It’s been quite a while since we’ve reviewed a release from the ACA line, but Puzzle Bobble is the game to break the slump. These arcade titles are easy to overlook now that the Nintendo Switch is bursting in eShop releases every single week, but Puzzle Bobble (or Bust-A-Move) is a personal favorite of mine and deserves a place in the digital library of your Switch.

“Aim, bounce, and stick” as you try to hold off the playfield from reaching the bottom of the screen. This puzzler has Bub and Bob (of Bubble Bobble fame) shooting colored bubbles for you to match in an easy to pick up, but not quite as easy to master classic. The scoring system has a depth that rewards risk takers willing to let their bubbles accumulate on-screen, but no matter how you play the game is Fun with a capital F.

Puzzle Bobble has a bright and colorful presentation. It has bouncy, cute, and catchy music that’s proved enduring. No control issues are to be found. It also has a great two-player mode. What more could you ask for from a 1994 puzzler? It pulled off everything it needed to, enough to distinguish an audience from even the arcade giants at the time like Street Fighter II.

Really, the only negative thing to be said about this arcade version is that this it’s probably the weakest in the series. The credits roll surprisingly quick here. The home ports tripled the number of rounds, while adding new bubbles and other challenging modes. Not to mention the slew of sequels. But the original is still worthy of respect, and the ACA features give some real extra replay incentive to those looking to beat their high scores.Puzzle Bobble is a habit-forming game to be sure. Actually, that’s probably an understatement. This arcade original launched a series that continues to keep me addicted to this day. Can you ever own too many Bust-A-Move games? Just ignore the slew of clones and stick to the tried and true. Keep an eye out for the sequel as well, coming to Nintendo Switch soon.