Bubble Bobble

Bubble Bobble is an arcade by Taito, first released in 1986. It was ported soon for numerous home computers and game consoles. The game features two Bubble Dragons, Bub (Japanese "Bubblun"), who is green with yellow spikes/horns and Bob (Japanese "Bobblun"), who is blue with cyan spikes/horns. Together, they journey through the Cave of Monsters to rescue their girlfriends. They move over a system of platforms, busting and pushing bubbles, avoiding enemies and collecting a variety of power-ups.

Moon Water storyline
On the original Game Boy version of Bubble Bobble, and Classic Bubble Bobble for the Game Boy Color, there is a storyline in which only Bub is involved in the gameplay.

In this uncommon storyline, Bob (as a human) has an unknown sickness, so Bub has to pass through the hundred levels to defeat Super Drunk and get the Moon Water. There is no mention of the "Cave of Monsters" in this version.

In Classic Bubble Bobble for the Game Boy Color, Bob (as a bubble dragon) has the unknown sickness. Bub has to go through a number of levels (lesser than the arcade or Game Boy, etc versions) and defeat the Darkness Drunk in order to gain the Moon Water. Again, there is no mention of a "Cave of Monsters".

Legacy
Bubble Bobble inspired many sequels, including:
 * Rainbow Islands - The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 (1987)
 * Rainbow Islands Extra Version (1988)
 * Final Bubble Bobble (1988 Sega Master System)
 * Parasol Stars (1991 originally released for NEC PC-Engine (Japan only), converted for Famicom (Japan only), Super Famciom (Japan only), Amiga, Atari ST, and Game Boy
 * Bubble Bobble Part 2 (1993 Nintendo Famicom, Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy)
 * Bubble Bobble II (World) / Bubble Symphony (Europe, Japan, U.S.) (1994 Arcade, Sega Saturn (Japan only))
 * Bubble Memories - The Story of Bubble Bobble III (1995 Arcade)
 * Rainbow Islands - Putty's Party (2000 Bandai Wonderswan)

There are a couple of previous Taito games which sort of anticipated the Bubble Bobble legacy because of their inclusion of characteristic common elements or even monsters (e.g. the Mighta and Monsta both appeared first in the game Chack'n Pop, and in fact level 29 of Bubble Bobble is a direct copy of level 1 of Chack'n Pop) :
 * Chack'n Pop (1983)
 * Fairyland Story (1985)

Bub and Bob also appeared in Puzzle Bobble, otherwise known as Bust a Move in the United States. Bust a Move was followed by many sequels, for many consoles, including PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, Xbox and even the N-Gage, along with computer and arcade versions. This spin-off franchise became more popular than Bubble Bobble itself, and has (so far) outlived it.

Similar games, spinoffs, and clones
Bubble Bobble's successful gameplay has inspired not only many official sequels and spinoffs by Taito, but also a number of games with very similar gameplay elements. The most important of them include:
 * The non-scrolling platformer action.
 * Dividing the game into many levels (typically above 30).
 * Defeating enemies by trapping them somehow instead of killing them right away.
 * Collecting bonuses and finding secret ways of increasing their value.
 * Collecting letters to gain an extra life.

Some examples of successful non-Taito video games resembling Bubble Bobble in some or even all of the above aspects are:
 * Rodland by Jaleco (1989).
 * Snow Brothers and its sequels by Toaplan (1991).
 * Tumblepop and Diet Go Go by Data East.

Clones
Ultra Balloon (1996), by SunA Corporation (also manufacturer of Hard Head series), is an evident Bubble Memories copy and the only Bubble Bobble-inspired arcade game to actually copy the bubble-blowing and popping system.

Bubble Bobble also inspired a few software publishers to publish derivatives of the game for the PC and Mac. Such titles include Bubble Bobble World, Bubble Bobble Quest, Bubble Bobble Nostalgie, Bub & Bob, and The Bub's Brothers. Such games are marketed online.

Trivia

 * This was one of the first games to feature multiple endings.
 * In 1996, Taito announced that they lost the original source code program to Bubble Bobble following a reorganization - when it came to the recent ports and sequels, they had to work from program disassembly, playing the game and (mainly) the various home computer ports.
 * The game forbids the initials 'SEX' on the high score table. If you try, it gets changed it to 'H.!'. In Japan, the letter H is occasionally used as a slang term for perverts.
 * Tom Gault holds the official record for this game with a maximum possible 5 823 600 points on March 4, 1988.
 * The NES Cover band "The Advantage" covers two songs from "Bubble Bobble" on their self-titled album.
 * Games with an "improved", though actually slightly modified, arcade mode were released for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS, respectively called Bubble Bobble Old and New, in July 2002, and Bubble Bobble Revolution in September 2006.
 * Bubble Bobble Revolution was developed by Codemasters. Wireless multiplayer functionality was included for the DS version.
 * However, in the beginning of October 2006, the game cartridge was officially deemed "faulty" by Nintendo of America due to the fact that the New Age mode did not have a boss in Round 30, so players could not advance to the next level.