Bubble Bobble review - Nintendo Entertainment System

It's not an easy life, y'know. Take Bub and Bob, for example. One minute, they're their normal selves, the next they're bubble-blowing dinosaurs! Who could have performed this dastardly deed? Only the not-very-nice Baron von Blubba, that's who. To regain their human forms, the two dayglo dinos have to travel through 100 levels of madcap action, then confront and destroy the Baron himself!

The is by no means an easy task, though, as the Baron has his hordes of minions waiting to dispose of any bronto that might get too big for its bubbles, and each has its own way of dishing out the devastation.

The bad guys don't have it all their own way, however - they can be blatted by blowing a bubble at 'em, then butting the bubbled beastie (try saying that after a few barrels of Old Flatulence Bitter)!

As the dinos progress through the game, the screens get tougher and tougher, and the enemies increase in speed and intelligence. So you'd better give your bubble-fingers a work-out!

What the Mean Machines staff thought

What a weird and wonderful piece of software! It might look all cute and cuddly, but don't be misled - this is one tough game. There are 100 screens to clear, and things start getting hard by level 20! Fortunately there's a password system to let you go back to later levels - but the real challenge (and the way to get big scores) is to go through all the screens in one go! The inclusion of the coin-op's simultaneous two-player option is a real boon, and adds to the overall appeal. With great graphics (although they get a bit flickery when there are loads of bubbles floating around) and one of the catchiest soundtracks I've heard, Bubble Bobble is a thoroughly addictive and enjoyable game which would be a great addition to your software library.

Bubble Bobble was a real hoot in the arcades, and the computer versions were pretty good, too, but there's something about the NES version - it's too hard! The difficulty level is way too high - but there is a handy password option to leap straight to later screens. The overall playability is weakened by this, but not so much as to put you right off. The graphics are very nice, a bit plain in places, but again, they don't exactly follow the coin-op to the letter, and the sound is a jolly tune which gets a bit annoying after a while. Overall, a fun game which takes a bit of practice getting into, but once you've got it sussed, you'll be stuck to your screens for many an hour.

Retrospective comments

Bubble bobble was a delight to play on a home console. The NES conversion in my mind was as playable as the coin-op. Matt Regan complains it was too hard but I remember being a whizz at this game, however I did use the handy password option.

Watch out for count von blubba!!