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[BuddyC]

Being a huge Bubble Bobble fan, I sadly never got to mess around with Bubble Symphony (or Bubble Bobble 4) before.

In my times, I've played numerous Bubble Bobble related games to death, including Bubble Bobble (NES), Bubble Bobble 2 (NES), Bubble Bobble with Rainbow Islands - The Sequel to Bubble Bobble (PSX) and the various iterations of Puzzle Bobble (or Bust A Move).

So it was with great joy that I came across an import of Bubble Symphony a little bit ago. Vibrant colors, multiple characters, Rainbow Island-esque boss fights (complete with rainbow bubbles!) and branching levels - Ving really went all out on this one. This is mad fun, just by myself...can't wait to get some multiplayer in...though it just makes me yearn for a four player Bubble Bobble game.

Of interesting note is that the game contains a hidden menu that switches everything but the menu text to English. If you let it sit on the demo loop, it actually displays one of those "Winners Don't Do Drugs" kind of messages, complete with a logo of certification from some US Agency. It seems as if the localization for Bubble Symphony was pretty much done, short of the main menu, but it fell through for one reason or another.

Regardless...Bubble Bobble fans, if you haven't checked out Bubble Symphony, well, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

 

[jarrod]

You talking about the Saturn release (did Ving port it?). There is also an unreleased 100% finished PS1 version floating around the internet (it was intended for Euro only release iirc). Interesting sidenote too, Taito was originally planning on releasing a consumer version of their F3 board (similar to the NeoGeo AES) but decided against it in favor of Saturn/PS1 ports of their bigger titles.

 

[8bit]

I thought Bubble Symphony was Bubble Bobble 2, and Bubble Memories was Bubble Bobble 3?

 

[BuddyC]

I wasn't sure if Ving just handled the Saturn port or the actual game themselves, as it is a bit of a departure from the previous Bubble Bobble games (but then again, so was Rainbow Islands). I'm assuming they just ported it though.

Makes me pine for Bubble Bobble: Old and New. Hope that actually makes it out soon...

 

[BuddyC]

I thought Bubble Symphony was Bubble Bobble 2, and Bubble Memories was Bubble Bobble 3?

Honestly, I don't know anymore. Wish there had been a port of Memories :-/

NES Bubble Bobble 2 and Rainbow Islands - The Sequel to Bubble Bobble only confound the problem.

 

[jarrod]

Makes me pine for Bubble Bobble: Old and New. Hope that actually makes it out soon...

It's releasing Sept 28th from BAM! Entertainment. Retitled Bubble Bobble Advance.

BubandBob.com has a nice explanation/chronology of the Bubble Bobble series too, if you're confused.