The retro game completeathon rolls ever onward, and today it slew Bubble Bobble Plus on Wii Ware. Previous attempts at finishing it were always stumped by Level 72, which is impossible (although there’s a video on YouTube that proves otherwise – I don’t believe it myself), but thankfully I nabbed EXTEND on Level 71 so skipped to 73. Phew! Level 99 was a bit of a pain, until I figured out ways you could fall through walls, and then it …
Played co-op with my wife this afternoon. All was going well, until we reached level 72. Which is impossible. I remembered it from the arcade version, and although it was bit fiddly there, on Bubble Bobble Plus it is, in fact, impossable. You start in a narrow column, and can’t get out without jumping on bubbles. Problem is, you’re too enclosed to blow any as they burst immediately. In the arcade version, you can put your back to the left …
Who can resist Bubble Bobble? Nobody! Which is why I bought it! Again! I’m sure I now have about 50 different copies of this for every console and computer ever made ever. And then I bought it again! But wait! This version has extra game modes, and 2.5D graphics! And the same stuck-in-your-head theme tune. So it’s ace.
HARDEST. BOSS. EVAAR. Probably. After 8976749836 more goes, I finally killed him! And, with his bubble popped, it was time to watch the credits roll… only… what’s this? I only rescued Patty or Tilly or Fluffy or Boris or whatever her name is. “This is not a true ending!” it says. I now need to do it again in two player mode! Or so I thought. I can actually let the GBA control Bobblen. So off I went to kill …
I’ve been playing this all evening, and after some real bitches of levels (73, 95 and 99 stand out), I finally made it to level 100. The boss. After 8752354523847 goes, I still can’t kill him. I know what to do – that bit is easy. I just can’t do it without dying. You can’t even discern how much “damage” he has left, which is a pain. Stupid game, smash smash smash.
Level 71. And stuck. I can’t figure out how to kill the baddies in the left and right vertical tubey bits. Shouldn’t have said it was easy! I had a go on “Old” mode for a bit then, and got to level 22 on one life, then lost them all. Pah.
Further playing == level 57. Still reasonably easy, though. And still no bosses. Did I imagine them in previous games or something?
Gah! After playing to level 28 or so last night, I find when I come to play it today that my game hasn’t saved. Rubbish. So, back to level 18. I worked my way through to level 40-ish this time. No bosses yet – I’m sure the original had them at levels 25, 50, 75 and 100.
Played single player “New” for a bit, and made it as far as level 28 or so. I then had a go on single-cart two-player with my wife. It’s fun for a while, but unfortunately you can only play the first 12 levels over and over again. And, being the first 12 levels, they’re not even difficult. Needless to say I racked up some 1,500,000 points before becoming bored rather than dying. It’s slightly bizarre that you only get one …
Played a bit of this today, but didn’t try very hard. Managed to get up to Level 18 on “New” mode. I was doing well until Level 14 or so, without losing any lives, then it all went to pot. The theme tune is now drummed into my head. Great.
This is one of the games on the recent Taito cartridge for the Evercade. I’m not 100% on the timings, but it feels very much like a precursor to Bubble Bobble – loads of single screen platforming, baddies to destroy, a particularly nasty baddie that appears if you take too long, and so on. It isn’t anywhere near as much fun as Bubble Bobble though. The main issue I had is that often, especially on later levels, some of the …
Another two player Evercade game. I’ve played Joe & Mac (Caveman Ninja) before, and the sequel, but hadn’t even heard of this. In fact, I thought it was the sequel when I started it up. As it turns out, it’s a completely different sort of platformer. Whereas the other two Joe & Mac games were sideways scrolling platformers where you club baddies, Returns is a two player Bubble Bobble/Snowbros/Rodland type single screen “clear the baddies” type game. You still club …
