Bug buster is one of those games that at first you just don’t understand or comprehend why it would ever be released in the first place. When a visitor first sent me a link to this game I had just finished eating lunch and was not expecting it to be as well, gross, as it turned out to be. Now just as a disclaimer, I’ll be the first to admit that I have a weak stomach so maybe it’s not fair to classify the game as gross but at first I certainly didn’t enjoy it much. It’s not so much the component of bugs but rather how they are “popped” and then it’s made about 10 times worse with the sound that is accompanied by that popping or should I say splatter.
The game has 4 main bugs and of course your goal is to find the groups and cluster of these 4 bugs that match the bug loaded in your cannon and try to pop or splatter as many of them as you can with each shot. I’m still not sure what the bugs are , the graphics are gross but they aren’t too great or detailed and the makers of the game didn’t provide a list of of the bugs you’re trying to splatter but they are distinct and easily identified during actual game play. The splattering effect is probably the most graphic intense part of the game, probably due to that splattering sound that is heard every time you hit a big cluster of bugs.
Luckily, I didn’t lose my lunch during that first game play and aside from the graphics and sound I did find a few other game play flaws in Bug Buster that should be addressed for those who want to play it. The first thing I immediately noticed is that there was no aiming assistance on the canon, with the various bubble games this isn’t too big of a shock but with Bug Buster I have to say that it does become an issue in accuracy beyond just being able to aim. For some reason this game doesn’t accurately track the mouse on the screen so even though your mouse pointer may point directly at a bubble the canon will still be aimed in a completely different direction.
This obviously makes playing the game a little confusing especially if you’re used to the aiming assistance feature like I am. Another issue is that in this game the canon is set on a timer so if you don’t get your shot off in time then it’s automatically shot for you wherever the canon happens to be facing at that particular moment. Again this isn’t so uncommon with bubble shooting games but the problem here is that you’re not given an adequate warning that your bubble is about to be shot, it sort of just happens. There is no timer on the screen and the timing seems to be random between 3 seconds and 6 seconds so there is no pattern to follow or alert to lookout for, you can’t even time it in your head!
Finally there is one major bug, in bug buster, that really annoys me and that is the fact that the walls are made out of plant leaves. No I don’t hate plants but I do hate playing on uneven surfaces especially in bubble shooters where part of your strategy relies on bouncing the bubbles off of the wall in order to get around obstacles of non matching colored bubbles. Since the leaves make an uneven wall and the canon never really aims where your mouse pointer is it becomes extremely difficult to make bounced shots which is an important part of the game. I’d go as far to say that without this feature it’s almost impossible to win the game.
When you combine everything above it creates a gaming environment that I just don’t like, but based on the emails coming in from visitors like you it’s perfectly clear that this game is actually very popular. I don’t understand why but I guess that doesn’t really matter as long as people are playing the games they enjoy. I wouldn’t recommend this game to people who are just starting out with bubble shooter games or people who don’t have much experience but if you enjoy splattering bugs and the sounds that accompany them then this is probably the game for you.