A playthrough of Taito's 1988 puzzle-platformer for the NES, Bubble Bobble. Single-screen arcade games were becoming long in the tooth by 1986. Space Invaders, Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong had all had their day, but as technology progressed, so too did expectations. However, Taito was about to prove to the world that the format still had some life left in it. Bubble Bobble quickly went on to become a worldwide hit in arcades, and its popularity continued to skyrocket thanks to the series of high quality console and computer ports it received in the years following its initial release. Among these, the NES conversion was arguably the most faithful home rendition of the game to be released in the 1980s, and it's still one of the most fondly remembered of the group. The game stars Bub and Bob, a pair of adorable dragons that have traveled to the "Cave of Monsters" to save their girlfriends who have been kidnapped by Super Drunk. Classy name for a villain, dontcha think? The Cave of Monsters consists of more than a hundred stages packed with droves of monsters and hidden treasure. Bub and Bob spit bubbles that can temporarily trap enemies, and the trapped baddies can be defeated by popping the bubbles they've been caught in. Once all of the enemies have been cleared out, the dragons can hustle their bustle on to the next stage. The bubbles serve another important purpose: if you fire one off and jump on it while keeping the A button held down, you can use it as a makeshift platform to reach otherwise inaccessible areas. It's not an important move in the early stages, but you'll need to master it in order to get through many of the maze-like stages toward the end. To keep things interesting, there are tons of secrets strewn throughout in the form of items that grant score bonuses, extra lives, beefed up firepower, and invincibility, and these are awarded when certain conditions are met. If you manage to clear the game with a "happy end," you'll be given a password for a second quest which, if cleared with another happy end, will reveal the game's true ending. The NES version is missing the bonus stage and a few items, the graphics are slightly less colorful, a few animations were cut, and the music sounds a bit leaner, but its a very close approximation of the arcade game in terms of both quality and content. It also gives out passwords and unlimited continues, so while it's no cakewalk, the challenge feels much more reasonable here than it did in its quarter-munching counterpart. And seriously, that song is one of the biggest earworms ever. My aunt gave me her copy of the game for Christmas at some point in the early 90s, and it kept me hooked for months. It was, and still is, one of those rare games that I could play again and again without ever getting bored, and in my mind, Bubble Bobble's timeless gameplay makes it one of the essential picks of the NES's library. _____________ No cheats were used during the recording of this video. NintendoComplete ( punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!
