Bubble Bobble

STORY / GAMEPLAY
Young boys Bub and Bob were cursed and transformed into small dinosaurs. Their girlfriends are held prisoners by the Giant Bee Master and now Bub (and Bob) must fight their way through 100 levels to save the girls and kill the Bee, breaking the curse and gaining back their human nature. Your main quest is to jump from one platform to another and eliminate all your enemies by trapping them inside bubbles. To help Bub (and Bob) survive the challenge, you must always keep an eye for various power ups and bonuses that appear from time to time. The most valuable bonus is the chewing gum power up that can make you shoot different and more powerful bubbles (like the rapid-fire bubble for example). Also, you have the opportunity to complete the word EXTEND by collecting all letters needed. This bonus will transport Bub (or Bob or both) to the next level at once. There are also numerous other bonuses that will transport you to more levels, make you shoot fire blasts or take you to some extra stages to collect diamonds. The best way to play this game is with a friend as there are some levels that need some co-operation! Bubble Bobble is a really fun game to play! It's also very easy to get you into and learn its gameplay mechanism while its cuteness really draws you in! Bubble Bobble is one of the best arcade platform games ever created in video gaming history, hands down!

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The CPC conversion is quite good featuring colorful graphics (brighter colors than the Commodore 64) but the action is quite slow. The frame-rate may drop at times (especially when many sprites occupy the screen, including the bubbles!) but still the game is quite playable. Each level is a typical platform made with different colors, different design and a variety of sprites that are nicely animated. Note that the C64 and MSX2 are way better conversions since they feature smoother frame-rates and better sound. Soundwise, the CPC version seems "incomplete", offering only sound effects during gameplay and no music at all (note that, even the BBC Micro port plays the original, funny tune), which is bad since half of the game's amusement is its memorable tune!