Well, after taking a brief detour into the spin-off world of this franchise with a surprisingly great puzzle game, I think it’s about time that I stepped back into the proper set of Bubble Bobble games. For every single one of these games that I had reviewed before, I had already had prior knowledge of them from previous playthroughs I did in the past, but from here on out, everything is gonna be brand new for me, so I am curious to see how exactly Taito manages to evolve this franchise over the next few entries, while also hopefully trying to not destroy it in the process. But of course, because consistency is a myth, we have yet another confusing entry in the series that calls itself Bubble Bobble II, which is not only supposed to be a sequel to the original game, it also apparently takes place after the events of Parasol Stars. I would question this, but I think the best way to approach this series’s continuity is how one should approach the Zelda timeline: pretending it doesn’t exist. So, I managed to do that and have a good ol’ time with the game in question, Bubble Symphony.

Like I mentioned before, I had never played this particular entry in the series before, but I was pretty excited to check it out for several reasons, primarily because this was gonna be the first time that I was gonna be playing the arcade versions of one of these games. Not to say that the other versions of the previous games were bad, but it is clear from what I have heard that the arcade versions are the true versions of these games, so I was ready to go in and fully see one of these games in their full, intended glory. So now that I have played one of these games in their full intended glory, I can certainly say that… it’s a Bubble Bobble game alright, but that’s not a bad thing in this case. It still manages to be a great game, giving fans plenty of what they love about this franchise, while bringing in some changes and nice surprises to make you want to see everything this game has to offer.

The story is appropriately simple for this franchise, where four kids named Bubblun, Bobblun, Kululun, and Cororon are having a good time reading some books like model citizens, but while doing so, they inadvertently unleash the evil Hyper Drunk into the world, who turns them into dragons and sent into another world, so it is up to the four of them to find their way back home, defeat Hyper Drunk, and find a way to return back to normal, which is not only a good enough plot for one of these games, but it also proves just how dangerous books can be, so thank god something showed us the truth. The graphics are pretty great, not only being as bright, colorful, and energetic as you could ever want, but also having great designs for all of the characters, enemies, and bosses that make the game a joy to look at, the music is pretty good, once again not having too many tracks, and the ones that are there are played over and over again, but they are good tracks to listen to, even if they aren’t as catchy as the classic tunes, and the gameplay/control is almost identical to that of previous Bubble Bobble games, with a few twists and turns here or there, so fans and newcomers alike should be able to jump in and have a good time with it immediately.

The game is a 2D platformer, where you take control of one of the four kids that I mentioned earlier, go through many different levels spanning across many different worlds, shoot many enemies in the face with your unlimited supply of bubbles so that you can pop them out of existence and collect their remains in the form of delicious fruits and other various items, gather plenty of different power ups and items which can not only change what your bubbles can do, but also give you temporary boosts and lead towards getting the best ending of the game, and take on several bosses that will give you a hard time if you aren’t rapid-firing your bubble power like crazy at them to take them out really quickly. Anyone who has played Bubble Bobble before this will be able to understand pretty much everything this game is doing, as there aren’t really any huge changes to the formula to shake things up, but not only is the main gameplay still fun enough to where you don’t care too much about that, but also the game has a touch of personality and charm that none of the games previously have managed to match, even if very close.

Given how this is meant to be a sequel to the original Bubble Bobble, it does implement some things that weren’t present in that game originally, such as with the inclusion of more power ups to mess around with and more bosses to fight, and while none of these are anything too new to the franchise as a whole, the way they are implemented in this game does feel pretty natural and very fun to experience. It feels like this is the proper evolution of the original title, not needing to completely reinvent the main gameplay or change up any of the characters and scenarios, which definitely helps it out a lot more in the end. Not to mention, the core elements of the original game that are brought back here are vastly improved upon, such as with the playable characters, with there being not only more options to choose from, but each one is distinct from each other, having their own attribute to take advantage of, which is pretty neat, and does allow for a lot of experimentation to see which kind of playstyle suits you best, even if I just mainly stuck with Bubblun for most of the journey.

Much like in the typical Bubble Bobble fashion, the game also has a lot of things to do and see, having many different worlds to see and levels to beat, while also having a ton of replay value as well. After beating each world, you are given the choice of what different world you want to go to next, with there being specific paths you can take that will lead to several different endings, encouraging you to replay the game to take different routes to see what else you can find. Not to mention, each of the worlds have unique themes to them, such as the generic ones like a dessert-themed world and a toy-themed world, or eve ones that are based on other Taito properties, like Space Invaders and Kiki KaiKai (Pocky & Rocky? What the fuck is that?). It is really weird to see these kinds of worlds in this world, but at the same time, my huge-ass smile signifies how much I like them, and the game wouldn’t be as great if they weren’t in there at all.

