Retrogaming Reviews — Latest · Alphabetical · Score · Articles · Random

Platforms — Arcade · Game Boy · Genesis · NES · PS1 · PSP · SNES · TG-16

---

 

Go To Your Happy Place

Bubble. Fuckin’. Bobble. It was inevitable that I’d write a review for this arcade classic sometime soon, since it’s one of my all-time favourite arcade games, and one that never fails to put a smile on my face.

It’s impossible to be unhappy when playing Bubble Bobble — between the adorable visuals and overall cutesy aesthetic, the simple yet satisfying gameplay loop, and the absolute most charming music loop you’ll ever hear in an arcade game,[1] Bubble Bobble is right up there with Loco Roco as being one of the happiest games I know.

But you’re not here just to hear me gush about how cute this game is.[2] Let’s get to meat and bones and talk about how it plays.

 

The Gameplay

Bubble Bobble is a fixed-screen action-platformer for 1 or 2 players. You play the part of a cute little dinosaur[3] with the ability to blow bubbles, as dinosaurs are wont to do. You can also run around and jump, which are also activities dinosaurs are famous for.

Each stage is a single screen consisting of a number of platforms and walls, and oftentimes, openings in the top and bottom of the level. A number of enemies appear in each level, and it’s your job to defeat them — by capturing them in one of your bubbles, then jumping into the bubble to pop it. The defeated enemy will then… become food for some reason, and once all the enemies are defeated, you have a few seconds to collect the remaining items before being transported to the next stage.

Bonus items will appear randomly throughout the levels, ranging from snacks or precious treasure (which gives a score bonus), to various temporary power-ups such as invincibility, fire-breathing, faster movement, and more. There’s also additional bubbles that drift through the level — you can jump off some of these, while others might contain water, which floods the platforms and washes friends and foes alike away when burst.

The enemies vary from the simplistic clockwork creatures that are easy to avoid and defeat, to white-robed magicians who shoot their own deadly bubbles, and many more — there’s even a boss fight at the final level. Enemy behaviour is largely predictable, but if you capture an enemy in a bubble and fail to defeat it before it escapes — or if you spend too much time on each stage — the enemies become angered, moving faster and becoming more aggressive.

The first few levels start easy, but the difficulty ramps up pretty quickly after that — especially if you’re playing alone. It’s a coin-munching arcade game through-and-through, but unlike many of its era, it does have an ending — three, in fact, though the “true” ending requires beating all 100 levels twice, with two players.

 

Final Thoughts

Bubble Bobble is a game with a fairly simple premise, simple controls that are easy to pick up and learn within moments, an exciting and action-packed gameplay loop, and an absolutely adorable aesthetic that’ll charm all but the most hardened hearts. It’s fun, it’s chaotic, it’s challenging — it embodies all the elements of a great arcade game.

If you’ve never played Bubble Bobble before, give it a try — or even one of its console ports. You might just fall in love with it too.

 

The Verdict

---

 

Footnotes

[1] I challenge you to prove me wrong.
[2] Or maybe you are. That's cool too. :3
[3] The green one is called Bub. The blue one is Bob.