Bubble Bobble/Walkthrough

Levels
Each level (or round) consists of one screen, with no scrolling or flipping. The dragons can move around the levels by walking on platforms, falling through empty space, jumping through platforms from below and (in some levels) falling through holes at the bottom of the level in order to reappear at the top, or even vice versa (see gameplay techniques below).

Apart from jumping, the characters can blow bubbles. Bubbles also float in from the top or bottom of the screen in many levels. They pop after a certain amount of time, when they hit the dragon's spiked back, if they're squashed against a wall or another dragon or if they're fallen upon. By holding down the jump button, it's possible to bounce on top of bubbles, which is sometimes necessary to reach platforms. The main objective of the game is to trap enemies in bubbles, and burst them, destroying the enemies. Defeating several monsters at once awards exponentially increasing point awards.

Each round also features invisible air currents and custom bubble physics, causing bubbles to move in predetermined trajectories, such as converging to a certain point, moving very quickly or very slowly, being pulled down as if by gravity, etc., usually with notable effects on a level's difficulty.

Some levels have very short bubble-popping times, meaning that bubbles pop almost as soon as they emerge. This becomes extreme in later levels to the point of only being able to kill monsters by "kissing" them (blowing a bubble in such a way that it's immediately squashed against the dragon, causing instant death to an enemy). Time limits are also used to increase the game's difficulty; two rounds having no time limit, some levels are almost impossible to finish under certain conditions (single player, lack of certain bonuses etc.). When the time limit expires, the player does not die instantly, but rather an invincible "Skel" (see below) enemy appears for each player, and all enemies become 'angry', with a change in color and increase in speed.

Finishing the Game
First you have to survive till level 100. Take the lightning potion and hit the bad guy with 100 lightning bolts. His pattern is easy to follow and very predictable, just avoid his projectiles. He'll end up in a big bubble, pop him for 1,000,000 points! You've found love and friendship! If you finish the game with only one player then you are told that it is not a true ending and you should "Never forget your friend!"; you are sent back into the game to "try again!!". Even if you finish the game like this with two players, you get a good ending which is still not the best ending.

In order to get the best ending, you must play in "Super" mode; that is when you input the title screen cheat which makes the cloud read "Super Bubble Bobble", not just "Bubble Bobble". Monsters will be swapped with their Super-Mode counterparts. If you beat all 100 levels of Super mode, and beat the boss with two players, you get the "True and Happy ending".

Continues
Bubble Bobble allows continues to be used when a player runs out of lives. While most arcade games display a continue timer before returning to the title screen, Bubble Bobble ends immediately once there are no players in the game.

A single player can cover for the other player returning to the game. However, a lack of second player requires a credit within the machine, as well as holding down the start button just before the game ends.