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Bubble Bobble (video game)

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Bubble Bobble
Bubble Bobble flyer
Promotional USA flyer for the original arcade iteration of Bubble Bobble
Developer(s)Taito
Publisher(s)Taito and Romstar
Designer(s)Fukio Mitsuji
Platform(s)Arcade, NES, FDS, Sega Master System, Game Boy, Game Gear, PC:DOS, Commodore 64, Amiga, Apple II, MSX, Atari ST, Sharp X68000, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Mobile phone(Java)
ReleaseArcade version
1986
X68000 version
JPN 1986
Amiga, Apple II, C64, MSX, Atari ST versions
1987
NES/FDS version
JPN October 30, 1987
NA November, 1988
EU October 26, 1990
SMS version
JPN 1988
Australia 1992
MS-DOS version
NA 1989
Game Boy version
JPN December 7, 1990
NA 1991
Game Gear version
NA 1994
Genre(s)Platform game
Mode(s)Up to 2 players simultaneously

Bubble Bobble is an arcade game by Taito, first released in 1986. It was ported soon for numerous home computers and game consoles. The game features two Bubble Dragons, Bub (Japanese "Bubblun"), who is green with yellow spikes/horns and Bob (Japanese "Bobblun"), who is blue with cyan spikes/horns. Together, they journey through the Cave of Monsters to rescue their girlfriends. They move over a system of platforms, busting and pushing bubbles, avoiding enemies and collecting a variety of power-ups.

Game mechanics

The original arcade game, despite its 1986 release date and its apparent simplicity, features some rather complicated and convoluted game mechanics, one of the main reasons that many computer or game console ports of the game, even when released several years after the original, can seem lacking and incomplete in some aspects.

Levels

Each level (or round) consists of one screen, with no scrolling or flipping. The dragons can move around the levels by walking on platforms, falling through empty space, jumping through platforms from below and (in some levels) falling through holes at the bottom of the level in order to reappear at the top, or even vice versa (see gameplay techniques below).

Apart from jumping, the characters can blow bubbles. Bubbles also float in from the top or bottom of the screen in many levels. They pop after a certain amount of time, when they hit the dragon's spiked back, if they're squashed against a wall or another dragon or if they're fallen upon. By holding down the jump button, it's possible to bounce on top of bubbles, which is sometimes necessary to reach platforms. The main objective of the game is to trap enemies in bubbles, and burst them, destroying the enemies. Defeating several monsters at once awards exponentially increasing point awards.

Each round also features invisible air currents and custom bubble physics, causing bubbles to move in predetermined trajectories, such as converging to a certain point, moving very quickly or very slowly, being pulled down as if by gravity, etc., usually with notable effects on a level's difficulty.

Some levels have very short bubble-popping times, meaning that bubbles pop almost as soon as they emerge. This becomes extreme in later levels to the point of only being able to kill monsters by "kissing" them (blowing a bubble in such a way that it's immediately squashed against the dragon, causing instant death to an enemy). Time limits are also used to increase the game's difficulty; two rounds having no time limit, some levels are almost impossible to finish under certain conditions (single player, lack of certain bonuses etc.). When the time limit expires, the player does not die instantly, but rather an invincible "Skel" (see below) enemy appears for each player, and all enemies become 'angry', with a change in colour and increase in speed.

Enemies

There are a variety of enemies that move about in different patterns. Contact with an enemy (or the missiles fired by some) will kill a dragon. The dragons' job is to complete the level by killing all enemies in it. If this is not achieved within a time limit, the message "Hurry up!" will flash across the screen. When this happens, enemies become "angry" (making them red and move faster thus making them more dangerous). Approximately ten seconds later, one or two Skel enemies appear on screen. Enemies also become "angry" if they escape from a bubble that is not burst quickly enough by one of the dragons. They may but not always calm down when one of the dragons dies. When in Super Mode, most enemies get swapped with a counterpart, e.g. PulPuls replace Monstas and viceversa.[1]

There are 8 kinds of normal enemies, plus the final boss and two kinds of invincible monsters that appear after the "Hurry up!" limit, each with their own names. Roughly, in order of appearance in the Normal version of the game, they are:

