Publisher City Connection has revealed they are releasing Puzzle Bobble 2 and 3 to modern consoles.
First, a little explanation to clear up some potential confusion. City Connection itself was a video game, a driving themed arcade game published by Jaleco in the 1980s. The original Jaleco dissolved in 2014, but a new independent game company called Clarice Disk acquired Jaleco’s video game properties, and renamed themselves after the video game.
This City Connection has been publishing classic video games, mainly from their own library of games. This time, they have licensed Puzzle Bobble 2 and Puzzle Bobble 3 from that franchise’s owner, Taito.
City Connection’s titles is officially named Puzzle Bobble 2X / BUST-A-MOVE 2 Arcade Edition & Puzzle Bobble 3 / BUST-A-MOVE 3 S-Tribute, and it is an extensive release as is now expected of most retro video game rereleases.
First off, the collection comes with Japanese arcade editions of Puzzle Bobble 2, Puzzle Bobble 2X, and Puzzle Bobble 3. Puzzle Bobble 2X is the final version of the arcade game, that includes extra levels and new attract mode animations, including holiday attract modes.
City Connection also promises four home ports of the two games, which will include their English language versions, BUST-A-MOVE 2 and BUST-A-MOVE 3 respectively. Both games actually received five home ports after their initial release; on the Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Game Boy, and Windows. It’s likely that the Game Boy versions are getting passed over for this collection which is sort of a shame, but given their low resolution graphics, is probably for the best.
They also introduce new modes unique to this new edition. A Challenge Mode will require you meet certain conditions to continue playing. Collection Mode bundles in 1.026 stages that have been designed by Puzzle Bobble players through the years. Lastly, a new Edit Mode allows you to make your own stages yourself.
Lastly, the collection touts special features that are introduced for the games here. You can rewind your game to undo any mistakes you made. You can switch to slow mode at a press of a button. For the first time, you have unlimited credits/free play on all the game modes, including for all the home games. Lastly, you can add in artificial scan lines and use quick save and load slots for save states.
These and City Connection’s other ports have been made possible by their own proprietary Zebra Engine, and thus far fans have been happy with their rereleases. You have your pick to play this game on Switch, Steam (including Steam Deck), PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, when it arrives this February 2, 2023.
Source: Gematsu
