Get the puzzle formula right, and you get a stupidly addictive game. See Tetris for details. Also, if your puzzler includes bubbles and cutesy characters, a la Puzzle Bobble/Bust-a-Move, it should be really good fun. Super Bubble Pop has the bubbles and cute characters - could it be a Puzzle Bobble for our times?

The concept is simple. You control the chap/chapess at the bottom of the screen, and must use their bubble-firing gun to launch spheres of varying hue at similarly coloured bubbles nestling at the top of the screen. When three bubbles of the same colour meet, they'll burst. Repeat until you've cleared the screen and eventually the level.

As you'd expect, this is trickier than it sounds, thanks to several factors. As with Puzzle Bobble, you'll often find that the bubble you really need tends to be a no-show, forcing you to manage your bubbles at lightning-fast speed if you're to win the level. To make matters worse, the bubbles slowly move towards the front of the screen, and if they reach the front it's game over. Add in special blocks that hinder or help, plus various power-ups, and there's potential here for plenty of nightmarishly hectic puzzling.

Sadly though, it doesn't get anywhere near Puzzle Bobble's status as best bubble-based puzzler. For a start, the mechanism that made PB so skilful - the aiming technique that allowed for angled shots and so on - is replaced here by a more basic left- and right-scrolling style of bubble shooting, making it less involving to play.

The way the bubbles work isn't engaging either. There are no satisfying chain reactions or combos; the puzzling is basic, and feels like Space Invaders with colour-matching. It has the frustration element in place, but not the addictive quality that makes you want to keep playing.

And the production values are awful. The whole game feels like a cross between a cheesy European pop video and an early '90s Amiga tech demo. Super Bubble Pop is as hectic as any puzzle game you care to mention, and the two-player mode offers some entertainment, but ultimately you can't shake the feeling that it's just puzzling by numbers.

1. You can use your soundtracks
2. Multiplayer can be amusing

1. Unspeakably naff production values
2. Not particularly involving

Power
Poor graphics, but at least you can use your soundtracks. Still nothing to shout about.

Style
Fans of '90s duo 2 Unlimited might like it, but for everyone else it looks and sounds awful.

Immersion
You'll be into it a first as you work out how the game works and fiddle with the power-ups...

Lifespan
but that doesn't take long, and it's not much fun to keep playing. There's none of that spark.

Summary
A poor puzzle game that's free of addictive qualities, and full of bad techno cheese. No substitute for Bust-a-Move.