Screenshots :.
Bubble Bobble Evolution
PSP
Matt
07-08-2007
"It's a cruel barren world out there..."
"Look, bubbles - the irony"
"Well aware this looks like the last one...and the one before that"
Ugh. Just ugh. It’s turning out to be a pretty depressing week here at UltraGN, although for once it has nothing to do with Jay completely trashing me at Worms Live or the ‘brilliant’ British summer weather. No – this week, I seem to be having a pretty bad run with updated or re-released versions of classic games that until this past weekend had given me untainted memories of my younger gaming days. Having been slightly downbeat about Parappa the Rapper’s reappearance on the PSP yesterday, the time has come for me to cast my already weary eye over the latest incarnation of Bubble Bobble on the PSP.
Bubble Bobble Evolution, then. The original Bubble Bobble was released way back in the late 1980’s when haircuts were square and jeans above the ankle, and it took a chunk of my childhood away with the simple platform-hopping, bubble-blowing antics of Bub (and if I had a friend around for tea, Bob too). Heck, I can even remember the slightly off-key tune that twittered along in the background and the strange ‘ghost of doom’ (Baron von Blubba, according to Wikipedia) that killed you if you ran out of time on a level. Fun, eh?
Sadly, Bubble Bobble Evolution completely switches focus away from the simple, fun mechanic of yesteryear and tries to be far too clever for its own good. The story begins in old-time London with two men being turned into two children in dragon suits and being flung into two opposite towers by some strange maniacal foe. This in itself serves as a somewhat mystifying intro to the game, and it’s not too long before you realise that the fog of confusion that has descended is there to stay.
It’s not that the premise of Evolution is difficult to comprehend, though. In order to climb the tower, the player must guide Bub and Bob through a number of platform-based levels in each tower. Teamwork is the name of the game here, with each level featuring three different segments for each of the characters to jump navigate. Bub and Bob have slightly different versions of these segments, and the idea is for one or the other to get items or flick switches in their portion of the level to enable their partner to progress and do the same in return later on. In theory it could have worked.
No, the confusion that I spoke about arises purely and simply due to the game not being executed well enough. Quite often you will flick a switch on one side of the tower and then spend a good few minutes helplessly wandering about in a vain attempt to find out if it’s done anything of use on the other side. Boss battles occur every now and again, but they are remarkably easy to win and provide little sense of achievement. Some levels – for whatever reason – present the player with an almost completely dark screen and insist he trogs around in the blackness trying to find a light switch, during which time enemies can and will kill you without you having even the merest bit of warning. All about as fun as dropping a brick on your foot, then.
It could all have been so much better, really. Graphically the game blends 2D and 3D quite nicely, and the overall look of the levels is colourful and well drawn. Heck, even the slightly bizarre 19th century House of Horrors feel that the game provides has quite a bit of potential. The problem is, by switching the game from a relatively fast-paced platformer to a slow, frustrating puzzler, the main part of why the original game was so addictive is completely lost. On top of that, the game suffers from loading times so long that you could practically get out your old Amiga and program your very own sequel to the original Bubble Bobble in the gaps in between the action.
So, it’s once more that I find myself bringing the hammer down on the rose-tinted glasses. To be honest I don’t feel quite so downbeat as I did yesterday with Parappa, as Bubble Bobble Evolution is not even the same game that we all grew to love all those years ago. Whilst the idea of the two-sided character-swapping puzzle game was, on paper, an intriguing prospect, in reality dull levels, frustratingly vague tasks and annoyingly unfair bits of play mean that the whole thing comes undone pretty quickly. Perhaps Bubble Bobble Devolved would have been a more appropriate title.
Bubble Bobble Evolution, then. The original Bubble Bobble was released way back in the late 1980’s when haircuts were square and jeans above the ankle, and it took a chunk of my childhood away with the simple platform-hopping, bubble-blowing antics of Bub (and if I had a friend around for tea, Bob too). Heck, I can even remember the slightly off-key tune that twittered along in the background and the strange ‘ghost of doom’ (Baron von Blubba, according to Wikipedia) that killed you if you ran out of time on a level. Fun, eh?
Sadly, Bubble Bobble Evolution completely switches focus away from the simple, fun mechanic of yesteryear and tries to be far too clever for its own good. The story begins in old-time London with two men being turned into two children in dragon suits and being flung into two opposite towers by some strange maniacal foe. This in itself serves as a somewhat mystifying intro to the game, and it’s not too long before you realise that the fog of confusion that has descended is there to stay.
It’s not that the premise of Evolution is difficult to comprehend, though. In order to climb the tower, the player must guide Bub and Bob through a number of platform-based levels in each tower. Teamwork is the name of the game here, with each level featuring three different segments for each of the characters to jump navigate. Bub and Bob have slightly different versions of these segments, and the idea is for one or the other to get items or flick switches in their portion of the level to enable their partner to progress and do the same in return later on. In theory it could have worked.
No, the confusion that I spoke about arises purely and simply due to the game not being executed well enough. Quite often you will flick a switch on one side of the tower and then spend a good few minutes helplessly wandering about in a vain attempt to find out if it’s done anything of use on the other side. Boss battles occur every now and again, but they are remarkably easy to win and provide little sense of achievement. Some levels – for whatever reason – present the player with an almost completely dark screen and insist he trogs around in the blackness trying to find a light switch, during which time enemies can and will kill you without you having even the merest bit of warning. All about as fun as dropping a brick on your foot, then.
It could all have been so much better, really. Graphically the game blends 2D and 3D quite nicely, and the overall look of the levels is colourful and well drawn. Heck, even the slightly bizarre 19th century House of Horrors feel that the game provides has quite a bit of potential. The problem is, by switching the game from a relatively fast-paced platformer to a slow, frustrating puzzler, the main part of why the original game was so addictive is completely lost. On top of that, the game suffers from loading times so long that you could practically get out your old Amiga and program your very own sequel to the original Bubble Bobble in the gaps in between the action.
So, it’s once more that I find myself bringing the hammer down on the rose-tinted glasses. To be honest I don’t feel quite so downbeat as I did yesterday with Parappa, as Bubble Bobble Evolution is not even the same game that we all grew to love all those years ago. Whilst the idea of the two-sided character-swapping puzzle game was, on paper, an intriguing prospect, in reality dull levels, frustratingly vague tasks and annoyingly unfair bits of play mean that the whole thing comes undone pretty quickly. Perhaps Bubble Bobble Devolved would have been a more appropriate title.
4/10
