Bust a Groove

Did You Know?

• An instrumental version of the song 'blue knife (start G move mix)' was used for the opening cutscene.
• A different version, 'blue knife dream (orchestra stall mix)', played during the staff credits.
• The sequel Bust a Groove 2 was never planned for release in Europe.

Gameplay

Players match directional arrows and button symbols on screen to the beat of the music, performing a dance move every fourth beat or incurring a miss. An eight-move combo unlocks advanced paths with more complex moves for higher points. A Jammer attack can interrupt rivals, and the player can dodge it by pressing the square button to perform a backflip.

Release

In Japan, a premium version included a disc with four movies: one featuring Hatsumi Morinaga, the singer of Kitty-N's stage theme, with studio footage, an interview, and a live-action version of the game; the other three movies covered Astronōka, Star Ocean: The Second Story, and Hello Charlie. The English localization removed Hiro's cigarette, changed Hamm from a ganguro to a Caucasian, altered lyrics in Hamm's and Strike's songs, replaced Strike's hip flask with a soda can, and re-recorded four songs with English vocals, retitling three of them.

Other versions

An arcade edition released only in Japan used a large controller with giant Left, Up, and Right buttons, a footpedal for Down, a Dance button, and a Jammer button. It featured only five stages, with Robo-Z's stage always last. A mobile version, Bust a Move: Mobile Edition, released in Japan on April 19, 2004, required Square Enix Pocket Action software and compatible DoCoMo phones, allowing network play until the service shut down in the late 2000s.

Reception

Hyper magazine gave the PlayStation game a 91% score. Next Generation rated both the Japanese import and the U.S. version four stars out of five, praising the infectious tunes, secret content, and clever concept. In Japan, Game Machine listed Bust a Groove as the third most-successful dedicated arcade game in their April 1, 1999 issue.