An emboldened addiction breeds experimentation, combos bursting soap suds abound as we reap the soils of power-ups and delicious food. The game insists this must be executed with vigor, for you don’t just run into the bubbles nay, they require deliberate action, be it an eager bounce or nonchalantly plummeting down a cliff.

In trapping enemies within their globule prisons, our mission’s rendered clear: we must pop them. In action games such as these, we are naturally compelled to collect and/or destroy everything we see, and Bubble Bobble appeals to human nature by reframing something we love to “destroy” - bubbles, ever so fragile as they are - and implements that as our ammunition. This is not merely an obvious allegory to Bubble Bobble‘s gameplay - Taito’s classic action/platformer masterpiece featuring two itty-bitty dragons who go spelunking into a 100-floor dungeon and perform fantastic feats via bubbles, not the least in emitting them. Stopping to catch his breath, he observes as one gelatinous specimen gravitates towards him, in awe at its animated motions.Īs it inches closer and closer, the boy operates upon natural instinct: he stretches out a finger, and pops it. The giddy boy runs around in a euphoric rush, giggling as his net forms wriggling, bloated masses floating about. It’s a warm, beautiful summer day host to a family gathering, and an uncle seen but once or twice a year has granted his nephew this most exciting gift. When I think of the boundless joy 1986’s Bubble Bobble instills within me, I liken it to the joy of a child experiencing a giant bubble wand. Today’s review is based upon HAMSTER’s Arcade Archives release of Bubble Bobble for Sony PlayStation 4, as well as the NES version within the NES Classic Edition. But why is that the case? Join Anthony on his 8-Bit Chronicles, wherein he studies the industry’s building blocks in famous coin-munchers, failed experiments, and obscure gems. The innate addiction coded within the circuit board-powered arcade cabinets and NES cartridges render them precious artifacts, their primitive graphics and relative brevity revered even today. Now it is the beginning of a fantastic story!īleeps, bloops, and pixels: the cornerstones of classic gaming.

Bubble bobble