Bubble Bobble for the PC

Anyone who remembers Bubble Bobble from the days of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 home computers, will enjoy these new versions of the ever-popular game.

There are three different versions produced by Terminal Games (Bubble Bobble World, Bubble Bobble Quest and Bubble Bobble The New Adventures) and another version (Bubble Bobble Nostalgie) from Alawar Entertainment, which are all very similar to play (being faithful to the original version). However, all of the games have lots of new levels and new enemies to compete against - the games from Terminal have 100 levels each, whereas the game from Alawar Entertainment has 200 levels.

You play the part of one of two dragons, Bub and Bob, who need to navigate their way through numerous colourful screens, defeating their enemies. To defeat your enemies, you blow bubbles at them and once trapped in a bubble, jumping on your enemy will kill them. But, you have to move quickly - as the bubbles will soon burst and release the enemies once again.

The games are basically played around a platform, which allow you to jump through the gaps in the platform as you move about to try and avoid being touched by the enemies, whilst at the same time, you attempt to trap the enemies in your bubbles and then kill them. With highly colourful yet simple to understand gameplay, these are highly enjoyable games for young and old alike.

If you take too long to kill all of your enemies on screen, a ghost appears, which, although you cannot destroy, will kill you if you touch him. There are also boss levels, which are much harder to complete. You can also earn extra points by collecting the various forms of food which appear on screen, and collecting special bubbles. Sweets and shoes appear on screen also, which, if you collect them, increase your powers (faster bubbles, or rapid fire bubbles, or move faster).

The only problem which we have found with the game is that the instructions for Bubble Bobble The New Adventures, do not clear themselves as you page down through the text, and therefore become unreadable.

At a cost of around $15-$20 (USD), this is a snip for these games which all of the family will enjoy, and which all come highly recommended. Which one you choose is entirely up to you as both companies games are so similar that it makes the choice nigh impossible. All of these games come free downloadable trail versions, which means that you can be ensured of making the right choice before you buy.

(Screenshot of Bubble Bobble The New Adventures by Alawar Entertainment)