FINAL BOSS !!: BUBBLE FU*KING BOBBLE !!!

Bubble Gah Damn Bobble... what can I say.... Its a great game! A great game that practically killed me...

So not long ago a request was set upon me by a reader to review Bubble Bobble, "Sure, Bubble Bobble is awesome" I said and went on eBay immediately to locate a Famicom Disk copy. I found a Great looking copy with the case at a reasonable price from a frequently used store in Japan. The game came shortly after a shipping error was cleared up and I planned to play through it and write the article but the Wii U entered the picture as mention last article I figured " what the hell I can play through Bubble Bobble and write it up in 2 days"......WRONG !! This is the story of Bubble Fu*king Bobble...

Bubble Bobble was dropped on to the arcades in 1986 by TATIO and due its huge popularity it was quickly ported to many home computers and consoles. It was even Unofficially on the British computer BBC Mirco as Public Domain software. The game is a Action-Platformer in which One or Two Players can control the Bubble Dragon Twins Bub and Bob... no Im totally serious... oh shut up. The Dragon Twins must save their kidnapped girl friends from the clutches of what seems to be an army of dozens of enemy types. To combat these fiends the Brothers can shoot bubbles from their mouths which trap the enemies inside and can then be defeated by popping the bubble using the spines on their backs. The bubbles can also be used to access hard to reach spots and avoid traps by jumping on and riding them for a short time. The game features tons of items to collect some so rare that a player might not even see one while playing through the entire 100 stages of the game.........WAIT WHAT 100 STAGES !!!! COME ON !!!! Alright calm down how hard can it be I mean yeah I only have a couple days to play and Im totally distracted by the Wii U not to mention my son is a fully mobile terror but hey Im the FINISHER right? And its the Famicom Disk version so I can save my progress to the floppy disk something kids in the American couldn't do in 1986.

Starting off the game is great its everything I remember playing as a kid, the arcade version was slightly different but I got most of my time logged on the NES version at friends houses. The games controls are easy to pick up yet I can tell there are tricks that Im not quite discovering during my play. Theres something about these single screen games that brought out the best in programers, I guess limited space breeds creativity. You only get 3 lives but as I mentioned I can save my progress to Disk and when you die it automatically has you start at the same stage when you select continue. The game uses both sides of the disk but you only have to flip it once after starting and saving. Below is a very short Video clip of what its like to save incase your curious...

I learned in the first 30 boards that if you trap all the enemies or just a lot of them in bubbles but don't pop them till in a group the items dropped change and the rewarded points go UP. Needless to say I collected ALOT of oranges and bell peppers meaning I popped 2 or less in a row... lame. The zucchini is what you get for popping 7 baddies but be careful hoarding them to long they can break free and be released in angry mode making them faster, and the real danger comes when the hurry up sign appears ushering in the arrival of Skel the dinosaur of bones that acts like death in "Gauntlet" and is unstoppable till he kills you. The styles of boards vary and you don't see anything really repeat it self and surprisingly the stages be come less like each other and more creative looking further into the game. Some stages look lie the enemies they house or the Boss or just bring messages written in the background and foreground. I must admit some stages completely took my sanity. Playing these games as I do usually at the end of the day, late at night for the 2 hours I have before I get my 5 hours of sleep for rise at 5am can make me frustrated sometimes. But Stage 39 will be in my nightmares for a long long while for what ever reason I was tired and it hurt me. Levels 68 and 79 were annoying as all hell. Stage 99 makes you pay for getting so close to the end but if you want the "Good Ending" your going to have to play the special boards like A7 which made me want to throw myself and the Famicom out the window of the Nakatomi Tower. Yes I said "Good Ending" Bubble Bobble was one of the earliest games to have.... Dunt Dunt Dahhh Multiple Endings.... Endings.... Endings..... endings ......

hmm you look familiar

It says welcome with a skeleton

Screw You 99 !!

To receive the different endings you must fulfill certain requirements ... There is a Crystal Ball which only appears at level 99 if you fail to collect it you automatically go to the 100 stage which is the Final Boss !!! But if you manage to collect it you must travel through 12 more stages .... some reward, get the rare item play longer and harder levels don't get it go straight to Final Boss & Boardwalk and collect 200 dollars ... oh wait wrong game sorry its late.

Worst ending: No crystal and defeat the Final Boss
Bad Ending: Get the crystal but defeat the Final Boss in a One Player game
Good Ending: Get crystal and defeat the Final Boss in a Two Player game
Best Ending: This requires that you get the crystal defeat the Final Boss in a Two Player game BUT in Super Mode? I have no Effing Clue! and I honestly don't care... its late sorry. But I don't care.

Playing on my emulator to get the screen shots I captured both the Bad Ending and the good Ending for you to see...Yah thats right I played this game Twice more and let me tell you I may have skipped around and to the end on the emulator to get the screen shots but the Final Boss is no cake walk ....

At the end of the game no matter how you get there crystal or no crystal it all boils down to the Final Boss and let me say he may look the fool but they made this tough. At the top of the screen by the kidnapped girls are 2 electricity potions Bub and Bob have a bout 2.5 seconds to retrieve one before the Boss Super Drunk starts moving about the screen flailing hammers, Yup Super Drunk thats his name no BS. The potion grants you the ability to blow bubbles charged with Lighting... Sweet !!! But the bubbles don't hurt the Boss until YOU pop them and send the trapped electricity in his direction ...Oh?Ok thats still a cool weapon upgrade!! You must hit him 100 times... 100 TIMES !!!! Alright I exaggerate... ITS 60 !! 60 ?!?!?! Thats still a Fraking lot man, this game is truly meant to be played with Two Players. With both dragons you can blow bubbles at the sides of the screen and send them in to the center repeatedly taking down Super Drunk very quickly. In the Good Endings the girls are returned and the Dragons turn human again... wait they where human first... when ... oh whatever. bubble Bobble is a great game that I never want to play again...for a while at least.