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''Bubble Bobble'' is an Arcade Game by Taito , first released in 1986. It was Ported soon for numerous Home Computer s and Game Console s. 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 Bubble s, avoiding enemies and collecting a variety of Power-up s. GAME MECHANICS The main reasons that many computer or game console ports of this game - even when released several years after the original - can seem lacking and incomplete in some aspects is because the original arcade game, despite its apparent simplicity, features some rather complicated and convoluted game mechanics. 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 do 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 vice versa. 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 NES manual for Bubble Bobble :
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. Popping an empty bubble scores 10 points. 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. Virtually the entire game is controlled in this way, appearing to be random but actually able to be manipulated by the player should he or she know how. The only item that is known to be completely random is the "fireball bubble" that appears very occasionally, a red bubble with a flashing yellow spark inside it that gives the players fireballs for the next five levels. This is generated with a chance of 1 in 4096 each time a bubble drifts into the level from the top or bottom of the screen. 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 {Link without Title} . 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.True Ending The arcade original has several different ways in which the game can be finished. Completing the final round when playing in single-player mode, the game displays a message stating that the player hasn't reached the "true ending." The player is then warped back to a random level between 50 and 95 and carries on playing. In this way, a skilled player can make a single game last for a very long time. Finishing round 100 with both players active displays the "happy ending," in which both of the players' girlfriends are rescued. But a cryptic message then appears stating that this is also not the "true ending", and displays a code that must be entered into the game at the title screen. Entering the code changes the game logo to read ''Super Bubble Bobble'', and the next game that is played has all the enemies switched around, making for a much more difficult game. Finishing the game with both players active in Super mode finally reveals the true ending of the game. Cheat modes Unusually, the arcade version also has two cheat modes built in. By entering certain combinations of movements and button presses on the title screen, these can be activated for the next game to be played. The first cheat, ''Original Game'', causes the secret treasure rooms on levels 20, 30 and 40 and the warp door on level 50 to appear every time, regardless of whether one of the players is still on their first life. The second cheat, ''Power Up!'', grants the players the training shoes (for extra speed) and the yellow and blue candy (for rapid-fire and fast moving bubbles, respectively) at all times, making the game significantly easier to play. The ''Super Bubble Bobble'' mode detailed above is also entered in the same way as the cheat codes. Moon Water storyline 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 for no given reason) 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 Computer s and Video Game Console s. 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. A 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 and Japan 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, 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). Nicola Salmoria's blog entry documenting the final reverse engineering of the Bubble Bobble MCU Screenshots of different ports |
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| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Commodore_64" class="copylinks">Commodore 64 port |
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| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Nintendo_Entertainment_System" class="copylinks">NES port |
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| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Sega_Master_System" class="copylinks">Master System port |
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