From: E3Y (3.Spaceman)
Subject: Bubble Bobble Review
Game: B U B B L E B O B B L E
From: 8-Bit Software (as disc TBI-119)
Price: usual PD price applies - 50p if
disc and p&p supplied, 1 quid if not.
I would be surprised if anybody who
had ever heard of or played this game
didn't get more than a wee bit excited
by the thought of playing it on their
own BBC micro. It stood as a classic
of the platform game genre in the
arcades and again when translated for
the majority of home computer systems
so the first thought in my mind was
'How will it stand in comparison on
the Beeb?'.
For the great unwashed who may just
conceivably not have heard of this
game then here's the plot as I recall
it: The evil Bonner has kidnapped the
lady loves of the two dragons Bub and
Bob and holds them prisoner at the end
of the cave of monsters.
You have to guide Bub (and Bob if
you have access to a second player)
through the 100 screens of monsters to
defeat Bonner and rescue your damsels
in distress.
To achieve this you must clear every
level of its monsterous inhabitants
and finally face the evil one himself-
no mean feat!
Bub and Bob are both capable of
horizontal movement, can jump and spit
bubbles with which they trap the bad
guys for a short time. The trick then
is to catch the bubbled-up nasty and
burst the bubble with it still inside
to remove it from play. Once "popped"
a monster will become a harmless piece
of fruit or somesuch which may be
collected for points. Just don't take
too long or the invincible ghost will
appear and start to home in on you!
That's the idea anyway. So, how well
does the game do?
Well, upon booting up you are given
the gist of the game along with the
keys which may seem strange but are
really quite comfortable - just as
well as they're not redefinable! A
professionally drawn picture pops up
next and this is when it becomes
apparent that the game was not
originally written as PD but as a
commercial game for Firebird circa
1988! I think perhaps they didn't want
to release it as disc only - which it
would have to be as it loads each of
the 100 screens in one at a time
(although the delay is barely
noticeable).
Then you get into the game and it's
a pretty damn good conversion. It can
still run at a reasonable speed with
two players shooting bubbles like
they're going out of style and almost
all of the special features have been
implemented: water bubbles,fire
bubbles, umbrellas, crucifixes but
I'll not spoil the game by telling you
what they all do.
Having played Bubble Bobble in the
arcades, I did have one or two minor
niggles with this version but then
this version has features that
compensate for these slight
annoyances. Well, all except one. This
version has no "continue game" feature
which a game of this size really
needs.
Purely for the purposes of reviewing
I cheated my way right to the end of
the game and was very satisfied with
all that I saw.
Graphics: low resolution but bold and
very colourful MODE2. Tops!
Sound: the jolly tune from the
original game survives here along with
some spot effects. Brilliant!
Gameplay: A joy to play or just to
watch (especially on 2 player mode).
Pure genius!
Value for money: A brand new
commercial quality game for 50pence/
1pound?! It doesn't get any better
than this!
Overall: If I haven't gushed enough
already let me just say that I
neglected playing on a Sega Game Gear
that I'd only just got my hands on the
day before to play this game. I'd tell
you to sell your Grandparents but at
this price there's just no need!
Buy B U B B L E B O B B L E today!!
Game review by 3.Spaceman (E3Y)