if they complete said picture with some characters.
The high score table does not count score, but the highest win streak recorded. (default high score being 5 wins). The player can continue after seeing their result (PS1 / Saturn) or after they enter their name (N64). Doing so will reset their win streak, as well as their score.
Collection Mode[]
In this mode, the player can be able to play various stages that were created by a ton of Puzzle Bobble fans around Japan.
There are a total of over 1,000 (1,026 stages to be exact) stages that are available in this mode. Some of those Stages are easy, while others can be a challenge. After selecting the character, the stage select screen will be shown. In the stage select screen, the player can select the stage by pressing left for the previous stage or right for the next, or go to each letter of the creator's name by pressing down for the previous letter and up for the next. At the end of the stages is an "EXIT" choice that exits the mode.
After clearing the stage or not, the player can either retry the stage which starts the stage over, go to the next stage which starts the next stage, go back to the stage select screen, or quit the mode entirely.
The player also has a score like in other modes, but there is no high score table in this mode. Also the stages are only Normal Stages and not Wide or Endurance Stages.
Edit Mode[]
In this mode, the player can create their own maps. Using the editor, they can be allowed to make their own stages, but the stages are only Normal Stages. They can make a total of thirty levels.
They can also play their own set of stages. At the end of the set, they will be presented by a ending sequence that's only exclusive for custom level sets. Then they will be sent to the game over screen, as there is no high score table for playing custom level sets.
Characters[]
Playable characters[]
- Bub
- Musashi
- Twinkle
- Priccio
- Marina
- Luna Luna
- Jack
- Super Sonic Blast Man
- Deb
- Drunk
- Pitch & Chap
- Paya-Paya
Non-playable characters[]
- Zen-chan (Cameo)
- Maita (Cameo)
- Monsta (Cameo)
- Drunk (Cameo)
- Gargo (Cameo)
- Packy (Cameo)
- Woolen (Cameo)
- Chun-Chun (Cameo)
- Drabo (Cameo)
- Sayo-chan (Cameo)
Trivia[]
- The game forbids the initials "SEX" on the high score table. If you try, it gets changed to "PB3".
Gallery[]