  • File:Benzo.gif Bubble Buster (Japanese "Zen-Chan") (Bonzo in Europe): A box-shaped, clockwork walking monster with a medium moving speed and good jumping abilities. He's the first monster that appears in the game at stage 1. Interestingly, this monster also appears in the graphic tiles of the ROM of the arcade game Chack'n Pop, along with the Stoner and Beluga, but doesn't actually appear inside the game. Super Mode counterpart: Incendo.
  • File:Ghost (Bubble Bobble) (modified).gif Stoner (Japanese "Mighta") (Boris in Europe): A walking monster with red eyes who wears a white robe, much like a ghost. Has a medium moving speed, good jumping abilities and is able to shoot. First appearing in this game at stage 6, this monster actually first appeared in Taito's 1983 game Chack'n Pop. Super Mode counterpart: Willy Whistle.
  • File:Blubba.gif Beluga (Japanese "Monsta") (Blubba in Europe): A flying blue/dark purple monster shaped roughly like a small whale. It flies fast but can only bounce off walls to change direction. First appearing in this game at stage 10, this monster actually first appeared in Chack'n Pop. Super Mode counterpart: Hullaballoon.
  • File:Boaboa.gif Hullaballoon (Japanese "Pulpul") (Boa Boa in Europe): A pink flying monster looking like a toy bear with a small rotor on his head. Flies around slowly but with greater control than the Beluga, and creeps in very small openings that other monsters and players cannot pass through, thus making it very dangerous in some rounds. It makes its debut at stage 20. (Super Mode counterpart of Beluga)
  • File:Mushroom.gif Coiley (Japanese "Banebou") (Bonnie-bo in Europe): A mushroom shaped-monster which can only move by making short jumps, having a single powerful spring instead of legs. It makes its first appearance at stage 30, and is the only monster who stays the same in Super Mode (he is not swapped with any other monster).
  • File:Incendo.gif Incendo (Japanese "Hidegons", singular): A fast walking monster with shooting abilities, but poor jumping. Unlike the Stoner, he doesn't have to stop walking in order to shoot fireballs. He makes his first appearance at stage 40. (Super Mode counterpart of Bubble Buster)
  • File:Drunk.gif Willy Whistle (Japanese "Drunk") (Bonner in Europe): A fast moving monster with good jumping capabilities, and able to throw a bottle which rebounds off walls and is re-caught by the thrower. He first appears at stage 50. The final boss is modelled after them, but is instead called Grumple Gromit or Super Drunk. (Super Mode counterpart of Stoner)
  • File:Invader.gif Super Socket (Japanese "Invader"): A robotic-looking monster, which behaves similarly to the enemies from the computer game, Space Invaders. Can only move left or right, and falls if it reaches the end of a platform. Shoots lasers downwards. It first appears in the infamous stage 57, but does not appear at all in the Super version of the game. (Incendo takes its place in Super Mode.)
  • File:Baron (Bubble Bobble) (modified).gif Baron von Blubba (Japanese "Skel-Monsta"): It is the invincible monster that appears after the time limit for a round has expired (this limit can be as low as 1 or 2 seconds on some rounds, but there are two rounds with no time limit: round 94 and round 100). It looks similar to a white Monsta, but can only move vertically or horizontally at timed intervals. It can pass through walls, ceilings and floors, and speeds up until either the level is completed or a player is killed. In two-player mode, two Skels appear, each homing in on a particular player, although either player can be killed by touching either of the Skels. A Skel can also be dismissed by touching a player who has just been killed and is still flickering, and thus invincible. Another way to get rid of Skel is to pick up the flashing heart powerup (the only one which remains on the screen after the "Hurry up!" warning).
  • File:Rascol.gif Rubblen (Japanese "Rascal") appears in the secret diamond-filled rounds, which can be accessed by special bonuses that appear on rounds 20, 30 and 40 under certain conditions (explained in later section). Losing one's last life inside such a secret room will cause the maximum round reached to be "Round 102", "Round 103" or "Round 104" depending upon in which secret room death occurred, and the first new game started after that will teleport players to the first secret round straight from round 1, but will also cause secret rounds to appear earlier, at stages 10, 20 and 30, and the special 20-stage skip bonus on stage 40 instead of stage 50.
  • Boss.gif Grumple Gromit (Japanese "Super Drunk") is the end-game boss that appears in level 100. It is large, bounces off walls, and fires arcs of bottles. The level contains a magic potion that allows the players to breathe lightning bubbles. It becomes trapped in a bubble only after being struck by many lightning bolts. In Super Mode, the last boss is not the real Gromit, but Bub and Bob's parents who were turned into it by a mysterious villain (whose identity is revealed in Rainbow Islands). Before regaining their true forms, they change into a large bubble dragon (which is what ties them to said mysterious villain)

Weapon

The dragons' main weapon is their ability to blow bubbles. After being blown, they shoot forward for a short distance, then start to float upwards or along a wind current. It is possible to jump on bubbles to reach otherwise inaccessible areas. An enemy hit by a forward-shooting (not floating) bubble will be trapped in it. The bubble can then be popped, killing the enemy and turning it into an item that can be collected for bonus points. If left floating, it will become angry and escape the bubble after a while.


