Brothers Bub and Bob are two happy go lucky dragons [sic] living in a magical forest. "Baron Von Blubba" has kidnapped the brothers' girlfriends. Bub and Bob must finish 100 levels in the Cave of Monsters in order to rescue them. At the end of the game after fighting Super Drunk on level 100 in cooperative mode, it is revealed Bub, Bob, and their girlfriends are humans transformed by magic and that Bub and Bob's parents were kidnapped as well.
In the game, each player controls one of the two dragons. Players can move along platforms, fall to lower ones, and jump to higher ones and over gaps. Each level is limited to a single screen, with no left/right scrolling. However, if a screen has gaps in its bottom edge, players can fall through these and reappear at the top. Each level has a certain number of enemies that must be defeated in order to advance. The players must blow bubbles to trap the enemies and then burst these bubbles by colliding with them. Magic items appear from time to time and grant special abilities and advantages when picked up. Special bubbles occasionally appear that can be burst to attack enemies with fire, water, or lightning. Each defeated enemy turns into a food item that can be picked up for extra points. Defeating multiple enemies at once awards higher scores and causes more valuable food items to appear. Furthermore, if a player collects letter bubbles to spell the word EXTEND, a bonus life is earned and both players immediately advance to the next level. All bubbles will float for a certain length of time before bursting on their own. Players can jump on these and ride them to otherwise inaccessible areas to reach enemies and/or powerups.
A player loses one life upon touching any free enemy or their projectiles (rocks, fireballs, lasers, bottles). Enemies become "angry"—turning pink in color and moving faster—if they escape from a bubble after being left too long or the players spend a certain amount of time on the current level. They return to normal if either player loses a life. After a further time limit expires, an additional invincible enemy appears for each player, actively chasing them using only vertical and horizontal movements. These disappear once the level is cleared, or when a player loses a life. When there is only one enemy left, it immediately becomes angry and remains in this state until it is defeated.
In the 100th and final level, players face a boss. This is one of the first games to feature multiple endings. Completing Level 100 in single-player mode reveals a message stating that the game has not truly ended and also displays a hint: "Come here with your friend". If two players complete the game, they see a "happy end", in which the brothers are transformed to their human selves and reunited with their girlfriends. This ending also includes a code that, when deciphered, allows the game to be played in the faster and more difficult "super" mode. If this mode is completed with two players, a second "happy end" is displayed in which Super Drunk (the defeated boss) is revealed to be the brothers' parents under the control of some outside influence. The brothers return to normal and are reunited with their parents and girlfriends.
Bubble Bobble is abandonware and no longer sold or supported by its publishers. Files are archived here for these platforms:
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