News Article

Bubble Bobble Plus Gets Rated for Western Release

Posted Tue, 03 Feb 2009 by Damien McFerran

We can't help but hanker for the old fashioned 2D sprites...

We can't help but hanker for the old fashioned 2D sprites...

We’ve slowly been getting more and more excited about Taito’s WiiWare update of its classic Bubble Bobble coin-op, but so far our anticipation has been checked by the fact that the game looked destined to remain a Japan-only release.

Thankfully our scepticism was unfounded as the game has just been rated on the German USK database, making a Western release a formality. It's also gained a shiny new title for its Western debut - Bubble Bobble Plus.

Now if only we could convince Taito to abandon the rather unusual 3D character models. You can check out some of the latest screens in our gallery below.

Tags: WiiWare, Taito, USK Rated, Upcoming Games.

Game Screenshots

User Comments

Trucker

1. Trucker United States 03 Feb 2009, 16:10 GMT

The Trucker wants a ESRB rating to pop up soon. This game looks freeking awesome!

worrybomb

2. worrybomb United States 03 Feb 2009, 16:20 GMT

I could live without online play and I could live with paying more Wii Points for the stage packs but please Taito/Square Enix: make the character models in BBP a little more presentable than what is shown in the screenshots. I mean even the NES version of Bubble Bobble had better designs compared to BBP.

KnucklesSonic8

3. KnucklesSonic8 Canada 03 Feb 2009, 16:21 GMT

I like the name choice.

Ricardo91

4. Ricardo91 United States 03 Feb 2009, 16:25 GMT

The sprites don't look that good, but I've seen Bubble Bobble in worse style, and it's a hell of a lot better than Revolution's Box art. :P

Ian Daemon

5. Ian Daemon United States 03 Feb 2009, 16:26 GMT

I love the original Bubble Bobble and play it on the V.C. Should I really buy a second copy of essentially the same game?

Wiiloveit

6. Wiiloveit United Kingdom 03 Feb 2009, 16:31 GMT

YES! Here's hoping that the game will be released this, or next, month then. AWESOME - especially at 800 points.

SmaMan

7. SmaMan United States 03 Feb 2009, 16:41 GMT

I just hope they make the final boss easier! The rest of the game is sooo much fun... then you get to the final boss and it's hardness makes you want to never play the game again!

Chris Neilson

8. Chris Neilson Canada 03 Feb 2009, 16:49 GMT

Bubble Bobble Plus.. Nice game I like it 100 level. you could add level editor. and more screenshot.

-TR

9. -TR United Kingdom 03 Feb 2009, 17:31 GMT

Awsome. I can't wait now.

Turkey Brutus

10. Turkey Brutus United States 03 Feb 2009, 17:58 GMT

Sprites look fine to me. Bring it on!

Olimar_91

11. Olimar_91 United States 03 Feb 2009, 18:08 GMT

I'm still uneasy about this one. The graphics seem like a mish-mash between 8-Bit and modern 2D... The two don't balance out together as well as one would hope.

But, that aside, it does look promising.

KDR_11k

12. KDR_11k Germany 03 Feb 2009, 19:09 GMT

What I'm wondering about is if it'll have C64 physics or "proper" physics. On the C64, once you were in a wall collision with walls was disabled for you until you exitted the wall, meaning you could move left and right inside a wall. In the GBA port I played walls remain solid to the sides even when you are in one, makes the game way harder.

themortalangel

13. themortalangel United States 03 Feb 2009, 19:59 GMT

To be quite honest I've never played Bubble Bobble before...kinda missed out on that one. However now I think if the ratings are decent then I will give it a shot via this new BBP. I'm not really worried bout the game in general though...I'm sure it will be good. I mean cmon guys this is SQUARE ENIX we are talking about. When was the last time they really put out something half baked.

Shadx

14. Shadx Canada 03 Feb 2009, 20:46 GMT

5. Ian Daemon: Uh ... YES! It's not the same game, it has 100 different levels and you can download more, and it has 4 player mode. To a bubble bobble fan, thats epic.

The models do look strange, but lets hope that's the compression of the images. And besides, would strange sprites really prevent us from playing this? I think not.

Bahamut ZERO

15. Bahamut ZERO United States 03 Feb 2009, 21:56 GMT

YEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!

my only worry for this was that it was Japan only. WWW, you just made my day :)

Terranigma

16. Terranigma United Kingdom 03 Feb 2009, 22:25 GMT

I Never doubted that this wouldn't be released in the west. I mean, Square-Enix are a huge Games Publisher and something as small as a WiiWare release should be too easy for them. Shame that there are still the occasional game that isn't localized, particularly in Europe. Character models aside, seem to be creating a really great game, hopefully much better than the woeful DS entries. Let's hope Rainbow Island Tower and Bubble Bobble Plus can revive the 2 series the way they need to be.

