by Ryan Lambie
Originally release in 1986,Bubble Bobbleis a colourful weapons platform television biz with a fiendishly addictive two musician co - op mode , which quickly became an arcade hit for Taito . wide ported to home computer and console table , Bubble Bobblemarked the beginning of a long - running series of sequels and tailspin - offs that is still recall lovingly today . Here are a few things you might not fuck about the ' 80 classic that started it all .
1. IT HAS ITS ROOTS IN AN EARLY 1980s TITLE.
BeforeBubble Bobble , there wasChack’n Pop , a far more obscure platform game released by Taito in 1983 . Some ofBubble Bobble ’s ideas appear here in nascent form : a single - screen platform game where the musician contain a weird poulet - same creature ( the Chack’n of the deed of conveyance ) . The object is to retrieve a heart from one corner of the maze - like screen before hotfoot back to the top .
Some of the mechanics are a bit strange : Chack’n ’s basal flak is a grenade - alike weapon , which is quite difficult to control . Nevertheless , many of the enemies and collectible items are identical to those in Taito ’s later classic — the purple enemy called Monstas make their first show here , while two levels inBubble Bobbledirectly referenceChack’n Pop .
2. IT WAS AIMED AT COUPLES.
Bubble Bobblewas designed by Fukio Mitsuji , who connect Taito in his mid-20s and initially worked on such games asSuper Dead Heat , Land Sea Air Squad , and the ( very salutary ) perpendicular shooterHalley ’s Comet . For his next secret plan , however , Mitsuji want to make something very dissimilar from the experiences commonly base in colonnade at the time . acknowledge that colonnade in Japan were ordinarily frequented by men , he want to create a game that couples could savour together .
" Back then , char were rarely go out in Nipponese arcades , " Mitsuji latersaidin a video audience for the TV game compilation , Taito Legends . " So I think bringing more distich would assist solve this matter . That ’s why I designed cunning characters and admit concerted period of play inBubble Bobble . "
3. THE GAME WAS AN EARLY CO-OP.
Mitsuji ’s conception was strange for its time . If two - role player game survive at all in ' 80s arcade , they were usually free-enterprise and red . The four - playerGauntlet , released in 1985 , monish that “ shots do not hurt other players — yet … ” , while 1987 ’s seminal beat-‘em - upDouble Dragonended with its thespian agitate to the death over the woman they had just rescue .
Bubble Bobble , on the other hand , had a far calorie-free atmosphere . While instrumentalist could vie over the items that appeared on the CRT screen , the game encouraged cooperation rather than aggression . Indeed , the only way to get toBubble Bobble’strue endingwas for two player to make together .
4. IT CONTAINS HIDDEN EXTRAS.
As well as the game ’s key construct — which involves spitting house of cards at enemies to enamor them before split the bubble to finish them off — Mitsuji packed in all kinds of incentive and hidden extra amongBubble Bobble ’s 100 levels . The surd to notice are the threehidden rooms , which can only be unlock by reach grade 20 , 30 , and 40 without losing a lifetime , and then entering a particular door .
Full of jewels to hoard , these hidden room also contained tantalise messages , which , when deciphered , gave hint as to how to complete the plot . “ If you desire to get back your love of the true you must help each other until the last,”for good example , hinted that you could only completeBubble Bobblewith two player .
5. NUMBERS WERE IMPORTANT.
There are hidden profoundness toBubble Bobblethat will only become obvious after retentive hr of play , such as the way items are linked to certain digit in your score . If the two penultimate numbers of a player ’s scoreare identical — so , 5880 , for example — then higher - scoring items will appear once the story ’s completed . likewise , roundsending with a 0 or a 5 will also generate rare fillip .
6. THERE WERE MULTIPLE ENDINGS.
Bubble Bobblemay look cute , with its animated cartoon dinosaurs and bouncy theme tune , but it ’s also a bad biz to crack . Later degree can only be completed by mastering slick techniques , like riding on bubbles to get out of otherwise ineluctable pits . The roughshod twist comes at the end , where a single player will be say , after 100 degree of action , to “ occur here with your Quaker . ”
Even in two - thespian modality , the game has to be complete twice in parliamentary procedure to see the true finish ; get through the first 100 grade , and “ Super Mode ” is unlocked , where the same 100 levels are made faster and more difficult to finish . At a time where most games either did n’t have a conclusion , or conclude with a simple “ felicitation ! ” message , Bubble Bobble ’s multiple endings were quite strange . And the ending you ’re rewarded with when completing the Super Mode is very foreign indeed …
7. IT WAS ALL ABOUT FAMILY TIES.
The plot of ground ofBubble Bobblesees its two sidekick , Bubby and Bobby , move around into house of cards - blowing dragons , while their girlfriends have been abduct by the evil Baron von Blubba . Completing the secret plan once unwrap what ’s called the “ felicitous End , ” where the heroes are reunited with their girlfriends and turned back into mankind . But complete the secret plan ’s Super Mode , and you ’re treated to an unexpected twist : the huge boss you ’ve just defeated — the hooded , feeding bottle - throwing Super Drunk — is revealed to be Bubby and Bobby’sparents , who must have been transformed by the same grim conjuration that turned the poor boy into flying lizard . It ’s a surreal — and even quite dark , count on your interpreting — end to a authoritative secret plan .
8. THE SERIES IS STILL GOING STRONG.
The popularity ofBubble Bobblequickly made it one of the most wide - port games of its era . It look on such computers and consoles as the ZX Spectrum , the Amiga , the NES , and Sega Master System — even theGame Boygot its own black and white , handheld version of the biz . Bubble Bobble ’s succeeder also cue Taito to create a drawing string of loose subsequence and whirl - offs , includingRainbow Islands , Parasol StarsandBubble Bobble Symphony . The spin - off serial publication are still going firm , with recent installments hitting the Nintendo DS , Wii , and Xbox in late years .
But Mitsuji himself only operate on the first subsequence toBubble Bobble , Rainbow Islands(1987 ) , a wonderful single - player platform game that differ wildly from its precursor in terms of mechanism and step . Mitsuji also make three other games for Taito — Syvalion , Darius II , andVolfied — before he left the society in the former nineties . His last game came in 1991 — an obscure yet delightful program mystifier calledPopilsfor the Sega Game Gear , which contained much of the refined simplicity ofBubble Bobble .
For the remainder of his animation , Mitsuji learn secret plan design , before he passed away at the tragically vernal age of 48 in 2008 . It was a sad loss for the video game industry , for sure , but his most famous creation enchant a generation of role player with its lighter - than - air activeness . More than 30 years later , Bubble Bobbleremains an out - and - out classic .
