Bursting with the same cheerful design, adorable characters, and timeless gameplay as the originals, Puzzle Bobble VR: Vacation Odyssey is the next evolution of the classic Japanese action puzzle game franchise – with the immersive fun of virtual reality!
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This review contains spoilers
Never had I ever thought seeing a new mainline Puzzle Bobble game would come to virtual reality systems of all things. I was quite hyped when it was unveiled in October 2020 and I eventually purchased a Quest 2 for myself and waited until the release. (Yes I'm a puzzle game nerd.)
Visually it looks decent enough considering the limitations of the Quest headset. There's various environments which you traverse through and even though Bob (or Pab in Multiplayer) are the only characters you'll actually meet, their designs are a huge improvement from Bubble Bobble 4 Friends. While that's all good, my biggest problem with the game (was) the lack of any color filters. I'm colorblind and not seeing an option for fixing it anywhere (was) inexcusable. Some people have also complained about blurry text, but I'm not seeing it on my Quest 2.
Gameplay is vastly different from any other entry in the series, and I enjoy it. Instead of using a pointer that moves left and right, you wield a bubble cannon which you load in, pull back, and shoot onto the cluster of bubbles (yes you can shoot it at Bob.) Just like all other entries in the series, you match 3 or more of the same colored bubble to destroy them, however instead of just deleting them from a level, you have to expose Bubble Cores and destroy them within a set amount of shots or time. But it isn't just about shooting bubbles either. There are 3 powerups that can be unlocked for a large price and can be bought cheaper afterwards. I find bombs to be most effective, which overshadow the paintbrush and spindle a bit. They have their uses though. Overall it's very refreshing to see a new take on the core mechanics of a series that keeps it relatively the same. Not only that, but the game has several QOL improvements too. There's no time limit between shots, and there's always a reticle highlighting where your shot will land what bubbles will be destroyed, which gives the game a much higher emphasis on strategy, especially when trying to go for 3 stars.
While the first stages just have regular bubbles, it'll add in old and new types of bubbles. Some returning ones such as star and rainbow bubbles function identically from what they did before. The new ones make things more interesting. You got bubbles that add to your total shot count, and that'll be the only buff you'll get. The other types include crates that act like obstruction blocks, and barriers which must be destroyed with the right color. There's de-buffs like the Poison bubbles which are barely a threat towards veteran players such as me, and Minus bubbles which can be very damaging on some stages. However the usage of these obstacles are used enough where most stages during the adventure are well balanced in terms of difficulty. Aside from two stages.
As for the story, it's not worth mentioning at all. It just plays out in your face (literally) and the gameplay is not tied to it at all, so forget it. The main game itself kinda falters. There's only 100 stages which have to be completed in linear order. No branching pathways, no bonus levels, just 100 levels and that's it. I finished it all in 3 hours, and If it wasn't for the ranking system, it would've killed all the replay value.
The music is great. It's composed by ZUNTATA, and even though it reuses a couple of songs from Puzzle Bobble Journey (One of the worst Puzzle Bobble games) all the other original music pieces are just as good.
After going through the 100 stages... You get nothing for your troubles. Rather disappointing. And the heck of it, I decided to achieve 3 stars on every level out of curiosity to see what happens. And some of these stages are under extreme requirements to achieve it (Stages 70 and 95 as examples). And after going through all of it and achieving mastery.... You still get nothing. No achievement, no cosmetic, nothing. Unless it's for bragging rights, it's not worth trying it.
Aside from the main campaign, there's two other side modes. A typical Multiplayer mode and an endless mode. Multiplayer however turned out to be a disappointment. There's no VS CPU option and the servers were barren. I was only able to find ONE quickmatch within any reasonable time. So I gave up on that and resorted to a friend who also had the game. (Thanks Miles!) When I got to play it, it was actually fun. Sending garbage towards the opposition while keeping the playfield as low as possible is quite stressful yet satisfying. Endless mode on the other hand is just multiplayer without the other player. So it basically serves as practice for a mode that has nobody playing it. As for the PlayStation VR port, it has NO crossplay compatibility. What an insult.
