An arcade classic that's still every bit as fun to play now as it was 20 years ago!
The premise was simple: Bub and Bob, the titular characters in our adventure, had to navigate 100 single-screen levels of monsters, platform-hopping as they went. Some were very easy, others took more than a bit of ingenuity, such as hopping onto blown bubbles to get to out of reach platforms to deal with the head baddie.
Despite the simple gameplay, things can get very tricky. If Bub and Bob don't pop the bubble they've trapped an enemy in, eventually they'll escape and turn pink, signifying they're in a kind of berserk mode and move with much faster speed. This happens if they are the last enemy remaining, or if you spend too long on a level. After this is a further time limit, which if exceeded, sees a super-enemy appear onscreen that moves quickly and actively chases you. Contact with an enemy is truly old-school: if you so much as fart near an enemy, you lose a life.
Despite its simplicity, Bubble Bobble has proven to be an extremely popular series of games over the years, spawning a number of spin-offs and sequels. This is where it all began, and despite the very simple graphics and music, the game has aged very well, and still provides as addictive a challenge as it did 20 years ago. You can have a lot more fun with this than a bottle of Fairy Liquid and a blow-stick, and it's a lot tidier, so get stuck in!