Enix, like many game studios and publishers, were very different back in the 90’s. Bust A Groove is one such game that’s rooted deep in my childhood nostalgia; a simple rhythm game with larger-than-life characters, impressive mocap dance routines for the era, and a phenomenal soundtrack that still holds up to this day.
This Gratitude is dedicated to ‘Robo-Z’, the game’s boss character. In true 90’s fashion, he is a real dancing machine – a giant five-storey-tall robot in fact, powered by the groovy McGuffin that all the other characters are gunning for. At the end of the Arcade Mode, you climb up to a rooftop to challenge him to a dance battle, where he contests you by vogueing in the middle of a busy intersection. Even with the hardware limitations of the time, I think that conceptually it’s one of the most ironically-cool moments to happen in a videogame. The song is fantastic too of course – an energetic techno dance track peppered with breakbeats and strong female vocals, all adding to the intensity of a final showdown.
Robo-Z returns as the final boss in the sequel ‘Bust A Groove 2’, where in the Arcade Mode you learn he’s still damaged from the events of the first game. As a result, the malfunctioning robot now performs tribal African-inspired dances in-between his vogue solos. It’s simply immaculate. Nothing was too far out for major publishers back in the day. It makes me think of better times.
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