Baku Baku

It's been a very long time since I reviewed a Saturn game. Not as long as it's been since I reviewed a puzzle game though. I haven't reviewed a puzzle game in what seems like ages.

My reasons are simple. For starters, I haven't reviewed a Saturn game in awhile because the system is dead, and there are loads of Playstation games. I keep playing my PS, and haven't had too much time for Saturn games. The puzzle issue is somewhat different. Although I like a good puzzle game now and then, I hardly ever break down and buy one.  By their nature, puzzlers seem to have a high replay value. Not to me though.. I play way to many games to get a long term fix from a puzzler. I'm always looking for something new, and once I've played through a puzzle game a night or so I'm usually tired of it. Therefore, I usually have a hard time justifying the expense of these type of games, and rarely ever buy one.

So why did I buy this one? Well, one reason was that it was cheap. I can't justify spending 50 bones on a game like this, but since the Saturn is dead prices have dropped drastically. I found this for $10 and it looked like quite a bargin to me. Another reason I bought it was because I haven't played a good puzzler in awhile. I did buy, and play Tetrisphere for the N64, but to be quite honest, it wasn't for me. It just didn't have any of the cute animations, or graphical flair that I like in this type of game. This game does have them, so, with all these reasons, I bought the game.

To describe the game, I'd have to say that it's similar to collumns. You have the same block dropping, and lining up to create combos which make your pieces disapear. What's different is how it is implimented, and how  it appears. In Baku Baku, rather then the jewels of columns, you have animals and fruit. You must align the animals with their fruit to create a combo which causes the animal to eat it's fruit. Once you do, a well done animation of the.. for instance: "mouse eating cheese" takes place eliminating the blocks off the screen.

Graphically, this game is way better then a game such as Collumns. Actually, it looks better then most puzzlers on the N64 or Playstation for that matter of fact. It is very brightly lit, and has some pretty cool animations. Each of the five animal types has it's own seperate animation, of the animal head getting larger, and eating it's chosen food. The dog eats his bones, the rabbit eats carrots, the mouse likes cheese, the monkey likes banannas, and the panda likes leaves. Once you beat an oponnent, a hugh head comes down to chomp the entire screen. This is way better then your average puzzler, and it gives the illusion that something new is always happening.

The gameplay is similar to Columns too. Pieces fall from the sky, and you must position them to create the largest possible combo. Rather then 3 pieces falling at once, you have only two in Baku Baku. What's really different though is the ability to heap blocks upon your opponent. The bigger your combos, the more blocks fall on your opponent. Get a big combo on your side, and it's very possible to win the game by making the other side fill up so quickly.

There's really not too much more I can say about it. The graphics are good, and the puzzle is well designed. I liked it alot. I still wouldn't play a game like this for weeks on end, but for a few weekends it's pretty good. I'd go as far to say it's better then 90% of the other puzzlers out there.

If you really like puzzlers, I'd definetely get this one. Or, if you find it cheap enough, and you want something a little different, this is definetely the way to go. As an arcade game, this is almost perfect. As a home game, there's just not enough variation for long term play. It's more of the nature of puzzlers, then a fault of the programming though. Good fun, although short lived. I'm giving it a solid 80% rating.
 

 
RATINGS
GRAPHICS 80%
SOUND 80%
GAMEPLAY 80%
ORIGINALITY 80%
REPLAY VALUE 80%
OVERALL 80%