Bonuses and events

A relatively unknown and obscure part of Bubble Bobble gameplay has always been the way the various bonuses appear. While most of them may appear completely random, the game actually keeps a series of internal (and unseen) counters about events such as number of jumps, jumps over bubbles, bubble bursts, bubbles blown etc. during a round or in the whole game, maximum number of monsters blown in a certain round etc. and these events are actually used to determine which bonuses will appear, and to a certain extent when they will appear.

Some known events and the effect they have on bonuses are:

The number of distinct EXTEND bubbles that will appear on a round depend on the maximum number of monsters killed during the round, or on a previous round if said previous round didn't have "openings" for EXTEND bubbles to fly in, or was completed before they could appear. In general, killing N+1 monsters will make N distinct EXTEND bubbles appear. Since the game actually can have only 7 monsters per round, killing 7 monsters in a single bubble cluster will make all 6 EXTEND letters appear.

In Taito's PC port, however, killing N monsters will cause the N-th letter of the word to appear - making the N extremely hard to get because there's only few levels where you can easily pop five enemies simultaneously. This is probably a bug.

Another known event-triggered event is the appearance of candy cane bonuses: if a player rides a bubble more than 20 times, then a candy cane will surely appear in that round.

Other bonuses can be made to appear in similar manners, and there is at least one internet page listing some of the events and their effects [1].

For a special bonus on the NES version, a player must enter the password HIJID, select 2 player continue, and finish round FO (last level) with both players alive. After the entire ending has run and the player is prompted to press start, the player will receive a reward. The reward is a sound test for the whole game.


Moon Water storyline

Template:Spoiler In the original Game Boy version of Bubble Bobble, and Classic Bubble Bobble for the Game Boy Color, there is a storyline in which only Bub is involved in the gameplay.

Game Boy version

Bob (as a human) has an unknown sickness, so Bub (as a dragon for no given reason) has to pass through the hundred levels to defeat Super Drunk and get the Moon Water. Only defeating Super Drunk, however, results in a bad ending.
The (unnamed) "Cave of Monsters" in this version seems to really be an emptied well. To obtain the good ending (to make it fill up with Moon Water) Bub must obtain three "jewels" from fairies he can meet after defeating three bosses (giant versions of Coiley, Stoner and Incendo, none present in the arcade game). Doing this will set free a fourth fairy who will then, thanks to the "jewels", fill the well and revive nature (even though the story of the game didn't mention nature suffering until then). Bub (who returns human), Bob and their parents (who were never transformed) are seen in the ending but their girlfriends never appear in the game.
The revival of nature seems to be suggested also in the Master System port's ending (which otherwise only revolves around the girlfriends' kidnapping, dismissing the parents completely).

Game Boy Color - Classic Bubble Bobble

In Classic Bubble Bobble for the Game Boy Color, Bob (as a bubble dragon) has the unknown sickness. Bub has to go through a number of levels to gain the Moon Water; lesser than the arcade or Game Boy, etc versions, though the game contains many alternative paths and bosses that are giant versions of all common enemies, including those of the previous GB game who keep the same names (all bosses are named after fruits). The final boss is Darkness Drunk (the original Super Drunk appears in an earlier stage with the name Melon). The game is not set in a "Cave of Monsters" but in various different places (even on an airship).
The ending is Bub obtaining a bottle of Moon Water, and the screen fades to white and cuts to only a cute still picture of the Bubble Bobble characters (minus Bob).

Ports

The popularity of Bubble Bobble led Taito (or its licensees) to port to many home computers and video game consoles. Ports of the game were released for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, MSX, Amstrad CPC, Sharp X68000, PC (MS-DOS, 1989 and 1996), Apple II, FM Towns Marty, Sega Master System, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Nintendo Entertainment System, Famicom Disk System, Sega Game Gear, mobile phone (Sprint PCS), and UltraCade's Taito Arcade Classics. An version also exists for the BBC Micro on public domain though never officially released. At the end of 2006 a new port for mobile phones in Europe was released.

In October 2005, a version was released for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and PC as part of the Taito Legends compilation of classic arcade games.

Recently, a version for the TI-83 graphing calculator was released.

Game mechanics in conversions and ports

Bubble Bobble has been widely regarded as one of the most playable games of all time[citation needed], owing much of its success to its previously described game mechanics, which are only apparently simple, and its many hidden features and secrets. Also, most Bubble Bobble players usually manage to master techniques such as riding bubbles, 'bubbling' oneself through the screen or 'kissing' monsters, and expect them to work all the time.

Some Bubble Bobble ports however, from the date of release of the arcade version up today, have been heavily criticized for their mechanics deviating significantly from the arcade version, adversely affecting the gameplay.

For example, in many versions of the game the two-digit trick to make extra bonuses appear at the end of the stage just doesn't work, or the score and bonus awarding system is entirely different, in part due to the complexity of the original one, and most of the aforementioned techniques can be much harder or impossible to reproduce, thus completely changing (arguably ruining) the gaming experience.

