Bubble Bobble Revolution

''Bubble Bobble Revolution'' is a 2D platform game for the Nintendo DS. Developed by Dreams, it was released in Japan on 24 November 2005 by Taito as , in Europe on 2 December 2005 by Rising Star Games (Distribution handled by (Atari Europe) and in North America on 3 October 2006 by Codemasters.

''Bubble Bobble Revolution'' received a strongly negative reception after its release, because of poor graphics and level design, and the presence of a major software bug in the North American version that prevented the game from being completed.

Gameplay

There are two primary gameplay modes in ''Bubble Bobble Revolution'': "Classic", and "New-Age".

"Classic" mode is a conversion of the original ''Bubble Bobble'' to the DS hardware. Gameplay is nearly identical to the original game: players must control either Bub or Bob through 100 single-screen levels, in which they must defeat a certain number of enemies in order to proceed; being hit by an enemy results in a loss of a life. Enemies are defeated by blowing bubbles to trap them and then colliding with them; each enemy produces a food item that can be collected for extra points. The original co-op multiplayer mode is also implemented; if two players own copies of the game, they can use DS Download Play to play together.

"New-Age" plays similarly to the original game, with several key differences. Characters and levels are larger (spanning the DS's dual screen), and enemies and projectiles are faster. There are additionally boss fights every tenth level, and Bub and Bob can now take three hits instead of one before dying and have several new types of bubbles. Fans are also scattered around levels, and can be spun by blowing into the DS's microphone. Rather than a co-op mode, "Revolution" includes a four-player competitive mode in which players compete for the most points in ten different levels.

Level 30 bug

All levels beyond #30 in the North American version are unplayable due to a programming error that causes the boss of that level not to spawn. This was an often criticized aspect of the game. Codemasters ultimately responded by releasing a fixed version of the game, which included a free copy of '' Rainbow Islands Revolution''.

Reception

The game received "unfavorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. In Japan, ''Famitsu'' gave it a score of one seven and three sixes, while ''Famitsu Cube + Advance'' gave it a score of three sixes and one five. ''411Mania'' gave it an unfavorable review, nearly two months before it was released Stateside.

Common criticism was directed at the game's dated visuals and level design. Reviewers also heavily criticized the game's number of odd glitches (such as enemies failing to spawn in levels, as well as levels being skipped entirely), which were described by Frank Provo of ''GameSpot'' as "strange" and "bizarre". Many critics also made note of the level 30 glitch, which Craig Harris of ''IGN'' claimed "makes a bad game worse". John Walker of ''Eurogamer'' began his review off by giving praise for the original game before harshly criticizing the "new-age" remake. Reviewers also made note of the drastic redesigns of the original characters, which were described as "stupendously ugly".

Despite the negative criticism, some did praise the game's inclusion of the original ''Bubble Bobble''. Provo called the game "a genuine classic" and "enjoyable", and praised the multiplayer modes as well. However, Harris referred to them as "unacceptable" for requiring two copies of the game, a statement echoed by Walker.

References

External links

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{{Bubble Bobble series

2005 video games
Bubble Bobble
Codemasters games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Nintendo DS games
Nintendo DS-only games
Platform games
Taito games
Rising Star Games games
Video games developed in Japan