If none of that bubbles your bobble though (I am so sorry), then there probably won’t be much else here to win you over if you weren’t into the other games. Most of it is your typical Bubble Bobble affair, where ya blow bubbles, ya pop enemies, they turn into weird objects, and you question what drugs you took before turning on the game: we all know how this goes at this point. Even if you ignore that though, there are still those elements that I, a true Bubble Bobbler at heart, still am not a fan of, such as the fact that you need to find all of these separate objects in order to get the true ending. While it isn’t as cryptic as the original game, it is random enough to where it can be a pain at times, especially since you are always on a time limit, and I don’t want that whale ghost to bubble my bobble at all.

Overall, despite not that much change and some elements of the franchise being here that I just want to leave me alone, this was still yet another great entry in this great series, full with enough energy and adorable vibes that makes me wanna keep playing, plenty for you to do and see, and small changes that do the job at making this feel like a true sequel to the original, despite all the other follow-ups that came beforehand. I would definitely recommend it for those who are big fans of the series, or for those who have never played this series before, because even if the game is a little more obscure than others, it is a great place to start, and I’m sure you’ll have a great time with it, even with a friend right alongside you. And since I can’t think of any joke to end this review off of, I guess I will make a promise to you all that, from this point on, I will never EVER make a “bubble your bobble” joke again. Probably already lost enough followers as is just from that joke, no need to keep bobbling it up like that.

Game #558

This is exactly what a sequel to a mere puzzle game should be- The upgrades fix the monotony of the first game while bringing character and charm to new assets. The story enhances the previous entry's narrative and expands the world, the mechanics are not made any more complex for no reason, but different characters having different stats is a fun way to make the gameplay fresh compared to the unchanging stats of the original. It's extremely innovative and references other Taito games that aren't there for marketing purposes, but just for fun. With pleasing new artwork and characters, this truly is a game with a lot of fun potential and character that makes it a great sequel. Also, dinosaurs. Rawr.

Entendo perfeitamente quem acha que esse jogo é a fórmula do Bubble Bobble original refinada até a perfeição. Ele é bonito, colorido, muito mais acessível, tem controles precisos, é cheio de segredos, os níveis são variados e e há bocado de easter eggs. É elogio atrás de elogio!

Mas. MAS. Meu Deus. A música. Sério. Enquanto tem muito game que a música carrega o jogo sozinho, esse aqui a trilha sonora consegue tirar todo o meu prazer de jogar. Parece uma música de circo em loop eterno, e com algum truque psicológico que parece que vai ficando cada vez mais rápida e cacofônica com cada loop. Podem dizer que é só um nitpicking bobo meu, mas essa coisinha mínima foi o suficiente para eu só pegar o final ruim e nem ir atrás do final verdadeiro porque se eu ouvir a trilha sonora desse game mais uma vez eu vou enlouquecer.

Eu queria muito poder amar mais esse jogo, mas não dá. Não curtir a trilha sonora é muito dealbreaker pra mim.

If you remember my review of the OG Bubble Bobble, you'd remember that I though it was a fun, addicting game ruined by rather outdated design choices, at least if you're trying to play the game through like a normal game, even though I played the game to death as a young'n. Even though Fukio Mitsuji (the creator of Bubble Bobble) was rather infamously against sequels, and this game was indeed done without the involvement of him, I think this is one of the few times where I think the sequel surpassed the original work in question. In short, I think it 's perfection in a single game.

In many ways, this feels like a proper evolution to Bubble Bobble. It still contains the same fun gameplay loop as that, but with a whole host of improvements across the board that make the game less frustrating and way more bearable. Gone with the forced multiplayer (although you still have the fun co-op action at play here, albeit optional!), and the frustrating idiosyncrasies that came from that, you can now continue whether or not you have another player around, and the stages are more of a fair challenge. Even on those fronts, the game is massively improved over it's predecessor.

There's also now more than a few music tracks than the OG, and the graphics are somehow more lively and colorful, even if the latter is because of the better hardware this game runs on. There's also multiple endings like with the OG, and somehow lots of variations of them, but even with that in mind, it's handled way better than in the OG. Still a bit of a process, but their requirements to go about getting them are way more reasonable and fair, so I actually have a chance at getting the better endings myself. And on top of all of that, you have way more secrets than the OG and fun little cameos of characters from other Taito games, who will actually help you defeat the enemies sometimes.

This game, along with Elevator Action Returns and Darius Gaiden, are what I like to call "The Perfect Taito F3 Trilogy", because not only are they good games on their own right, and also they represent the absolute best of what Taito offers, but because they're good examples of how to make great sequels that improve upon their predecessors.