Turkey Brutus

17. Turkey Brutus United States 03 Feb 2009, 22:46 GMT

Yeah, where was the Japan-only fear coming from? I certainly would have assumed a Western release...it was a huge hit here and it's not like we've missed out on any of the games in the series before.

Popyman

18. Popyman United States 03 Feb 2009, 23:41 GMT

@ themortalangel:

LOL, you're kidding, right? Just look at what they did to Soul Eater.

Looks awesome, and I like the sprites. Never played this series, but it looks alot like the PDA games off of Alien Hominid. God, I love that game.

Objection_Blaster

19. Objection_Blaster United States 04 Feb 2009, 00:02 GMT

@themortalangel-Hate to break it to you, but S-E just isn't what it used to be. (Well, it's not the same as SQUARE.) I've only likee a handful of their recent games and usually they're not the "big" titles. There are some good ones, like TWEWY and FFCC:MLAAK.

Bahamut ZERO

20. Bahamut ZERO United States 04 Feb 2009, 00:53 GMT

@O_B: I agree. They're not bad, just fail in comparison to Squaresoft and even Enix (seperate companies at the time).

Also, its called Buubble Bobble Plus now? I always thought it was BBWii. Ah well, I like this better anyway :)

Mickeymac

21. Mickeymac United States 04 Feb 2009, 02:21 GMT

Meh, not interested in this.

@Popyman

I love Alien Hominid too.:)

@Objection_Blaster

Personally, I'd say that they're the same. I never liked most of Square's big titles, nor most of Enix's big titles(except the 'Enix Trio': Illusion of Gaia, Terranigma, and Soul Blazer).

The only difference is that nowadays, even their smaller titles blow. With the exception of FFX-2 and KH: Chain of Memories, I'm not really interested in anything with the Square-Enix label.

Unless it's by Taito.

Nintendo-Naut

22. Nintendo-Naut United States 04 Feb 2009, 02:42 GMT

If it's 500, sure.

Twilight Crow

23. Twilight Crow Mexico 04 Feb 2009, 07:25 GMT

I'm eagerly waiting for this. :)
I don't care how it looks like (unless it were way too awful, wich it isn't), I just hope they get the old gameplay alright.

chunky_droid

24. chunky_droid Australia 04 Feb 2009, 11:30 GMT

KDR_11k

I'm not sure what you're getting at but the C64 version has the same physics as the NES version I know that for sure (I own both). I've never played the GBA version but that wall thing makes it sound downright dirty.

Starwolf_UK

25. Starwolf_UK United Kingdom 04 Feb 2009, 11:39 GMT

Also, its called Buubble Bobble Plus now?
That was the name used for the USK rating indictating it will be called that for Europe (it is possible, but unlikely America will get it under a different name). I beleive Japan still gets it called Bubble Bobble Wii.

I'm suprised there has been no mention of this games toughest difficulty. So Hard:
http://gonintendo.com/?p=71345
Of all the names they could have chosen...so hard. I have a feeling that might be changed for vestern release.

Mayhem

26. Mayhem United Kingdom 04 Feb 2009, 12:52 GMT

Bring it on! As long as it's not this month... too much to play this month! Maybe next month, in between RE5...

Draygone

27. Draygone United States 04 Feb 2009, 13:11 GMT

Ugh, you mean the sprites look like crap because they're not sprites at all, they're 3D models? Here I thought it was just a result of image compression or something like that.

Anyway, not entirely sure what the discussion about wall movement is, but I'll take a guess. I have the NES version. If you fall inside a wall from the top of the screen, you can't move while you're in it until you exit the wall through its ceiling. Definately made things difficult, especially with trying to get the secret exit in Level 99.

Speaking of, I wonder if this game will have its own secret stages.

Turkey Brutus

28. Turkey Brutus United States 04 Feb 2009, 14:10 GMT

@Draygone:
I think what they mean about the NES wall-physics is that if you are below a horizontal platform and that horizontal platform has a vertical wall sticking up out of it, and you jump through the platform directly under where the wall is, you can go through the wall. Once you walk left or right to exit the wall, though, you can't go back through it unless you jump up from the bottom again.

Falling from the top of the screen won't put you through a wall...you'll land on top of the wall.

KDR_11k

29. KDR_11k Germany 04 Feb 2009, 15:52 GMT

Or when you jump under a large block that's much wider than your character, in the GBA version you can't move sideways then (because you're colliding with the blocks to your side), in the C64 version you could move sideways just fine because all collision was disabled while you were inside a wall or the ground.

Bahamut ZERO

30. Bahamut ZERO United States 04 Feb 2009, 22:05 GMT

@Starwolf: So hard. Lolz :P

tatemon555

31. tatemon555 Canada 04 Feb 2009, 22:24 GMT

Me want. Now. Me love Bubble Bobble. Me want now.

Draygone

32. Draygone United States 06 Feb 2009, 04:35 GMT

@ 28. Chicken Brutus
You could fall into a wall from the top of the screen if the wall reached all the way to the top. Really, the only wall you could never go through were the two-block walls on either side of the screen.

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