Bubble Bobble Longplay (C64) [QHD]
116Game Info
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Developer: Software Creations
Publisher: Firebird
Year of Release: 1987
Game Review & Impressions
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One of the best coin-op conversions on the C64 by far, Bubble Bobble received one of the highest ever scores awarded by Zzap!64 magazine, with a whopping 97% in its October 87 issue. It received equally high scores when it launched on budget in 1991, and it was this edition of the game I picked up for my C64.
For a couple of quid, this was an absolute steal. It's as good a conversion of Taito's seminal arcade game as you could wish for: single load; all 99 levels; and most of the secrets and bonus logic which made the game so compelling to begin with. It's not quite arcade perfect, with the "true" ending of the arcade game missing, but it really doesn't matter, 'cos it's utterly brilliant. Stephen Ruddy and Andrew Threlfall turned out an absolute master piece, and the music by the late Peter Clarke is virtually indistinguishable from the original arcade version.
What I wasn't aware of until I revisited the game, however, is that a secret hard mode exists, which can only be unlocked by holding down S, U, P, O, R and the Commodore key on the game's title screen. This changes out the Benzo enemies for harder monsters you'd normally face later in the game, and is the C64 equivalent of the arcade's harder second loop needed to unlock the true ending. I've included the hard mode in this video - see chapters for details.
This remains a cracking conversion of the game, and one of the best games in the C64 library - a genuine masterpiece.
Information & Trivia
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Enable hard mode by pressing down keys S U P O R and Commodore key on title screen (border flashes red)
Chapters
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0:00:00 Regular Mode
0:56:26 Hard Mode
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