Puzzle Bobble
Puzzle Bobble is an arcade
puzzle game series created by
Taito and contains elements of
Sega's
Columns and
Atari's
Breakout is a
Pong [i]-like arcade game [i] introduced by Atari [i] in 1976 [i], with a follow-u ...
.
At the top of the rectangular playing arena, a number of balls of various colours are placed in a prearranged pattern at the start of the level. At the bottom of the screen, the player controls the angle of a fixed cannon that fires semi-randomly coloured balls in a straight line. The ball, when fired, travels in straight lines, possibly bouncing off the side walls of the arena, before eventually coming to rest either touching one or more of the balls, or at the top of the arena.
Encyclopedia
Puzzle Bobble is an arcade
puzzle game series created by
Taito and contains elements of
Sega's
Columns and
Atari's
Breakout is a
Pong [i]-like arcade game [i] introduced by Atari [i] in 1976 [i], with a follow-u ...
.
At the top of the rectangular playing arena, a number of balls of various colours are placed in a prearranged pattern at the start of the level. At the bottom of the screen, the player controls the angle of a fixed cannon that fires semi-randomly coloured balls in a straight line. The ball, when fired, travels in straight lines, possibly bouncing off the side walls of the arena, before eventually coming to rest either touching one or more of the balls, or at the top of the arena.
If the ball manages to come into contact with identically coloured-balls, thus forming a group of three or more, those balls, and any balls hanging only from them, are removed from the field of play, and points are awarded depending on how many balls are removed from the screen at once.
An exponential scoring system is used, leading to large rewards for removing many balls at once.
As the game proceeds, the top of the playing arena, and all the balls, move down the screen from time to time. This imposes a time limit, as the player must remove every ball from the arena before a ball passes a line at the bottom of the arena.
As well as typically cute
Japanese animation and music, the game's mechanics and level design were beautifully balanced, and the game was terrifically successful at the arcades, spawning several sequels.
One or two players can play the game. In the single-player puzzle game the goal is simply to clear the arena of balls. The two player game pits two players against each other. Both players have an arena each and an identical arrangement of coloured balls in each arena. When a player removes a large group some of the balls removed percolate over to the opponent's arena, usually frustrating his efforts at trying to remove all the balls from the arena. The two player game can also be played by one player against a computer opponent.
An online version, called Puzzle Bobble Online, was created with support for up to 6 players and several team modes. This PC title, originally intended for the Japanese market, proved popular enough with English speakers that a second server and point ladder had to be created for use outside of Japan. In 2005, the game's servers were shut down, and as of 2006, the is unavailable.
Some animations of Bub and Bob are based off the original Bubble Bobble arcade game, except Bub and Bob are larger than they were in Bubble Bobble. This note only applies to inserting coins in the middle of the game, as well as losing a game. Also, the death animations are used briefly when you lose.
Game Series
- Puzzle Bobble - 1994
- Puzzle Bobble 2 - 1995
- Puzzle Bobble 2X - 1995
- Puzzle Bobble 3 - 1996
- Puzzle Bobble 4 - 1997
- Super Puzzle Bobble - 1999
- Super Puzzle Bobble 2 - 2002
- Super Puzzle Bobble All-Stars - 2003
- Puzzle Bobble Mobile - 2003
- Puzzle Bobble VS - 2003
- Puzzle Bobble Pocket - 2004
- Ultra Bust-a-Move - 2004 in U.S., 2005 in Japan
- Puzzle Bobble DS - 2005
- Hippatte!! Puzzle Bobble - 2006
- Ultra Puzzle Bobble Pocket - - 2006
See also
- Frozen Bubble is a free Puzzle Bobble [i] style computer game [i] which is available on several ...
- Pengupop is a free clone of Puzzle Bobble [i] created specifically for online multiplayer play. ...
- Snood
External links
- at The Killer List of Video Games
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