Developer: Taito Publisher: Taito Publisher: 11/27/97 Genre: Platformer
Watching arcades disappear around the mid-90s was a sad sight. Not only because it was a place to meet fellow gamers before the internet became big but also because there were many brilliant games that never made the trip to a home console. Many genres and series all but disappeared for a long time and Bubble Bobble was one of them. I never saw Bubble Symphony in the arcade and its only home port for many years was for the Sega Saturn and only in Japan no less. I am seeing this one with fresh eyes and even after all these years the gameplay is still brilliant.
Bub and Bob went on to live happily ever after following their initial adventures. Both have two children between them, Bubblun, Bobblun, Kululun and Cororon. Unfortunately their children release a monster called Hyper Drunk who immediately turns them in to bubble dragons and swears revenge on their parents.
All four sons and daughters of the original characters are playable this time around. With a larger cast Bubble Symphony makes an effort to make them each unique. Bubblun is the best rounded in every category. Bobblun moves the fastest but has shorter range on his bubbles. Cororon can shoot bubbles the fastest while Kululun is the slowest but makes up for it with the longest range on her bubbles. The charge system from Bubble Bobble 2 returns with each hero having a unique attack, be it a spread shot, multiple bubbles simultaneously or firing in unique patterns. It sounds cool but in practice it is useless. It takes too long to charge and your bubbles will inadvertently pop on walls. I can honestly say I never bothered using the charge attack other than to see how they look.
Bubble Symphony is similar to its NES predecessor with its unique themed worlds over the course of its 100 levels. However this time the adventure is non-linear. After each world you can choose from two or three branching paths offering many routes to the games conclusion. Each world has anywhere between six to nine levels and they are heavily varied. Bubble Symphony draws deep from Taito’s history with levels based on Arkanoid, Spacer Invaders, Chack’n Pop, and even Cameltry. Even some of the bosses are pulled from other games like PuliRula and KiKi KaiKai (Pocky & Rocky for Westerners). The variety in setting and enemies is absolutely massive and some of the best in the genre which makes playing through it multiple times enticing.
You can play through the game like normal, clearing each stage and working your way to the end. But like the original if you do not meet certain conditions you will get the bad ending. As you work your way through each world each stage has hidden musical notes. Collecting three of the same color corresponding to that world will spawn a key to collect. You need four keys to unlock the final world on each path or the game ends early. This gives the game a quest like structure for those that want it. But there is more! There are R-O-D bubbles in specific stages that have criteria you must meet to appear. I will not spoil what they do but they also affect the ending as well. I will just say it is really cool.
The level design of Bubble Symphony is closer to Bubble Bobble 2 for NES as it largely ditches the gimmick stages for more focused action. That does not mean there are not levels that focus on specific item or mechanic but they are less prominent. The level design does not suffer in the slightest. The worlds are so unique and there are so many of them with a giant rogue’s gallery of enemies that I never once felt a ping of repetition. The balance is so good in fact you will want to play through the game multiple times. Speaking of which…
The replay value is off the charts in Bubble Symphony. With all the different branches there are almost twenty paths through the game. There are multiple endings and unique bosses for every world as well as different final bosses. Collecting keys will probably take you a few tries to get right; I know I did. Yet I looked forward to going back and doing it all over again as the paths varies in their length. I haven’t even tried to find the secret worlds either. I would have been content with another set of 100 levels but Taito went above and beyond and I could not be happier.
In Closing
I love Bubble Symphony. I knew I would like it as every other title in the series is excellent. But I am still amazed at its quality. This is a fantastic game that held up wonderfully even after all these years. If the Saturn were more popular outside of Japan I have no doubt someone would have picked this up for a Western release. The only other way to play this great game is the Xbox or PC release of Taito Legends II which is hard to find now. However you play it you are in for a great time.
