BUBBLE BOBBLE
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                       A review by Eric Holroyd
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Taken from the Taito arcade machine of the same name, Bubble Bobble was
converted for the C-64 extremely well and all of its arcade features were
included. It very quickly became one of my all-time favorite games when it
came out in mid-1987 & that wasn't just my opinion either. It was voted a "top
game" by most of the UK games magazines reader's polls too. Imagine my delight
then when the same game was converted for the Amiga with its better graphics
and sound. I'm willing to bet that it'll soon be a chart-topper all over again.
It's certainly joined my personal "short list" of favorites on the 16-bit
machine and is getting a good deal of playing time here.
 
I think the Amiga version plays a little better than the 64 one, and just to
be sure I ran them side-by-side on the office computers. The Amiga does play
play a little better, I was right. It's smoother too and I love it.

Just in case anyone hasn't come across it before I'll give a brief rundown on
what it's all about. I can't do a better job of alliteration than the Bubble
Bobble booklet so I'll quote "as is" :-

"Meet Bub and Bob, our bantam-weight brontosaures who are bent on battling big
bullies by blowing and bursting bubbles. Before battling these brazen bullies
beware that bubble blowing is better than bouncing bombs from biplanes, and
even beats boxing these brainless barbarians. So now that we briefly belayed
the Bub and Bob biographies, begin by browsing below and become the best Bubble
Bobble bubble blower on the block." That's the brief, quoted berbatim (sorry!)

What all that means is that one or two players can play, each controlling a
mini bronto. This little guy blows bubbles (his only weapon) at the various
nasties who appear. When hit by a bubble the baddie is encased in it and is
disabled for a while. Burst his bubble whilst he's like this and a bonus
item appears for you to grab and score more points. Be quick though, bonus
bits only stay visible for a little while.

If you clear a level quickly you'll get some high-point items in the next level
which help to build up your score even more so it's best to be as quick as
possible. If you're too slow you'll get a "hurry-up" message and Baron von
Blubba comes on the scene to hunt you down relentlessly. One touch from
him and you've lost another life. To gain more lives collect the letters that
appear randomly in their own bubbles and spell the word EXTEND. That gains you
an extra life. Also, you start the game with 8 credits and collect more for
fast, high scoring. To keep playing after you've lost all your lives press the
firebutton quickly and the game will continue.

There are 100 levels in Bubble Bobble and even though I'm a dedicated BB'er
I've only seen a quarter of them. I'm pressing on though as the instructions
promise a "Sudden Reversal" by reaching the "True Ending" after the 100 levels.
I want to know what that means, and it'll be a lot of fun getting there.

This is one of the very best games I've ever seen and I can't recommend it
highly enough. Go out and buy it, I'm sure you'll agree. 

Distributed by Questor. RRP $59.95

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