Bust-A-Move Universe is a real bust.
The game consists of only two different gameplay modes: Puzzle and Challenge. In Puzzle, you advance through a series of planets, consisting of 10 rounds each. Spread throughout these rounds are keys encapsulated in balloons that must be freed by clearing a group of balloons next to it. Collect all the keys in a world and you free your little dinosaur pal and are granted the ability of Rapid Fire for the boss battle. Boss battles are extremely easily. Just keep firing bombs as they move left and right across the screen, occasionally jumping about.
In Challenge, you can select from three categories: 100 seconds, 300 seconds, and Nonstop. The only real challenge in this mode is getting the highest score possible in the time limit and seeing how long you can last in Nonstop. You can adjust some parameters, such as giving yourself a time limit to shoot bubbles, or removing the aiming guide, to make the game harder. Still, the core gameplay simply isn't as addicting as a good puzzler should be.
There's a couple major problems with the game that make it nearly impossible to recommend for the 30 dollar asking price. The first is the lack of pretty much any difficulty. In Puzzle, you're very rarely presented with a situation that you can't handle. Even so, there are life-saving power ups that can get you out of a pinch in no time. Boss battles don't even have to be won to clear a world, but you can replay them if you want a perfect rank.
The second is just the plain lack of any real content. Puzzle can be finished in just a couple of hours, and Challenge lacks any real variation to keep the game fresh and enticing to play again. There are no multiplayer options, and not even an online leader board feature to compare scores, so if you're a competitive player, there's no reason whatsoever to buy this title. Bust-A-Move Universe could have benefited greatly if it had at least one more gameplay mode.
There isn't much to speak of in the way of Universe's visuals. For the most part, they aren't anything the old DS can't handle. The revolving planets that paint the background look nice for what the game is, but it's hardly an impressive graphical feat. The 3D effects are also some of the most underwhelming of the 3DS's launch line up. The backgrounds have some depth to them, and it looks like the balloons really are falling planetside. The rotating gears on each side of the playing field are the only things that really standout in 3D. Overall, the 3D just doesn't add anything to the gameplay whatsoever.
For such a simple puzzler, it's no surprise that the audio is basic as well. The sound effects of balloons being shot and popped are about the same as they've always been. The soundtrack pretty much consists of one song that's been remixed for each world, so even though they may sound different, the songs still grow old.
Puzzle fans dying to have a title for their flashy 3DS should keep waiting for something better to come along, or just wait for a drop in price. As it stands, 30 dollars will not get you much content at all. It will not get you a game that's been optimized to showcase the system's graphics or 3D. It simply will not get you a good time, and the worst part of it all is no online multiplayer, leaving you all alone in Bust-A-Move's universe.