Best version of Bubble Bobble?

[ZXDunny]

Best version I ever played was naturally the arcade. Best 8bit bar none at time of release was the Spectrum version - the C64 version was very poor by comparison. That all changed recently when the Amstrad CPC "remake" was released, which is a wonderful version.


D.

 

[Prometheus]

DS (new?) ---- urrrrmmmm.... Scary! Very very scary!

Do you perhaps mean Bubble Bobble Revolution? That was the first Bubble Bobble installment for the DS (the later one was Bubble Bobble Double Shot, and added a third protagonist, and had the real art-style). I've seen Bubble Bobble Revolution's horrible art described by others I know as "Bub and Bob: The Beer-gut Years", myself. :lol:


EDIT;

Best 8bit bar none at time of release was the Spectrum version - the C64 version was very poor by comparison.

Did the Spectrum version have all of the hidden counters present, then?

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

Ive only played the amiga version years ago.It was very good though.Also rodland on the amiga was brilliant and very similar to bubble bobble.Rodland was an arcade game originally.there is an atari st port too.Might be worth giving rodland a go Skeezix imo.

 

[NearTao]

The arcade version is really awesome... you should hunker down and play it! the Best way to play it is with two players of course... and there are a few things you might want to know/be spoiled on if you do go with the arcade version but I won't spoil anything here.


The NES version is actually really really good as well, but is also a different game than the arcade version. I forget if it's considered an off shoot/side version of the series, but it is a solid effort that blazed it's own trail instead of trying to be an 8 bit port of an arcade game.


As was noted... shun the C64 version... while it is interesting to boot up and see... it is an abomination and the developer even admits that it was a failed effort. It's interesting for the curiosity of it and you can see how they attempted to squeeze the game in... unfortunately it was more or less an unfinished/unpolished port.

 

[Trip]

..Also rodland on the amiga was brilliant and very similar to bubble bobble.

I had Bubble Bobble on the C64 but never bought for the Amiga due to having RodLand. Thought it was a bit girly when I first saw it but I'm glad I sat down to have a game because I'd have missed out on some really good gaming if I hadn't

 

[pmprog]

As was noted... shun the C64 version... while it is interesting to boot up and see... it is an abomination and the developer even admits that it was a failed effort.

Citation?

 

[ZXDunny]

As was noted... shun the C64 version... while it is interesting to boot up and see... it is an abomination and the developer even admits that it was a failed effort.

Citation?

Not citing the developer (though I do recall him saying so in an interview some time after the release of the game), this page:


http://zombiesatemyxbox.com/2012/01/24/the-ultimate-bubble-bobble-showdown-which-version-comes-out-on-top-2/


Does pretty much nail it - though he's far too generous in his assessment of the graphics imo. As a speccy owner back in the day, BB was one of my favourite games and when I got my Panda I started playing C64 games to catch up on what I'd missed... And BB-C64 was definitely a very poorly converted game. Nice music, as we've all come to expect from the SID chip, but the gameplay is very, very poor. It's embarrassing for the Commie crowd when a Speccy version of a game is so obviously better in an area (arcade games) that the C64 pretty much outclassed all other machines in.


D.

 

[pmprog]

Some interesting results for you. I took 3 videos - one for the MAME arcade, one for CCS64, and one for RealSpec, then loaded them up in VirtualDub to measure times.


To cross the bottom of the 1st level:


Arcade: 2.9s


C64: 4s


Spec: 4s


Number of bubbles you can shoot whilst traversing the bottom floor:


Arcade: 6


C64: 6


Spec: 11


Time for the "robots" from landing on top platform to walking off the left edge:


Arcade: 1.6s


C64: 1.6s


Spec: 1.6s


I didn't check all the timings, but the spectrum seems to run at a similar speed to the C64, with the exception of being able to fire twice the amount of bubbles. Maybe this was to compensate for the slightly slower player speed than the arcade, but interestingly the enemy speed remained equal.


Oh, and to quote from that link

Turning to the completeness of the port, the Spectrum version of Bubble Bobble does appear to lack some features from the arcade version that made it to the other 8-bit ports

So which version of Bubble Bobble comes out on top?


BB4CPC plays really well but there are a few niggles such as flickering sprites that mean for me the C64 provides a more consistent experience. However, the slower C64 pace takes some getting used to. Preference then, will come down to the individual gamer

Make of that what you will. I liked the C64 version, though the arcade one is definately the best IMO, naturally...

