There’s still some downsides to this port, however. Super players from the arcade would have likely been dumbfounded when they reached floor 20 without dying once and went unrewarded for their efforts. Strangely, secret rooms have been cut from the game entirely along with the associated music and cryptic language. While some of these stages – labeled A0 to B3 – are just copies of the arcade stages the monster-themed floors replaced in early levels, some are brand new. The game also progresses past level 100 if players collect the new crystal ball item on floor 99. Many of the new stages are designed to look like the monsters Bub and Bob encounter and, while cute, the quality of the experience depends on how the monsters bump around the area.

Though the timing of bubble jumping from these areas is still somewhat tight, it’s much more forgiving than the arcade version.Īdditional levels were also added to the game. That said, certain ports did possess expanded content, which is explored below.īubble Bobble (NES, 1988/Wii, 2007/3DS, 2013/Wii U, 2014)ĭifficult or inescapable pits have been expanded to be more easily navigated, with the exception of the menorah-shaped floor 19 that still can’t be bubble jumped out of. In addition, enemies also adopted new behaviors and attack patterns in some ports. For the most part, players can expect capturing monsters, bouncing on bubbles, collecting items, and reaching the end of the game to be largely the same regardless of the system, while the major differences encountered lie in the graphical and sound quality of each one.

Taito itself made the ports of Bubble Bobble for the NES, Game Boy, Master System, and MSX2, while various other companies handled porting the game to other platforms. This was further complicated by Taito actually losing the source code to the game during a restructure in 1996. While all of these ports strove to be as close to the arcade as they could, in many cases it wasn’t totally possible based on the limitations of each platform. Since its initial release in 1986, Bubble Bobble has appeared on platforms from the NES and Sega Master System to the FM Towns and Xbox 360.

Bubble Bobble 4 Friends: The Baron is Back.

Bubble bobble