
	Platform DS Genre Arcade Publisher Codemasters Developer Taito Corporation ESRB E (Everyone) Released October 2006

- The classic Bubble Bobble! - Captures the feel of the arcade original

- Multiplayer support requires a cart for each player, which drains most of the fun away - Some bugs

Classic Review: Smash TV (SNES) Review: Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (XB) Review: Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball (XB)
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Bubble Bobble Revolution

Score: 4.0 / 10

Having fond memories of the NES version of Bubble Bobble didn't help my enjoyment of Bubble Bobble Revolution. While the game is captured to near perfection a fatal flaw is present in Bubble Bobble Revolution that drains away at least 50% of the fun: no cart-less two-player support. Is the game really so complicated that it couldn't be handled as a wifi download? Apparently so, because if you want to enjoy the multiplayer each friend will need a copy of Bubble Bobble Revolution.

bubble bobble revolution

In case you weren't around for the original release, Bubble Bobble is the adventure of two little dinos that can expel bubbles to capture enemies, then pop the bubbles to defeat them. (It's a pressure differential that causes the bad guys to explode -- watch the Bond flick License to Kill for an example.) The goal is to

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save your girlfriends after traversing 99 levels of varying difficulty; collecting power-ups along the way and braving one-hit deaths. Played with a friend, Bubble Bobble is without a doubt a classic and one of only a handful of games that can be played co-operatively and competitively at the same time. Not having a buddy to play with is a detriment to the

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whole experience, especially when playing the levels that just beg to be completed with two players.

The cart captures the feel of the original, right down to the insanely repetitive music and the look of each level. But that's not enough to warrant a full-priced purchase.

bubble bobble revolution

Sensing this, Codemasters included a full second game, Bubble Bobble New Age, which splits the game screen up, top and bottom, and manages to be four or five times the difficulty of the original, thanks to the fact you can be hit by off-screen enemies with no warning. The little dino may have a health bar this time around but it plunges to zero damn quickly any advantage it might have been is negated..

The objective remains the same, even if some of the available moves are new. And that's about it, unless you count the four-player versus mode. It can't be counted though because you need three other people all with a copy of the game.

If Bubble Bobble Revolution had included a wifi download for two-player action, I would have made a recommendation to pick it up. Collectors of classic games could probably feel no remorse picking it up, but all others can safely give it a miss.

- Omni

(October 24, 2006)