Bubble-breathing Dragons...
User Rating: 8.3 | Bubble Bobble NES
Bubble-breathing Dragons, you control a Bubble-breathing dragon. Back in the 1980's there were lots of games that followed the same tried and true method of platform hopping. The most influential was Nintendo's own Mario Bros. and later the Super Mario Bros. In both games you either hit the bad guys from below by jumping up into the block under them or you stomped down on them or you kicked a shell into them. Super Mario Bros. expanded that formula by allowing you to hit blocks that contained a powerup like a fire flower, grab the powerup, and use it. In the case of the fire flower you could shoot fireballs. There were also warps to later levels that were hidden. While its true that Bubble Bobble is not an exact carbon copy clone of Super Mario Bros. It does still have certain things about it that were atleast inspired by the series. Bubble Bobble was a little like Super Mario Bros. cause you could grab powerups and there were warps. It differentiates because there are no scrolling levels but there is a lot of jumping...especially on the bubbles you blow with your dragon. At 100 levels with one major enemy boss who like all of his underling henchmen gets angry and speeds up if you wait too long this game is not a cake walk. Fortunately you can work with a friend simultaneously no splitsscreens here same screen same time. Also fortunately you've got an arsenal of powerups some electrify your bubbles to shock your foes or your friend...sorry no friendly fire options here... other powerups include sneakers to speed you up and food. The gameplay is pretty straight forward you move, jump, and blow bubbles and you can chain your bubbles together and use them to form a ladder of sorts. In retrospect Bomberman 64 uses a similar formula with its bombs but that's a different game...Maybe I'll cover it another time... Bubble Bobble seems so simple but like Tetris it so addictive. You will be losing sleep over this one. Graphics are dated by now likewise with the sound but what do you expect its an 8-bit old school platform hopper.
