Bubble Bobble Part 2

Nintendo exclusive

A new breed of heroes! Cubby and Rubby, descendants of the famous Bubby, must battle the Skull Brothers and their army of fiends to rescue a friend in danger. Fortunately, our dinosaur heroes can blow bubbles that will destroy their foes. They will rain fire, floods and tornado!

Released: 1993
Platforms: Game Boy NES
Genres: Platformer
Developers: Taito OLM, Inc.
Publishers: Taito
Perspective: Side view
Themes: Action Fantasy
Country: Japan
Age ratings: CLASS_IND L
Languages: English, Japanese

About

Bubble Bobble Part 2, known in Japan as Bubble Bobble 2 (バブルボブル2), is a platform video game released by Taito in 1993 for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy. It is the fourth installment in the Bubble Bobble series, itself a sequel to the 1986 arcade game Bubble Bobble. While it was never released in the arcades, two versions of the game were developed independently from each other (for the NES and Game Boy systems). Both games received a different storyline as a result. The Game Boy version is known in Japan as Bubble Bobble Junior (バブルボブルジュニア).

Keywords

gravity
mascot
high score
bonus stage

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The blank backgrounds of Bubble Bobble were replaced by background graphics like trees and the sky. The backgrounds change every ten levels, possibly inspired by contemporary platform games such as Snow Bros. and Joe & Mac 2: Lost in the Tropics. Some reviewers say this helps to keep the game feeling fresh during longer sessions.

For both the NES and Game Boy versions, the gameplay remains largely unchanged from the other games in the series, but the player has the ability to float upwards by holding down the B button.

Story

According to the NES version's manual, this game stars Bub and Bob, the original duo. On the back cover, they are also said to be Cubby and Rubby, Bub and Bob's descendants.

As seen in the game intro, Bub, and a girl named Judy, were sitting in a park. Suddenly, a floating skull character, who is one of the Skull Brothers, captures Judy inside a bubble, and sends her and Bub into the air. Two characters named Drunk (from the original Bubble Bobble) follow the skull and take Judy away. Bub turns (or is turned) into a bubble dragon and heads off to rescue his girlfriend. There is also a two-player mode, implying that Bob has suffered from the same events as Bub had, but the manual says Judy is a friend of both.

Reception

Power Unlimited gave the Game Boy version a score of 75%, writing: "This kind of mind sport is ideal for the Game Boy. It can seem a bit simple at times, and sometimes gets a bit boring, but you have to use your head if you want to get through it. A fun game if you persevere".

The NES version can be difficult to find on the secondhand market due to the low volume of production.