 

[Prometheus]

http://zombiesatemyx...s-out-on-top-2/

Good article, this - thanks for linking to it!


I do notice that an error was made about the C64 version, though - it actually DOES have the original title screen (it can even be viewed right here). It's just that it's used as the loading screen.


Man, this has made me quite nostalgic. :lol:

 

[ZX KNIGHT]

Very bizarre to see my blog post being discussed!


Funny to see so much negativity for the C64 version, I vaguely remember feeling it was just that bit more playable than the Speccy version, which was so prone to slow-down. But the slower pace of your walk does take some getting used to. I'm surprised by the results suggesting you get from one side to the other in the same time on both Speccy and C64 - I think it might be because the playing screen is shrunk on the C64 version, so they could slow things down slightly to ensure a smoother framerate without hampering your ability to get across the screen in good time.


Just a theory, but if it is the case it is quite clever really!


All moot now IMO as BB4CPC, especially the updated version if it has ironed out the niggles I described (the author said it had but I haven't got round to trying it out!), is comfortably the best home computer 8-bit version. Kinda sad though 'cos someone does it for free years later, if they did it at the time they could have made some well deserved money out of it!

 

[Prometheus]

^ Hey, welcome! I recognise your avatar from your blog's header image!


Thanks for the great article.

 

[pmprog]

Welcome

I'm surprised by the results suggesting you get from one side to the other in the same time on both Speccy and C64

Got recordings of the games playing on three emulators

I think it might be because the playing screen is shrunk on the C64 version, so they could slow things down slightly to ensure a smoother framerate without hampering your ability to get across the screen in good time.

I've just checked this, the rooms are exactly the same number of pixels wide.

Just a theory, but if it is the case it is quite clever really!

I figured the additional bubble speed on the Speccy was to compensate for the slower movement speeds, however, it's confusing that the enemies would still move at the same rate as the arcade.

All moot now IMO as BB4CPC, especially the updated version if it has ironed out the niggles I described (the author said it had but I haven't got round to trying it out!), is comfortably the best home computer 8-bit version. Kinda sad though 'cos someone does it for free years later, if they did it at the time they could have made some well deserved money out of it!

I might have to try this out at some point.

 

[ZX KNIGHT]

Thanks for the welcomes! Yes I have this as my sort of 'logo' - it's from the Evil Dead game! Now that's a bad game...


Interesting that the Speccy and C64 screens are the same number of pixels wide, I guess I got the impression the C64 playing screen might be smaller because of the noticeable side bar, whereas on the Spectrum the playing screen is in the centre with a large black border.


I felt BB4CPC kinda combined the better points of all the home system versions, as well as having graphics closer to the arcade than the C64 or Speccy version. They all have their plus and minus points though, which I guess it what made the article interesting (to write at least!), as I guess it's quite rare for a conversion across three different systems to be significantly different yet not necessarily better or worse on the whole!

 

[pmprog]

I guess I got the impression the C64 playing screen might be smaller because of the noticeable side bar, whereas on the Spectrum the playing screen is in the centre with a large black border.

Plus, IIRC, the C64 screen resolution is slightly larger. Speccy has 256x192, C64 has 320x200 (in multicolour mode, the resolution is halved to 160x200 for the actual drawing, however, each "pixel" becomes double width)

I felt BB4CPC kinda combined the better points of all the home system versions, as well as having graphics closer to the arcade than the C64 or Speccy version.

Just given this a quick play, looks nice. One thing I've noticed though, you can't move before the monsters. In the 2nd level usually you can get to the 2nd platform before they start, but you can't in this game, you're held in the bubble until everyone starts...

 

[ZX KNIGHT]

Ha, that was exactly my complaint too! I'm sure he fixed it in his updated version though as that was almost the number one reason I couldn't recommend it over the other versions, it changes your whole strategy!

 

[pmprog]

Well I downloaded it literally the other day, so I'm assuming I've got the latest one. Flickers quite a bit, but not sure if that's just my emu. Good effort though

 

[ZX KNIGHT]

Yeah, flicker was another thing I commented on. There was a thread where the author highlighted the updates he'd done and linked through to my blog and mentioned the ones I've commented on that he had fixed. I'll have to dig it out.

 

[superatarian]

Well I played the ST version to death and did my kids and my nieces and nephews. I still have it and have played and enjoyed it to this day. Wonderful game.

 

[Bosbeetle]

I only know the msx version, it works for me

 

[mamemaniac]

No one mentioned the Sharp X68000 version, very close to the arcade original.