Bust-a-Groove 2 is the sequel to the hit Playstation game, Bust-a-Groove (which began its life as Bust-a-Move overseas but for legal reasons, the name was slightly altered).  It’s a dancin’ good time game where the object is simply to out groove-bust your adversary.

File this game under the “love it or hate it” heading.  People without rhythm almost always dislike PLAYING the game immediately, since their ultra-uptight jivin’ prevents them from doing much more than wandering around the screen in a drunken stupor.  It should be pointed out, however, that even the frustrated folks who can’t get their dance on usually realize that they like the game even though they don’t want to play it.  Bust-a-Groove 2, like the first installment, is definitely fun to watch.  Peeps what gots some rhythm and can bust some mad grooves for the house, well, they almost always love this game.

Sequels are interesting: if they’re too much like the original (Rampage series) they are often given unfairly negative reviews (I really dig Rampage World Tour and Rampage Universal Tour) for allegedly failing to break any new ground.  On the other hand, if they stray too much from the original concept (Hasbro’s miserable Frogger remake) then they’re wholly different animals (or amphibians) and catch a lot of flak as a result.  Or in the case of Frogger, they catch flak because they just plain suck, on top of straying too far.

Bust-a-Groove 2 should satisfy everyone though.  In “normal” mode, the basic play mechanic is identical to the original: press the X or O button on the fourth beat after entering a series of commands on the directional pad.  Two new modes have been added as well: “easy” (only press O on the fourth beat) for the rhythm-impaired, and “mix” (adds buttons square and triangle on the fourth beat) for the smoothest muthas around.  In normal and mix modes, the R1 and R2 buttons are now used to block/attack and reverse attack.

The scoring system has also been improved, and now offers…POINTS!  Golden-age games always had points, but once the fighting game craze took over the free world, a lot of games began dropping a real “score,” opting instead for a simple winning streak as a measure of success.  I like to see points on the board and am very happy that we now have an easy way to keep track of how we’re faring on the dance floor.

BAG2 has revamped its cast of dancers as well.  Gas-O, Hamm and Pinky didn’t make the final cut, but Kelly was given a hot makeover (cop uniform) and new additions to the cast include Comet - sister of the artist, Frida, and Bio - father of the original game’s Gas-O.  Eighteen characters in all provide more than enough variety, though fan favorites are likely to be the fun loving Shorty, Kitty-N, and Comet.

All new stages grace the screen as well in this sequel.  In the final stage the player dances in a helicopter against the ultimate fifty-story high dance-a-tronic fiend: Robo Z Gold!!  C’mon everyone, shake your body down to the ground.  And then go buy this game.