My Gameboy Color had been sitting around with an unbeaten copy of Pokémon in it for a long while, so when I got my hands on Ballistic, I was quite happy to put my Gameboy back into use again. I plugged in the game, and turned it on. I had once seen someone playing this game in the arcade, so I had a pretty good idea of what to do without reading the instructions. It was very simple to get into.

If you've ever played Bust A Move (a.k.a. "Puzzle Bobble"), you'll have a good idea of what to do. Shoot a bubble, and if it hits a chain of two or more bubbles of the same colour (or symbol if you're playing in b&w), they'll pop. But there's a twist. These bubbles are on a spiral, edging ever closer to the point of death, so you have to keep on your toes. If you see a good combo on the outer loop, but bubbles on the inner loop are blocking it, you're S.O.L.

The spiral gives you an interesting tactic though. If you pop a set of bubbles, and the bubbles on each side of the popped set match up, they'll magnetically attract each other, pulling everything back (and saving you some time). When the bubbles connect, if they form a group of three or more, they'll pop too. If you play this right, and if you have the right luck, you can set off a massive combo of bubble-popping satisfaction.

As with Bust A Move, you can see your current round ammo, and your next round of ammo.

Of course, what would a puzzle game be without multiple modes? You've got Panic Mode (your standard game), Checkmate Mode, and the ever-so-popular Time Attack Mode.

In Checkmate Mode, you're given a pre-set puzzle to burst, and a limited set of predetermined bubbles to burst it with. You've really gotta think some of these through, as they require mad combo popping skills. Deep Blue and Kasparov are not there to help your sorry ass. There are 50 puzzles in all, and once you complete a row of 5, you can move onto the next row.

Time Attack Mode is pretty self-explanatory, since nearly every game under the sun has it these days. You play just as you normally would, but it keeps track of how long it takes you to reach a set number of bubbles bursts.

The graphics are average puzzle game fare: nothing really spectacular, but enough to keep you in the mood. The music is pretty much the along those lines too.

After playing it for a while, I handed the game to my mom and she had it figured out in about 2 minutes. The only other games that she's gotten that quickly are Tetris and Bust A Move.

If you're looking for a puzzle game on the go that's simple to get into, but takes a while to master, I suggest taking a good gamble with this game. It's an excellent variation on Bust A Move and it hasn't left my Gameboy's cartridge slot since I got it.

· · · Kenshin