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By Contributing Writer Chris George Rating: Good I'm a huge fan of the original Bust A Groove, which makes it all the more disappointing for me to find that the sequel doesn't live up to the standard set by the original. Any game that you can beat in 35 minutes probably isn't worth buying, but Bust A Groove 2's problems go much deeper than its lack of length. The biggest problem is the music, which tends to be the centerpiece of the game since it's all about dancing. There are still some very memorable songs (like Kitty N's), but most of the music is mediocre and some of it is just plain rotten. The fact that I have already forgotten the lyrics to most of BAG 2's songs says a lot about their quality, while I can still remember the lyrics from the year-old original game. I can't imagine the reasoning behind Enix's decision to drop Avex Trax as the music team, and the new team didn't do that good of a job. There were times in BAG 2 where I couldn't even understand the lyrics despite the fact that the singing is in English. Some of the songs don't even have words; they're just instrumental pop songs. For some very strange reason, Enix decided to scrap all of the endings from the Japanese version and replace them with... (cue drum roll)... absolutely nothing! There are no endings in the game, and nothing has been added to make up for this. What this means is that after you unlock the hidden characters, this game has no replay value whatsoever unless the music somehow appeals to you. The dance-viewer isn't as fun as the original, and surprisingly, neither is the two-player mode. Thankfully, many of the characters in Bust A Groove 2 are well-designed and likable. Enix got rid of my two most hated characters from the original, Hamm and Pinky, but they also got rid of Frida and Gas-O. Many of the returning characters keep their style and charm, while the new characters are a mixed bag. Some of the them are cool, while others (like Bi-O) make you think that Enix ran out of creative ideas about half-way through this game's development. To its credit, Enix packed Bust A Groove 2 with a lot more gameplay options than the original. You can choose from Easy Mode (which only uses the d-pad), Normal (which is a lot like the original), and Mix Mode (which uses every button on the controller). Yet, despite these modes, the control still seems limited due to the fact that there are no branching dance moves. There is only one option at any given time when you're dancing, and you're stuck doing it over and over again. The only real strategy comes from blocking your opponent's "attacks" and trying to reverse them. The graphics are even wackier and crazier than they were in the original. The background images are sharp rather than blurry, and there are some really good level effects that occur as you dance. The characters themselves are detailed nicely as well, but I noticed that they sometimes touch the other characters accidentally. This causes clipping to occur as one character's hands appear to go right through character's body. If you're a fan of the music game genre and you're hungry for a fix, this makes for a great rental, but that's about it. Bust A Groove 2 could have been a must-buy game if only Enix had put a little more time and effort into it. Send your thoughts on this review to chris@mastergamer.com
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