Girl Gamer

You control Bub and Bob, two friendly-looking dragons with the most lethal bubble breath you’ll ever come across. They blow bubbles to capture enemies, from wind-up robots to flying demons, and then pop the bubbles to finish them off once and for all. It’s a non-violent yet fun way to dispose of enemies, in comparison to defeating them with flame breath.

What’s awesome about Bubble Bobble Plus is that it happily expands its multiplayer. Sure, you could take on each of the game’s 100+ levels with just one friend, but Plus goes the extra mile and offers…FOUR PLAYER! You can bring two other players in for a local four-player match, using the female dragons Pab and Peb. What follows is a crazy, competitive match of who can defeat the most enemies and collect the most fruit that they leave behind. It’s a contest you shouldn’t miss, especially considering that the initial WiiWare purchase will only set you back a meager 600 points. 600 freakin’ points!

Most of the levels are the same from previous games, but there are a few new ones that will challenge you. There are areas where it’s easy to get stuck, and you’ll also be able to walk (and blow bubbles) on slopes at a much faster pace. It’s intuitive level design at its best, and there are a few classics from the original that are here for good measure. Bubble Bobble fans are bound to love this.

The graphics look great. Yeah, the character animations are weirdly updated in 3-D and the music hasn’t changed that much, but it still works as far as the Bubble Bobble theme goes. The ability to see whose bubbles are matched up with whose characters (via bubble color) is excellent, so you can see who scored the last capture free and clear.

Along with the four-player support, the extra modes (Super Arrange and Super Standard provide extra difficulty), and the online leaderboards (there’s no online play, but competitive score keeping is the next best thing), you can also purchase two extra modes for 200 points apiece, Extra-1 and Extra-2. These bring an additional 100 levels to the table, with harder challenges to overcome. That’s not that big a deal, because that means you’re getting the entire game for a whopping ten bucks. Ten bucks goes a long way for a great game such as this, so don’t let the deal pass you by.

In short, Bubble Bobble Plus is nothing short of awesome, and it’s probably one of the best WiiWare purchases you can make this summer. People who never got into the original won’t get into this one, but everyone else can enjoy the game and burst a few bubbles. Go on, you know you want to.

Now, Taito, can we get an Elevator Action game next? Hmmmm?