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Bubble Bobble has been a force in the gaming industry
for as long the industry has existed. Along with the greats such as
Pac-Man, Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, Space-Invaders,
Pong, Asteroids,  Super Mario Bros. and Frogger,
it has been one of the titles accredited with the birth of the
industry as we know it. Needless to say then, that the heavily
discussed relationship between Rising Star Games and ATARI in
Europe has often seen the mention of Bubble Bobble Revolution
alongside, usually in a positive light. Couple this with the
current surge for retro gaming and it becomes apparent that the
title brings with it quite some expectation.
The title is presented as two games, Classic Ver. and New
Age Ver., each selectable from the Main Menu. The Classic Ver. is
exactly that, almost identical to the title’s original
Arcade
outing; it plays on one screen, using only the D-Pad and Face
Buttons, with the only exception being that now you have the
ability to zoom-out and see the five layers of pixels not normally
visible. There’s no graphical update or attempts to disguise the
fact that this is literally the Arcade ROM dumped onto the
NintendoDS Game Card, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Bubble
Bobble may have aged very badly technically and graphically,
but it remains as forcefully imposing an addictive presence as it
did over twenty years ago.
The problem with dumping the ROM straight onto the Game Card
however, is that by adding Save functionality, an element of the
challenge involved in the title is lost. Once having died, you will
be able to continue from the last Level you entered, great for
coin-operated play, but when your latest achievement is noted
throughout power-downs, completion of the game’s hundred taxing
Levels is but a few evenings away.
It’s
doubtful many fans will baulk at Rising Star’s attempt to bring Bubble
Bobble into the modern gaming arena, but it’s also doubtful
that they’ll play it twice. Moving a series from a single screen
title to a scrolling game while keeping identical play mechanics
doesn’t necessarily modernise the formula, indeed, it does little
to attract new fans also. With a host of unlockable characters, a
pseudo-Map Level Structure and a new, more confusing,
scrolling-based design, the New Age Ver. attempts to be the main
draw of the game, but fails to bring anything new to the gameplay
other than a graphical update. Occasional puzzles only help to
prove how amazing the original version’s Level design is, and the
addition of Boss Fights is an entirely misconceived idea.
With
the graphics of the original untouched and the updated version
really only glossing-over with a low-grade SNES effect, there is
really very little to talk about in terms of the title’s looks.
There’s no bugging with the New Age Ver. and everything is
handled comfortably, but then, it really would be appalling if
Rising Star hadn’t managed to iron-out the creases given the
technical capabilities of the NintendoDS. The sound effects of the
original are, again, untouched and largely remain the same,
although obviously clearer for the New Age Ver..
With
the New Age Ver. resolving itself as simply inadequate, and the
original being much the same as every other re-release Bubble
Bobble’s name has been stretched over, it’s really only the
Multi-Player Wi-Fi that’ll offer any draw, and even then,
you’ll need a Game Card each; and are still limited to
only two players. The Classic Ver. is as endearing and addictive as
ever, if easily by-passable and showing some age, whereas the New
Age Ver. simply deserves to be ignored for the sake of the original
game.  
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