Bubble Bobble Review

Review on Bubble Bobble

by Edmund Phoon Jian Cheng

From http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/nes/bubble_bobble

Dragons are sometimes portrayed as antagonistic frightening scaly beings in various fairy tales whereby the prince must save the damsel in distress in their grasp. However, some works depict dragons to be more harmless and good-natured as a friendlier approach to the children. In the case of the game Bubble Bobble, the dragons are big-eyed, buck-toothed and chubby critters who assume the roles as the “princes” attempting to rescue their own princesses from their enemies as a twist to the traditional literatures.

From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e3UnuH963A

Released in 1986, Bubble Bobble is the first of a franchise of an action platform game produced by the Japanese developer company Taito, for both arcade and home systems including the Nintendo Entertainment Systems (NES). Players assume the role of any of the two playable dragon characters, Bub or Bob, and traverse their way through a set of hundred levels in order to rescue their princesses from the Cave of Monsters. In a non-scrollable screen of a stage, the player can control Bub or Bob to walk on platforms, jump on higher platforms, and fire bubbles at the enemies appearing on screen. Defeating the enemies by trapping them with Bub or Bob’s bubble and afterwards colliding with them which causes them to turn into pickable fruits, will enable the player to earn points upon collection. This has to be done quickly since the bubble ‘prison’ is temporary and the enemies trapped will eventually break free over a period of seconds. Players can proceed to the next stage once all enemies are defeated and the item rewards are obtained. If any player touches any enemy or gets into contact with the enemy’s projectile, they will lose a life out of the 4 lives. If the player runs out of lives, the game is over. Players are also ‘advised’ not to stay in a level for too long otherwise an invincible enemy will appear and chase the player until the player loses a life or the stage is complete. The final stage involves a boss for the players to defeat, and will be able to save their princesses once completed the stage and hence all the levels. Occasionally, the endings may differ depending on the number of players involved.

Bubble Bobble is a simple and fun game of visual graphics that appeals to all ages, and can be quite addictive and challenging. The more levels the players clear, the more they become satisfied with the points they have collected. Sometimes, two players may be better than one, as they can cooperate in defeating their enemies, collecting more points, and hence solve the levels faster.