Pop 'n' Pop is a cross between Taito's games Puzzle Bobble (Bust-a-Move) and Space Invaders. Like Puzzle Bobble, your goal is to remove all of the objects (in this game, they're balloons instead of bubbles) from the screen by matching colors. Like Space Invaders, the balloons move across the screen. The game is over if the bottom row of balloons reaches the ground. Because the balloons are slowly but surely moving downward toward your destruction, Pop 'n' Pop is action-packed. Strategies for Space Invaders will work to an extent, but the unpoppable balloons and the challenge of matching the colors add a lot of excitement to the game. Also, your accuracy is important: if you don't hit anything, the balloons speed up! Like many Taito games of the '90s, the story mode features different branches that you can take to get multiple endings and different bosses. The bosses are all pulled from classic Taito games such as Bubble Bobble, Kiki Kaikai (Pocky and Rocky), Darius, and Liquid Kids. The playable characters are also from classic Taito games. You can use Bub and Bob (from Bubble Bobble and countless other games), Kiki (Pocky), Ptolemy (from Fairyland Story), Tiki (from New Zealand Story), Don (from Don Doko Don), and several other characters. Each character has different powers that can help you clear the boards. These powers are activated when the power meter is filled by popping lots of balloons in combos. For example, Tiki's arrow can clear a column of balloons, while Don's hammer can clear a row and Ptolemy's magic can change lots of balloons to the same color. The multiplayer component of Pop 'n'Pop includes both competitive and co-op modes. The co-op modes are great because both players use the same screen, and they can help (or hinder!) each other in the tradition of other Taito co-op games like Bubble Bobble or Parasol Stars (the mother of all co-op games...). Sound-wise, the game is pretty good. The music is of high quality, but there aren't that many unique tracks. The sounds are as frenetic as any Japanese, anime-style puzzle game, so your judgement depends on your taste in those kinds of sounds. Personally, I like it! This is one of my favorite puzzle games ever. If you love puzzle games, you have to buy Pop 'n' Pop or at least beg Taito to release a new version! GameSpot only has the Japanese version listed, but there is also a European, English-language version available. Unfortunately, it's in PAL, so you'll only be able to play it if you have a modded PS and a TV capable of displaying PAL signals. Or, if you have a PS emulator, you can use the emulator to display the game on a computer monitor. Hey, I love the game so much, I bought both versions! Side note: Pop 'n' Pop's name resembles the name of the popular Taito fan site, bubandbob.com, and had a character list closely resembling the list of games covered by bubandbob.com at the time. Coincidence??? Hmmm.
Pop n pop review Here's My review of pop n' pop for the ps1, it's a puzzle game made by Taito and is rated 3+ or whatever that is in America. This is a childhood favourite of mine and it still holds up. Graphics: th... Read Full Review
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