Bubble Bobble

Bubble Bobble is a precious cinnamon roll of cuteness, atested with its cartoony sprites of dinosaurs fighting humanoid contraptions, winning impossible amounts of saccharine fruits and snacks and the irresistable theme song. It is also a gameplay that hits all the right spots without being merciless, offering a quick, easy and uncompromising fun.

You by yourself, or with another player cooperatively, clear off enemies from the levels by shooting bubbles. The bubbles engulf the enemies and trap them, which you can then either jump into to pop and defeat them(in a chain link with other nearby enemies for bonus scores), or you can find other uses for the bubbles, such as climbing or using specific power-ups to get rid of enemies in creative ways, like causing floods, lightning bolts, or setting the floor ablaze.

All versions of the game offer 100 levels with widely differing platform layout, making each map distinctly situational, and where the real challenge in progressing through the game comes from however best you can use the surroundings to your advantage. The way the levels teach you the functions of power-ups is very gradual and easy-paced, but will then demand you show your expertise in the later levels HARD. There are often maps which offer a specific power-up(for example level 88 conveniently places all the enemies in a pit to be lit on fire), or other maps where you have to take tactical precaution and know from which side of the map to strike, weighting the risk of hunting a power up that skips levels(or in particular the potions that offer bonus rounds are a life-saver), and others that rely on high-class platforming skills where you literally have to climb your way using your own bubbles. Here and then the levels are peppered with boss battles that you can only beat with power-ups, and are so dynamic that they bring some freshness after tens of, frankly, stale levels and enemy placements.

The game has multiple endings where the good ones are achievable through picking up secret doors to secret stages. Discovering the secret doors without a walkthrough is impossible as the hints to their whereabouts were only published in the Japanese version of the game, and even then they were really convoluted. The game running has so many secret variables running behind the surface that it effectively takes from the "Tower of Druaga" design book, which can be endlessly frustrating for ardent completionists. The secret doors, when attempted to be reached, do offer unique gameplay rules, as some are triggered by specific events, such as say, not harming any enemies, or defeating a certain number of enemies at the same time.

The arcade version of the game is the pinnacle version with its high-end sound and graphics, making it definitive. Most people know the NES port the most which is an alright port that gets the job and all the level mechanics intact. The best port is the Master System version, however, which stays completely true to all the rules, graphics and sets of the arcade version, but adds its own special cutscenes for the endings, as well as another set of a hundred levels, the Super Mode which is available in the arcade edition through cheats. However, the Super Mode is just the same 100 levels just with different enemies swapped, to varying difficulty. A lot of the levels are actually made easier this way, but the Master System version is also less suited for two-player runs.

Bubble Bobble is easy to pick up and play because it is so immediate, but chances are both you and your friend will easily be bored after about 10 levels or so. Difficulty really begins to spike in the 20s or 30s where you have to really know how to get the hang of bubble climbing, and will be a future source of many game over screens. Luckily you can always continue from your current level, but very few people would be patient to beat all 100 levels in one go because of its repetitive gameplay. In every other regard though, it's a true classic.