Bubble Bobble

1001 Video Games

The Arcade version of Bubble Bobble appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

BBC Micro version

A BBC version was independantly coded by Peter Gillet with graphics by Martin Kelsey. Modeled after playing the C64 conversion for hours it was demonstrated to Firebird which rejected it. It has since surfaced on the internet.

Commodore 64 version

Stephen Ruddy who worked on C64 port of the game had no access to the source code. He was playing the original game, figuring out all the details and incorporating them into the conversion. The only help was some design documents in Japanese but with no translation (source: Interview with Ste Ruddy in Retro Gamer 37).

Cancelled mobile port

Sometime in the early 2000s, Stephen Ruddy (author of the C64 conversion) attempted to port the game to mobile phones using Java. All 100 levels were copied across, including most of the movement patterns, but the game was never completed. This site has some video of what does exist.

Endings

If you finished level 99 by killing the enemies you got the bad ending. You had to get the secret key which opened up another 120 or so levels.

References

Though there have been many games based on the Bubble Bobble characters, a game called Chack'n Pop(1984) featured several of the characters and powerups later seen in Bubble Bobble. The main character from that game, Chackn, appears as one of the level designs in Bubble Bobble and also makes cameos in most of the sequels and derivative games.

Sharp X68000 version

The Sharp X68000 version has a hidden mode titled "Sybubblun" with unique rooms and a different style of gameplay.

Awards

• ACE
  • October 1988 (issue #13) - Included in the Top-100 list of 1987/1988 (editorial staff selection)
• Commodore Format
  • January 1991 (Issue 4) - listed in the A to Z of Classic Games article (Great)
  • July 1993 (Issue 34) - Modern Classics: Platformers
  • November 1994 (Issue 50) – #9 The All-Time Top 50 C64 Games
• Computer and Video Games
  • May 1988 (Issue #79) - Golden Joystick 1988 Award: Third in category Arcade Game of the Year
• EGM
  • 1995 Buyer's Guide - Game Gear Game of the Year
• Retro Gamer
  • October 2004 (Issue #9) – #12 Best Game Of All Time (Readers' Vote)
  • Issue 37 – #7 in the "Top 25 Platformers of All Time" poll
• ZZAP!
  • Newsfield Reader's Awards 1987 - Best Arcade Conversion (readers choice)
  • Newsfield Reader's Awards 1987 - Best Platform Game (readers choice)
  • January 1990 (Issue 57) – 'The Best Games of the 80's Decade' (Stuart Wynne)

Information also contributed by Martin Smith, Mathew Bailey and PCGamer77