The problem is that it’s slow and cumbersome and also a little unreliable. Aiming is actually reasonably straight forward. However, the worst aspect of Puzzle Bobble 3D is down to the aiming. Also, with 100 levels to play through, it does start to get old pretty quickly. In 3D this is even worse as it’s often a lot harder to shoot at, or even see, key bubbles that could detach larger clumps of bubbles. Unlike other puzzlers where combos are super satisfying to make, in this series usually it’s just about seeing the bigger grouping of one colour and getting rid of it. The first really depends on if you’re a fan of the series.

New viewpoint aside, this is still a simple match-three puzzler at heart. And at 20 coins per use (100 to unlock them) that can take two or three successful level completions.īeyond that, the simplicity of the original game is still there. Annoyingly though, if you use a power-up and still fail the level, you’ll be restarting without it. Run out of shots and you’ll need to restart the level.Īside from power-ups that are unlocked as you go along, with the bomb being the most useful. But, rather than having balls drop ominously towards you like in the original, now your failure conditions are either a time limit or a shot limit. Aside from hopefully clearing out some bubbles, the impact of your shot will also spin the bubble group on a central axis, changing up your view of it. To fire a bubble now you have to squeeze R2, aim with the left stick and then release R2. These are attached to a core that then has to be destroyed. You still fire bubbles into the area aiming to clear all the existing bubbles away. However, the main concept is still the same. Now the bubbles are grouped in 3D clumps with depth now added to the other two dimensions. Simple enough.īut that was in 2D, where as Puzzle Bobble 3D: Vacation Odyssey adds, as you’d surmise from the title, an extra dimension. Ultimately, your aim was to clear the screen of bubbles. Do that and all the linked bubbles go away.

To do this you aimed a pointer at them and hopefully land your bubble onto the rest in such a way that you create a link of three or more of them. But without its virtual reality gimmick have State-side software specialists Survios, got enough here for the game to standalone? Let’s find out.įor the uninitiated, Puzzle Bobble was a 1994 match-three puzzle game that saw you trying to clear pre-arranged patterns of coloured bubbles by shooting more bubbles at them. The venerable old Puzzle Bobble series came back in 2021 thanks to a PSVR-enabled outing and this game here is the non-PSVR PS5 port of the same game. Septemin PS5 / Reviews tagged bubble bobble / bust a move / not psvr / puzzle / puzzle bobble 3d by Richie

Bubble bobble puzzle