Pop & Drop is a puzzle game that will remind you of Bust-A-Move, because for all intents and purposes, the two games are identical. In Pop & Drop, you shoot colored bubbles at a random assortment of other bubbles in the hopes of connecting at least three and clearing them from the screen. The objective is to remove all the onscreen bubbles before they make their way down to the bottom of the screen, causing you to lose the game.
Although this is done primarily by grouping like-colored bubbles together, thereby clearing them and any other bubbles that are solely dependent on them, there are a few alternatives to removing bubbles. One is the buzz saw bubble, which will remove any bubbles in the arc where you shoot it, so the objective is to aim it at the place where the colored bubbles are most concentrated. Another is the rotator bubble, which also appears on your popper, and it will spread the color of the bubble it comes in contact with to other bubbles in the area. You're also given three grenades to use over the course of the game that will destroy all bubbles that they touch. Since the grenades are limited, however, it's best to save them for desperate moments. Littered around the screen on some levels are black balls, which cannot be removed on their own, but instead must be dropped by association--all balls that are holding the black ball up must be cleared first. There are also spring mechanisms. When you hit these, you will move the bubble screen back up a space, giving you a little extra time to clear it before all the bubbles come crashing down. The power-ups are a decent addition to what would otherwise just be Bust-A-Move, but overall, there really isn't much to Pop & Drop.
Pop & Drop looks good enough on the LG VX7000, and it's easy to tell the difference between the different bubbles and their functions. One interesting note is that unlike the Bust-A-Move games, Pop & Drop the colored bubbles don't have patterns on them, which makes the game less color-blind-friendly. The sound effects consist of stock sounds that play when you're shooting the balls on the screen, and they are generally very basic.
Pop & Drop doesn't offer much in the way of variety, and the rewards for playing it are minimal, but its tried-and-true gameplay should be enough to satisfy puzzle game enthusiasts for a while.
