ULTIMATE GUIDE

LET US JOURNEY INTO THE DEADLY CAVE OF MONSTERS ONE MORE TIME AS RETRO GAMER PRESENTS THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO TAITO’S MARVELLOUS BUBBLE-BLOWING EXTRAVAGANZA. CUE THE MUSIC…

WORDS BY GRAEME MASON

» Practically all the home conversions ofBubble Bobbleare excellent.

Despite being responsible for the coin-op videogame that helped instigate the arcade revolution –Space Invaders, in case you were wondering – Taito was struggling by the mid-Eighties.A string of below-par or ill-received games had diluted the company’s reputation, and

it desperately needed a hit. Then, in 1986, thanks to newly joined designer Fukio Mitsuji, it got one, complete with a twisty denouement that even M Night Shyamalan would be proud of.

“[BUBBLE BOBBLE] WAS SOFTWARE CREATIONS’ FIRST MULTI-PLATFORM LICENCE”

MIKE FOLLIN

Bubble Bobble is the tale of two squat and cuddly dragons named Bub and Bob. Bub and Bob happily enjoy life with their puzzlingly human-like girlfriends when Baron Von Blubba kidnaps the lasses, ferreting them to the deepest, furthest grotto in the Cave Of Monsters. The scaly pair have no choice but to venture into the caverns, each infested, as the name suggests, with Baron Von Blubba’s monstrous henchmen. An alternative plotline involves the girls wandering into a magical forest and stumbling into the Cave Of Monsters, whereupon they encounter Super Drunk, with the same result.

Bub and Bob can jump and – yes! – blow bubbles. Should a bubble come in contact with an enemy monster, it encases them, instantly negating their mass and causing them to float helplessly around the screen. Left alone, eventually, the monsters escape their translucent prison; however, the dragons can pierce the bubbles (with either their pointy back scales or by jumping on them), sending the enemy spinning across the level. Once the pair have eliminated all the monsters, it’s on to the next screen, until a showdown with the game’s humongous final boss, Super Drunk. Defeat him, and Bub and Bob are reunited with their girls. Ahhhh.

MASTER OF BUBBLES

RETRO GAMER’S TIPS TO HELP THOSE LOVEABLE HEROES AGAINST BUBBLE BOBBLE’S BATTERY OF MONSTERS

BUBBLE BOUNCING

■ Bub and Bob can use their bubbles to bounce to higher parts of the screen.

As they progress through the Cave Of Monsters, this becomes a vital skill with more otherwise inaccessible areas, such as the question mark of level 36.

RAPID FIRE

■ Dragon buff items appear when certain conditions are met. Our favourite is the yellow sweet: gather this treat up, and the brother gains rapidfire bubbles, useful for the ever-increasing pack of monsters. Jump 35 times to cause it to appear.

EXTEND YOUR LIFE

■ Watch out for the Letter Bubbles that drift around some stages. Collecting a letter transfers it to the side of the screen (depending on whether it’s Bub or Bob) – catch them all, and the dragon gets a valuable extra life and flies off to the next screen.

SECRET ROOM

■ CompletingBubble Bobblewith the Good Ending helps unlock Super Bubble Bobble mode. Providing the player doesn’t lose a life, levels 20, 30 and 40 now contain doors to secret rooms full of items. Gather them all up for a sweet score bonus.