An old friend returns! The stink of Bubble Bobble Revolution is lifted!
Those who've played the original will know Double Shot's story doesn't follow the original's marioesque "Gotta save my girl from the big bad and his legions". In fact, Double Shot throws out what little canon the first one established; Bub and Bob are no longer boys turned into bubble dragons, but actual dragons. It also goes for a more innocent "kids find their grampa's treasure map and decide to follow it" motivation. For added spice, the pair is joined by their cousin Bubu, who adds play complexity I'll get to later. It ain't deep, but it's just a premise to get started.
The basic gameplay is faithful to the original's. Your characters trap their enemies in bubbles and pop them, turning said enemies into food worth points. Popping multiple enemies at once grant you different foods worth incrementally higher points. Stages are populated by the same cast of enemies from the old games with their usual behaviors. Most stages present you a helpful item and/or the odd bonus food. The items I've seen have been in the original and do the same; the shoes make you fast, candies enhance your bubbles, hearts give you a (now temporary) invincibility, etc. You get around like before, jumping off bubbles and platforms, and your jump can give a decent ark if a platform isn't in the way. The pace of the dragons and enemies are neither pokey or spry, but with the stages two-screens tall, it can take a while to get around without holes to the top. The only change to the flow of the game is the stages are divided into sections, ending with boss fights.
To enhance the gameplay, you are able to freely switch between your green, blue, and red colored dragons. Each blows bubbles of their color which comes into play through times when a specific color is called for. When you get the ability to turn enemies into magic bubbles, each dragon produces either the electric, water, and fire bubbles of the old game with their old behaviors. Normal enemies are sometimes protected by a colored star, and only a bubble the same color can catch them. There are six colors, three of which require using two dragons to blend bubbles. This is also how getting the EXTEND 1-up works. Many stages give you star bubbles that normally burst all other bubbles, but you can turn them into the EXTEND letters by blowing two bubbles into them. The last big change is difference is when you lose all your lives. Rather than give you a limited number of continues, you are offered the chance to earn a continue through a touch-based minigames. Be forewarned, there is no save or passwords such that I can tell, and each time you play the minigames get harder. So unless I'm mistaken (which is possible) brace yourself for a long haul and cherish your continues while they're easy.
As I said, the DS's power and features aren't pushed overly hard. It's many features are kept to a minimum so as not to take away from the classic experience. Like a lost SNES game, the look and feel is a colorful, polished version of the original. The music of the first region is a pleasant remix of the old tune, but each area has it's own theme that you'll like or hate, but won't take away from the gameplay.
Being so delightfully simple is no guarantee of flawlessness, I'm happy to say there are few points that go beyond nitpicking. The foremost is jumping on your bubbles and even platforms seems less forgiving than before. There is no way to modify the controls; for reasons I cannot fanthom, the main controls are fixed with y and b to shoot and jump. This is far from a flaw, but it takes more getting used to than the gameplay.
All and all, the single player experience is a great play and well worth the buy. I didn't touch the multiplayer because I haven't tried it with my sister yet. But it's reportedly playing co-op through the game, another old school feature.