Examples include even comparatively recent versions such as the (1996) PC/PlayStation/Sega Saturn versions by Acclaim: they either have different game mechanics (too fast dropping speed, barely working shoes, bubbles going through walls, different jumping physics and many non-implemented techniques) or different behaviour for some monsters (especially the time-up monster).

Another example is the early 1989 PC version by Novalogic, which had the possibility of diagonal jumps with a single keystroke (thus enabling players to go through walls), lacked completely the ability of kissing monsters, and had different rules governing the appearance of some bonuses (most notably the orange-yellow sweet).

The various Nintendo NES and Game Boy ports and sequels are very different, often featuring scrolling screens, different enemies, and the ability for the dragons to fly.

In general, there are as many variations to the game mechanics as there are versions, with some being more faithful to the arcade version than others and some resulting in noticeably different gameplay experience. Although that is a general rule regarding ports of any game, in Bubble Bobble it can become very noticeable and annoying because of the game relying primarily on its fast paced and trick-filled gameplay.

One of the few versions having game mechanics and gameplay very close to the arcade is Final Bubble Bobble the Sega Master System version, this even though it introduced extra gameplay elements (in particular two new bosses like in the GB version and the need to obtain the content of certain secret rooms to reach the second set of 100 levels and then again to obtain the true ending). Moreover, the version included in Taito Legends for the Xbox, PS2, and PC should be a near-perfect copy of the original arcade version, as it features the original ROM running under emulation. However, even this version lacks accurate emulation of an MCU in the original hardware that handled monster behavior and other things. As of 2007, fully accurate emulation is implemented only in MAME (versions 0.107u3 and up).[2]

Screenshots of different ports

Legacy

File:Bossrainbow.gif
Rainbow Islands Insect Island boss.

Bubble Bobble inspired many sequels, including:

There are a couple of previous Taito games which sort of anticipated the Bubble Bobble legacy because of their inclusion of characteristic common elements or even monsters (e.g. the Mighta and Monsta both appeared first in the game Chack'n Pop, and in fact level 29 of Bubble Bobble is a direct copy of level 1 of Chack'n Pop) :

Bub and Bob also appeared in Puzzle Bobble, otherwise known as Bust a Move in the United States. Bust a Move was followed by many sequels, for many consoles, including PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, Xbox and even the N-Gage, along with computer and arcade versions. This spin-off franchise became more popular than Bubble Bobble itself, and has (so far) outlived it.

Similar games, spinoffs, and clones

Bubble Bobble's successful gameplay has inspired not only many official sequels and spinoffs by Taito, but also a number of games with very similar gameplay elements. The most important of them include:

  • The non-scrolling platformer action.
  • Dividing the game into many levels (typically above 30).
  • Defeating enemies by trapping them somehow instead of killing them right away.
  • Collecting bonuses and finding secret ways of increasing their value.
  • Collecting letters to gain an extra life.

Some examples of successful non-Taito video games resembling Bubble Bobble in some or even all of the above aspects are:

Clones

File:UltraBalloon.png
A screenshot of Ultra Balloon by SunA, a game inspired by Bubble Memories.

Ultra Balloon (1996), by SunA Corporation (also manufacturer of Hard Head series), is an evident Bubble Memories copy and the only Bubble Bobble-inspired arcade game to actually copy the bubble-blowing and popping system.

Bubble Bobble also inspired a few software publishers to publish derivatives of the game for the PC and Mac. Such titles include Bubble Bobble World, Bubble Bobble Quest, Bubble Bobble Nostalgie, Bub & Bob, and The Bub's Brothers. Such games are marketed online.

Trivia

  • This was one of the first games to feature multiple endings.
  • In 1996, Taito announced that they lost the original source code program to Bubble Bobble following a reorganization - when it came to the recent ports and sequels, they had to work from program disassembly, playing the game and (mainly) the various home computer ports.
  • The game forbids the initials 'SEX' on the high score table. If you try, it gets changed it to 'H.!'. In Japan, the letter H is occasionally used as a slang term for perverts. (See ecchi.)
  • Tom Gault holds the official record for this game with a maximum possible 5 823 600 points on March 4, 1988. [3]
  • The NES Cover band "The Advantage" covers two songs from "Bubble Bobble" on their self-titled album.
  • Games with an "improved", though actually slightly modified, arcade mode were released for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS, respectively called Bubble Bobble Old and New, in July 2002, and Bubble Bobble Revolution in September 2006.
    • Bubble Bobble Revolution was developed by Dreams Interactive. Wireless multiplayer functionality was included for the DS version.
    • However, in the beginning of October 2006, the game cartridge was officially deemed "faulty" by Nintendo of America due to the fact that the New Age mode did not have a boss in Round 30, so players could not advance to the next level.

References

  1. ^ NES manual for Bubble Bobble

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