If you like Bubble Bobble, then you will like Bubble Bobble 2. Well, it’s actually called Bubble Bobble part 2, but I will keep calling it Bubble Bobble 2. It is essentially the same game but has a story to it. Does the story matter? No, it doesn’t. However, it is nice to have it there, so you know what the little dragons are doing.
You’re trying to save some friends whom some evil king captured. It’s just Bubble Bobble, and you can ignore the story.
As a pick-up and play game, this is a ton of fun! However, it doesn’t bring anything new to the table. It still feels like the first game.
TLDR: Bubble Bobble 2 is a fun game that didn’t take any risks.
History
I’ll try not to rehash what I wrote for the first game. Bubble Bobble 2 was published by Taito in 1993 and released in Japan and North America that year. I guess the game wasn’t good enough for Europe.
The Game Boy game is a port of the NES version. These are different from the Arcade and Sega Saturn Bubble Bobble 2. Are you getting confused yet?
The Arcade release came out in 1994, and the Saturn release was in 1997. This version is known as Bubble Symphony and Bubble Bobble 2. I don’t know why.
If you follow the continuity of the games, because there is one, Bubble Symphony takes place after Bubble Memories – The story of Bubble Bobble part 3. I’m going to stop now before my brain melts.
Back to Bubble Bobble part 2, the Game Boy game leaves out the two-player mode. I think this was an odd choice. I couldn’t find out why this was done.
Gameplay
Much like the first game, this is a single-screen arcade game. It was adjusted to fit the Game Boy, so a little scrolling was added to help the playfield fit on the screen. This was how the first game was played, and I think it works better in this game.
I think this game plays better than the first. It was like they smoothed over the problems from the first game. Things worked better here.
I didn’t run into the issues of taking some leaps of faith. I never accidentally jumped into enemies. It was hard to land on the right platforms. It’s a little hard to describe, but you would try to jump over a pit and land on the platforms above it.
This made it a little hard to gather the fruit that appears after you defeat the enemies. You don’t need to collect them all, but the OCD in me was getting upset over not getting all of them.
You’re still blowing bubbles to capture enemies, then hitting them to defeat them. It feels a bit more rewarding in this game. It might have to do with the camera being zoomed out a bit.
Visuals
Compared to the first game, this game feels a bit zoomed out. This helps when you’re trying to jump. It made for fewer cheap deaths by taking a leap of faith only to run right into an enemy.
The character sprites all look good. The weird eyes that appear when you trap an enemy in a bubble are cool looking. Odd, but still cool looking.
Bubble Bobble 2 is a good-looking Game Boy game!
Replayability
Like many arcade games, this is about trying to beat your score or making it a little further each time. It’s somehow the best and most annoying part of games like this.
It’s great because you get motivated to do better next time. You want to learn from your mistakes and beat either your score or your friend’s score. These are things that people still do today.
It is also annoying because you can get frustrated with the repetition. Especially if you keep making the same mistakes over and over, this is the problem I have with arcade games. The good ones make me come back and try again; others make me walk to a different cabinet or game.
8/10. I’m giving Bubble Bobble 2 the same score as the first game. It isn’t that different from the first, and I can’t fault it for that.
Pros
- Pick up and Play game
- Nice graphics
- It felt a bit easier than the first
Cons
- It doesn’t do anything new
- No variety of gameplay
- Can get dull over time
Conclusion
Bubble Bobble 2 is a fun game. I liked the first game, and this is the same as that one. This happened a lot with arcade games in the 80s and 90s. You would get a sequel that felt like an extension of the first game.
This is why Link’s Adventure and Simon’s Quest feel so different. Those games tried to do something new. However, If you have a formula that people enjoy, like Bubble Bobble, then doing the same thing again works.
I would have liked this game more if Taito had done something different, but I still enjoyed the game. If you liked the first game, or are going for a complete set of Game Boy or Taito games, pick this one up.