''Bubble Ghost'' is an

action video game An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, and platform g ...

originally created by Christophe Andréani for the Atari ST and published by ERE Informatique in 1987. The player controls a ghost who guides a floating bubble by blowing on it.

Gameplay

The objective is to guide a bubble throughout a number of halls in a

haunted house A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the prope ...

. If the bubble hits any walls or obstacles, then it will pop and the player loses a life. Obstacles include lit candles, electricity and fans. These can be all controlled by the ghost, who can wander around the level freely and blow at things - such as the bubble to add speed, the candle to put out the flame, or switches to turn them on or off. The ghost is controlled using the mouse. A press on the left button of the mouse makes the ghost rotate to the left. A press on the right button of the mouse makes the ghost rotate to the right. A press on a keyboard key (Shift) makes the ghost blow. The game is made of 35 halls (levels). Each time the player makes the bubble exit a hall, he wins 1000 points + left bonus. Action on animation may add 5000 points to the player. The bonus is re-initialized at every new hall. A new bubble is added to the player account each time the bubble exits towards the top of the hall.

Ports

The original ''Bubble Ghost'' was created by Christophe Andréani (design, programming) on an Atari ST computer. The game has been adapted for other computers throughout the world. Some years later, ERE Informatique was bought by

Infogrames Atari SA (formerly Infogrames Entertainment SA) is a French video game holding company headquartered in Paris. Its subsidiaries include Atari Interactive#Infogrames subsidiary, Atari Interactive and Atari, Inc. (1993–present), Atari, Inc. It ...

. Infogrames published a new version of ''Bubble Ghost'' with updated graphics, ''Bubble +'' (''Bubble Plus''). A

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same te ...

version was published in 1990. It was the first French game adapted for the Game Boy.

Gallery

Image:Bubble_ghost_st_hall04.gif, Bubble Ghost, Atari ST version, Hall#4 Image:Bubble_ghost_st_hall05.png, Bubble Ghost, Atari ST version, Hall#5 Image:Bubble_ghost_st_hall09.png, Bubble Ghost, Atari ST version, Hall#9 Image:Bubble_ghost_gb_hall03.png, Bubble Ghost, Game Boy version, Hall#3

Development

The game was programmed in C (editor and compiler:

Megamax C Megamax C is a K&R C-based development system originally written for Macintosh and ported to the Atari ST and Apple IIGS computers. Sold by Megamax, Inc., based in Richardson, Texas, the package includes a one-pass compiler, linker, text editor, r ...

) and 68000 assembly language on an Atari 1040 ST computer. The graphics were made with the

Degas Elite Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints and drawings. Degas is espe ...

drawing software. The digital sound of the introductory page of the game ("Welcome to Bubble Ghost") was built using ST Replay. This is the author's voice. The other sound effects use the synthesizer inside the Atari ST. Here are some notes from the author when creating the game: Image:Bubble ghost doc01.jpg, Bubble Ghost, levels order Image:Bubble ghost doc02.jpg, Bubble Ghost, hall#9 design Image:Bubble ghost doc03.jpg, Bubble Ghost, ghost and bubble animation Image:Bubble ghost doc04.jpg, Bubble Ghost, game technical notes

Reception

The following French magazines have published ''Bubble Ghost'' review: *SVM Science et Vie Micro #45, December 1987 (Atari ST version
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*Tilt #49, December 1987 (Atari ST version
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*ST Magazine #14, November/December 1987 (Atari ST version
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*Micro News #6, November/December 1987 (Atari ST version) *Le Tatou #10, December 1987 (Atari ST version) *1ST (FirST) #4, December 1987 (Atari ST version
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*Jeux et Stratégie #48, December 1987 (Atari ST version) *Génération 4 #2, December 1987 (Atari ST version
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*Amstrad Cent Pour Cent #1, February 1988 (Amstrad CPC version
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*Tilt #52, March 1988 (Amstrad CPC version
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*Tilt #57, September 1988 (Amiga version
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*Génération 4 Hors série #2, oct/nov/dec 1990 (Game Boy version
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*Génération 4 #31, March 1991 (Game Boy version
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*Player One #18, March 1992 (Game Boy version
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*Joypad #7, April 1992 (Game Boy version
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*Consoles + #7, March 1992 (Game Boy version
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Following US magazine has published ''Bubble Ghost'' review: *VideoGames and Computer Entertainment, USA, April 1991 (Game Boy version) *Antic Vol.7 #7, November 1988 (Atari ST version

*ST-Log Issue 24, October 1988 (Atari ST version
See review
*ST-Log Issue 26, December 1988 (Atari ST version
See review
Following French magazines have published ''Bubble +'' (''Bubble Plus'') review: *Génération 4 #22, May 1990 (Atari ST and Amiga version
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*Micro News #35, May 1990 (Atari ST version
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*Tilt #79, June 1990 (Atari ST version
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References

External links

''Bubble Ghost''
at

MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small ...

''Bubble Ghost''
at Atari Mania
''Bubble Ghost''
at Hall of Light *{{lemon64 game, id=379, name=Bubble Ghost
Christophe Andréani's websiteRetro Decouverte author's interview
1987 video games Accolade (company) games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Apple IIGS games Atari ST games Commodore 64 games DOS games Game Boy games Video games about ghosts Infogrames games Multiplayer and single-player video games Piko Interactive games Pony Canyon games Assembly language software Video games scored by Hitoshi Sakimoto Video games developed in France Windows games