Bubble Bobble Plus!

Bubble Bobble Plus! and Bubble Bobble Neo! (バブルボブル Neo(ネオ)!, Baburu Boburu Neo!) are remakes of the 1986 arcade game Bubble Bobble. The games were developed and published by Taito. Bubble Bobble Plus! was released for WiiWare in Japan (as Bubble Bobble Wii (バブルボブル Wii, Baburu Boburu Wii)) on February 10, 2009,^[3] in the PAL regions on April 10, and in North America on May 25,^[4] while Bubble Bobble Neo! was released on the Xbox Live Arcade download service for the Xbox 360 in Japan on August 5, 2009 and in North America on September 16 of the same year.

Bubble Bobble Plus!
Developer(s)	Taito Dreams Inc.
Publisher(s)	JP: Taito WW: Square Enix
Platform(s)	WiiWare
Release	JP: February 10, 2009 PAL: April 10, 2009 NA: May 25, 2009
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Bubble Bobble Neo!
Developer(s)	Taito Dreams Inc.
Publisher(s)	Taito
Designer(s)	Fukio Mitsuji
Platform(s)	Xbox 360
Release	JP: August 5, 2009[1] WW: September 16, 2009[2]
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Up to 4 players simultaneously

Gameplay

As with previous games, the player will have to defeat all enemies across a number of screens by trapping them in bubbles and popping them. The normal mode features the original two playable characters, Bub and Bob, while the Arrange Mode adds support for up to 4 players, joined with female characters Peb and Pab,^[5] as yellow and pink bubble dragons respectively.

The game contains several playing modes - a remake containing 100 classic stages and a new story mode with 100 new stages, as well as more difficult "Super" versions of those stages.

In addition, for Bubble Bobble Plus!, two downloadable content packs (Extra 1 and Extra 2) were released consisting of 50 "very hard" stages each, as well as new boss characters.^[6] These Extra modes also include four player support.

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
	Wii	Xbox 360
Metacritic	76/100[7]	70/100[8]

Review scores

Publication	Score
	Wii	Xbox 360
GamePro	[7]	N/A
GameSpot	N/A	7/10[9]
Hardcore Gamer	3.5/5[7]	N/A
IGN	8/10[10]	7.9/10[11]
Jeuxvideo.com	13/20[12]	N/A
Nintendo Life	8/10[13]	N/A
Nintendo World Report	6/10[14]	N/A
Official Nintendo Magazine	74%[15]	N/A
Official Xbox Magazine (UK)	N/A	6/10[16]
Official Xbox Magazine (US)	N/A	6/10[17]
Teletext GameCentral	8/10[18]	N/A

Reception

Bubble Bobble Plus! received "generally favorable reviews", while Bubble Bobble Neo! received above-average reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.^[7][8] N-Europe praised the Wii version, saying it had a wealth of content to enjoy, while the downloadable packs were fairly reasonably priced and offered a significantly ramped up challenge from the standard levels.^[19]

References

1. Spencer Yip (July 22, 2009). "Bubble Bobble Neo Bursting On Xbox Live In August". Siliconera. Enthusiast Gaming. Archived from the original on November 17, 2018. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
2. Microsoft. "BUBBLE BOBBLE Neo!". Xbox.com. Microsoft. Archived from the original on September 17, 2009. Retrieved September 14, 2009.
3. Spencer Yip (February 5, 2009). "Bubble Bobble Plus Out On WiiWare Next Week". Siliconera. Enthusiast Gaming. Archived from the original on February 18, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
4. "Pop-Powered Adventures Bubble Up through the Clay". Nintendo. May 25, 2019. Archived from the original on June 12, 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2009.
5. Bubble Bobble Plus Title Operations Guide, Wii Shop Channel
6. Marcel van Duyn (January 21, 2009). "Bubble Bobble Wii - Now With 4 Player Support". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
7. "Bubble Bobble Plus! Critic Reviews for Wii". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
8. "Bubble Bobble Neo! for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
9. Tom McShea (September 23, 2009). "Bubble Bobble Neo Review". GameSpot. Red Ventures. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
10. Lucas M. Thomas (June 9, 2009). "Bubble Bobble Plus! Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
11. Daemon Hatfield (September 17, 2009). "Bubble Bobble Neo Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
12. dharn (April 22, 2009). "Test: Bubble Bobble Plus". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Webedia. Archived from the original on March 1, 2021. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
13. Marcel van Duyn (April 11, 2009). "Bubble Bobble Plus! Review". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
14. Zachary Miller (July 3, 2009). "Bubble Bobble Plus!". Nintendo World Report. NINWR, LLC. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
15. "Bubble Bobble Plus! review". Official Nintendo Magazine. No. 43. Future plc. June 2009. p. 88.
16. "Bubble Bobble Neo!". Official Xbox Magazine UK. Future plc. December 2009. p. 107.
17. "Bubble Bobble Neo!". Official Xbox Magazine. Future US. October 2009. p. 73.
18. Roger Hargreaves (April 2009). "Bubble Bobble Plus! (Wii)". Teletext GameCentral. Teletext Ltd. Archived from the original on April 24, 2009. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
19. Sam Gittins (April 22, 2009). "Bubble Bobble Plus!". N-Europe. Archived from the original on February 11, 2010.

External links

• Famitsu scans
• Bubble Bobble Plus! at MobyGames
• Bubble Bobble Neo! at MobyGames