As somebody who's completed Super Puzzle Bobble multiple times, it's sequel, and the original Puzzle Bobble on an original Neo Geo, I still feel like this one's worth a try despite it's shortcomings and 7 month development (which may have been rushed to meet Bubble Bobble's 35th anniversary). Hopefully some of my problems will be rectified in an eventual update.
Visually it looks decent enough considering the limitations of the Quest headset. There's various environments which you traverse through and even though Bob (or Pab in Multiplayer) are the only characters you'll actually meet, their designs are a huge improvement from Bubble Bobble 4 Friends. While that's all good, my biggest problem with the game (was) the lack of any color filters. I'm colorblind and not seeing an option for fixing it anywhere (was) inexcusable. Some people have also complained about blurry text, but I'm not seeing it on my Quest 2.
Gameplay is vastly different from any other entry in the series, and I enjoy it. Instead of using a pointer that moves left and right, you wield a bubble cannon which you load in, pull back, and shoot onto the cluster of bubbles (yes you can shoot it at Bob.) Just like all other entries in the series, you match 3 or more of the same colored bubble to destroy them, however instead of just deleting them from a level, you have to expose Bubble Cores and destroy them within a set amount of shots or time. But it isn't just about shooting bubbles either. There are 3 powerups that can be unlocked for a large price and can be bought cheaper afterwards. I find bombs to be most effective, which overshadow the paintbrush and spindle a bit. They have their uses though. Overall it's very refreshing to see a new take on the core mechanics of a series that keeps it relatively the same. Not only that, but the game has several QOL improvements too. There's no time limit between shots, and there's always a reticle highlighting where your shot will land what bubbles will be destroyed, which gives the game a much higher emphasis on strategy, especially when trying to go for 3 stars.
While the first stages just have regular bubbles, it'll add in old and new types of bubbles. Some returning ones such as star and rainbow bubbles function identically from what they did before. The new ones make things more interesting. You got bubbles that add to your total shot count, and that'll be the only buff you'll get. The other types include crates that act like obstruction blocks, and barriers which must be destroyed with the right color. There's de-buffs like the Poison bubbles which are barely a threat towards veteran players such as me, and Minus bubbles which can be very damaging on some stages. However the usage of these obstacles are used enough where most stages during the adventure are well balanced in terms of difficulty. Aside from two stages.
As for the story, it's not worth mentioning at all. It just plays out in your face (literally) and the gameplay is not tied to it at all, so forget it. The main game itself kinda falters. There's only 100 stages which have to be completed in linear order. No branching pathways, no bonus levels, just 100 levels and that's it. I finished it all in 3 hours, and If it wasn't for the ranking system, it would've killed all the replay value.
The music is great. It's composed by ZUNTATA, and even though it reuses a couple of songs from Puzzle Bobble Journey (One of the worst Puzzle Bobble games) all the other original music pieces are just as good.
After going through the 100 stages... You get nothing for your troubles. Rather disappointing. And the heck of it, I decided to achieve 3 stars on every level out of curiosity to see what happens. And some of these stages are under extreme requirements to achieve it (Stages 70 and 95 as examples). And after going through all of it and achieving mastery.... You still get nothing. No achievement, no cosmetic, nothing. Unless it's for bragging rights, it's not worth trying it.
Aside from the main campaign, there's two other side modes. A typical Multiplayer mode and an endless mode. Multiplayer however turned out to be a disappointment. There's no VS CPU option and the servers were barren. I was only able to find ONE quickmatch within any reasonable time. So I gave up on that and resorted to a friend who also had the game. (Thanks Miles!) When I got to play it, it was actually fun. Sending garbage towards the opposition while keeping the playfield as low as possible is quite stressful yet satisfying. Endless mode on the other hand is just multiplayer without the other player. So it basically serves as practice for a mode that has nobody playing it. As for the PlayStation VR port, it has NO crossplay compatibility. What an insult.
As somebody who's completed Super Puzzle Bobble multiple times, it's sequel, and the original Puzzle Bobble on an original Neo Geo, I still feel like this one's worth a try despite it's shortcomings and 7 month development (which may have been rushed to meet Bubble Bobble's 35th anniversary). Hopefully some of my problems will be rectified in an eventual update.