Manufacturer:
Year: 1994

Other versions
Bubble Buster (USA) 1994

 

Puzzle Bobble is the Arcade which brought the famous Bubble Bobble characters in a puzzle game. Seeing the success of this game, Taito has released several sequels. It also have been converted for nearly all kind of available consoles on the market. Until now four games of the series are emulated by Raine. Puzzle Bobble's popularity is quite obvious: it was born from a mix of two wide-spreading old games, Breakout and Tetris. In fact, like Breakout, there is a bubble wall to destroy, and, like Tetris, you must avoid the growth of bubble's rows until they will cover all our available space.

Bub and Bob this time are in a difficult situation:armed with a bubble-thrower working with a handle that, by rotating it, will give the right direction to shoot. You have to shoot a wall (or other figures) made with colorful bubbles, inside a sort of press going down as time pass. If you don't manage to destroy all bubbles in time, before the press has come down too much, game will end, if you manage, you'll go to the next level. Thrown bubbles will stick to the other bubbles or to the top of the screen. By throwing them on the sides they will bounce until they'll find a bubble or the top to stick on. Put at least three bubbles with the same color together and they'll explode, dragging the other stick bubbles down.

More bubbles we destroy at the same time, more points we get. If you are also quick in ending the round you'll get a bonus point. When finishing all 30 rounds game ends and our heroes will, at last, have a deserved rest! Game has the possibility to choose single-play mode or double-play, one against the other simultaneously, the one who reaches three victories will win the fight. Game commands are easy: simply move your joystick right and left to place the bubble-thrower and press the fire button to throw the bubble.

Bubbles are kept in a sack (don't understand how it can keep hundreds of bubbles). When our bubble is in launch position, another one is coming out from the sack, so that we can see its color and think our next move in advance. In the last background, observing the constellation carefully, we recognize the spaceship Silver Hawk and the huge battleship Fossil from Darius... but this is another story, in fact one day on "Darius" star......

Here below there is the game score table, have a look:

Ratings

PRESENTATION: 86%

GRAPHICS: 91%

SOUND:86%

ORIGINALITY: 96%

HOOKABILITY: 100%

LASTABILITY: 100%

OVERALL: 96%

Presentation in Japanese.. Anyway there's a good game explanation sequence, nice entr'acte at the end of round and in title screen, and charming screens with film-style credits after having completed the game. Doesn't need anything else, game is easy understanding. Simple and well done graphics, immediately attractive with all those colorful bubbles, the two dragons are better than in Bubble Bobble, nice backgrounds even if there's not much variety. Clever the idea of using old game concepts and propose them in an updated version. The simplicity of the game and all the likable items make the game unthinkable to be ignored and, once tried it, it's also unthinkable not to continue until the last round. Why should I stop play it?
Well distributed difficulty and variety game schemes make it playable for a long period of time.
This Arcade and its sequels are certainly the most famous ones among the puzzle games; just count how many conversions have been done for several console, and all the derived clones created, to understand the huge success.

Definitely my favourite game... I could just say that it's brilliant, perfect, exciting... but I'll try to analyze each part objectively: presentation, although is in Japanese, it's clear enough to understand how to play. Graphics are cheerful, together with sound effects, especially the voice of the dragons makes me crazy!
What else can I say... nice and various backgrounds, variety of schemes, it's the kind of game able to keep me hooked for hours and hours... I don't know why, but I never get fed up whit Puzzle Bubble, it has something special...

A short film will reveal the title of the game, freeing it from the bubbles that keep it hidden, followed by the usual demo "how to play" - I would pass over the fact that it's in Japanese - Nice and well detailed graphics, seems incredible how in the first 2/3 of the game we can have such a satisfactory result to our eyesight with simplicity... Then the background evolution in the last part of the game leave us nearly astonished...
Maybe it's a little monotonous, but the exotic tune that goes throughout our way (long way!) plus the level's background seem to create each time a different atmosphere.
It's a kind of game that draws crowds as a magnet, thanks also to the likable characters, two old acquaintance of us...
There's nothing to do... when reproaching the game after a while you can't avoid playing a lot, what's more every level is different from the other in layout and difficulty.
You must absolutely play it!!!!! Don't lose the chance to play it!!! Also because if you don't play it... I'm going to break a leg of yours...