Written by Jennifer O. Cuaycong
Title: Bubble Bobble 4 Friends
Developer: Taito
Publisher: ININ Games
Genre: Arcade
Price: $39.99
There’s a game made for gamers and there’s a game made for everyone. Bubble Bobble 4 Friends brings back the fun spirit of the 1986 blockbuster arcade in a game designed to appeal to anyone and everyone, young and old alike.
Dormant for almost two decades (save for small blips on mobile gaming platforms and re-releases of the old Nintendo Entertainment System and Family Computer ports), Bubble Bobble was last spotted in video game consoles in 2009 as the downloadable Bubble Bobble Plus on the Wii (also known as BB Neo on the Microsoft Xbox). With the 2019/2020 release of Bubble Bobble 4 Friends, its latest sequel, Bubble Bobble reaches into the future via the Nintendo Switch.
Taito’s classic two-button masher is still the standard for this reinvention of the Bubble Bobble franchise. As the gameplay goes, the player character is a bubble-blowing dragon that shoots bubbles from his mouth, traps enemies in them, and eliminates them by hitting them with his head or feet. Doing so singly or in combos produces scores relative to the number of enemies eliminated off the screen. Maneuvering through obstacles adds difficulty to the game as the plump but agile lizard character can jump, duck, and crawl under platforms; he can also use bubbles as makeshift landing spots to propel himself to suspended locations. A successful mopping operation clears the level and produces fruit bonuses for added points in the game. A battle with a major Boss comes after clearing ten stages at a time and helps you acquire new fighting skills. These skills, such as amazing thunder bubbles that wipe out enemies in one broad stroke, are almost necessary in the latter, progressively difficult levels.
Note that while there are only fifty unique levels in Bubble Bobble 4 Friends, a hard mode is available for the accomplished gamer. Finishing all 50 levels successfully and winning all Boss Battles unlock this hard mode where one can re-play all 50 with a maddeningly higher level of difficulty.
Casual gamers who opt for fun and some distraction would be glad to know that the quest of the dragon siblings Bub and Bob never really end in Bubble Bobble 4 Friends, for failing to clear a level three times does not automatically end the game. Players may continue to play with a feature called “invincibility,” allowing less than adept participants to progress through the game without cost to his/her enjoyment.
As an added bonus, Bubble Bobble 4 Friends contains the original arcade version, a throwback to the eighties when the retro Bubble Bobble hit the fledgling gaming community by storm.
Played in co-op mode, up to four players can participate in the fun frenzy, but all players will have to share just eight lives. Online play is not available, which is disappointing, but local play is engrossing enough. However, there is no competition between and among players, a feature that would have undoubtably extended the game’s playability and repetition.
While Bubble Bobble’s gameplay has always been its main attraction, Bubble Bobble 4 Friends also boasts of improved graphics, an enjoyable soundtrack, and fast turnovers with no discernible drops in framerates. On screen, the action moves very smoothly and reflex responses to these actions are almost instantaneous. Games can be quick and rewarding, or challenging and infuriating; either way, it is always fun.
All told, Bubble Bobble 4 Friends is perfect for having fun, either alone or with friends and family. By sticking to what it does best, Bubble Bobble maintains its playability throughout the decades, thus proving that there is no need to reinvent the wheel, not when the wheel rolls well into the future.
THE GOOD
THE BAD
Price: $39.99
There’s a game made for gamers and there’s a game made for everyone. Bubble Bobble 4 Friends brings back the fun spirit of the 1986 blockbuster arcade in a game designed to appeal to anyone and everyone, young and old alike.
Taito’s classic two-button masher is still the standard for this reinvention of the Bubble Bobble franchise. As the gameplay goes, the player character is a bubble-blowing dragon that shoots bubbles from his mouth, traps enemies in them, and eliminates them by hitting them with his head or feet. Doing so singly or in combos produces scores relative to the number of enemies eliminated off the screen. Maneuvering through obstacles adds difficulty to the game as the plump but agile lizard character can jump, duck, and crawl under platforms; he can also use bubbles as makeshift landing spots to propel himself to suspended locations. A successful mopping operation clears the level and produces fruit bonuses for added points in the game. A battle with a major Boss comes after clearing ten stages at a time and helps you acquire new fighting skills. These skills, such as amazing thunder bubbles that wipe out enemies in one broad stroke, are almost necessary in the latter, progressively difficult levels.
Note that while there are only fifty unique levels in Bubble Bobble 4 Friends, a hard mode is available for the accomplished gamer. Finishing all 50 levels successfully and winning all Boss Battles unlock this hard mode where one can re-play all 50 with a maddeningly higher level of difficulty.
Casual gamers who opt for fun and some distraction would be glad to know that the quest of the dragon siblings Bub and Bob never really end in Bubble Bobble 4 Friends, for failing to clear a level three times does not automatically end the game. Players may continue to play with a feature called “invincibility,” allowing less than adept participants to progress through the game without cost to his/her enjoyment.
Played in co-op mode, up to four players can participate in the fun frenzy, but all players will have to share just eight lives. Online play is not available, which is disappointing, but local play is engrossing enough. However, there is no competition between and among players, a feature that would have undoubtably extended the game’s playability and repetition.
All told, Bubble Bobble 4 Friends is perfect for having fun, either alone or with friends and family. By sticking to what it does best, Bubble Bobble maintains its playability throughout the decades, thus proving that there is no need to reinvent the wheel, not when the wheel rolls well into the future.
THE GOOD
- Familiar but still engrossing
- Two-button controls make this appropriate for all ages
- Co-op play is fun
- Great visuals and music
- Gameplay is smooth
THE BAD
- No competition
- 50 levels isn’t quite enough
- Unlockable skills are less desirable than old game’s power-ups
- Absent online play
RATING: 8/10
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