Bubble Bobble 4 Friends: The Baron Is Back | PS4 Review

Bubble Bobble is a game that is very dear to me. It reminds of a special time in my life when my brothers, and sisters would join in to play the game cooperatively at home, and have a good time trying to complete a full playthrough. We dedicated our time to mastering each stage, finding the secrets, and even learning of the thunder bubble glitch. We were all in on Bubble Bobble, and it is one of the few couch co-op NES games we managed to master over the years. It's classic arcade appeal with bright and bubbly dino protagonists that looted colorful environments, and fought equally colorful enemies for that hi-score made the game all the more enticing to our young little minds. It was an innocent game with no politics, and a fun gameplay loop that offered both challenge, and immense replay value past it's definitive ending. 

Getting into this latest entry in the Bubble Bobble franchise has brought back plenty of memories. Memories of the mechanics within the original game, and in that retrospective how they differed to this fourth installment. I recall vividly how the loot system worked in the original game. How that if you waited to pop the enemies you could get the current stage's power-up. That if you grouped all enemies into a highly populated bubble cluster you could get a higher score, and more food items to drop. I also recall the bubble jumping trick that helped you get to harder to reach areas, and how certain power-ups changed the nature of the stage completion. There's that, and getting extra points by popping bubbles against the wall at the end of a stage. Let me not forget the skeletal whale that would chase you down until it killed you or you completed the level when "Hurry Up!" flashed upon the screen. Needless to say Bubble Bobble took something simple, and made it vastly more complex, and engaging through it's many mechanics and secrets. Something I'll always admire as a gamer.

Fast forward to the here, and now and we have a fourth more cooperatively driven Bubble Bobble game. This fourth installment changes the original formula significantly making it more of a co-op puzzle platformer with Mega Man inspired boss fights, and rewarded skills. It's all about capitalizing on a new score focused chain system wherein grouped, and popped enemies result in an end stage reward that gifts you several different tiers of score based items that reward you more generously the more chains you create. You'll find bananas, oranges, peaches, watermelons, grapes, pineapples, and finally a crown and diamonds for efforts rendered. Each with a progressively greater point value. Something to take note of if you are shooting for that first place on the game's leaderboards.

Gameplay, as it is, in this latest Bubble Bobble entry is once again stage focused, but the difference is that each bundle of stage carries a child's bedroom theme and namesake. The stages in all their 2.5D glory harbor among their playful backdrops a certain number of static and moving enemy types, and requires that you chain pop them in the biggest grouping possible for the highest possible score. You'll also be tasked with collecting the letter bubbles to spell "E-X-T-E-N-D" as well as playing through the grouping of stages as efficiently as possible to earn an additional three star rating. Spelling "EXTEND" will grant you one more life in each playthrough giving you more of a chance to complete the mutli-stage run, and included end stage boss fight. Supposing you die enough though, and get a "Game Over" you can continue, but it will cost you your previously earned score, and start you over with only four lives. If you get three 'Game Overs' in a stage grouping you will be given the option to play through the stages in an invincible mode in which enemies do not hurt you upon contact.

New gimmicks, or features in the gameplay loop include a crawl, a bubble stomp, and applicable skills that can be loaded on startup supposing you have them unlocked. The crawl allows you to move under low hanging solid obstacles or even bubble clusters whereas the stomp must be used to pop any bubbles that you are bouncing on. The skills themselves are basically returning power-ups from the original game, and include things like limited use long range bubble shots or thunder bubbles. Your base weapon is of course the traditional enemy capture bubbles that Bub, Bob, Peb, or Pab blow. In addition to the capture nature of the base bubbles you will also use these weapons against the bosses as a damage dealing projectile. Covering them up with larger bubbles that can be used to pop and defeat said bosses.

As far as cooperative play goes players can choose from one of four characters to play as including Bub, Bob, Peb, and Pab. The boy and girl dino protagonists from the series. In co-op mode you will be working together as a collective of the four to reach a conjoined high score. The catch being that if a player gets hit they'll be trapped in a bubble that must be popped by a still live player to get them back into the game. It is an optional way to play just as single-player is also optional. 

Extras in 'Bubble Bobble 4 Friends" come in the form of a playable arcade version of the original Bubble Bobble game as well as unlockable soundtracks, and cinematics. It gives the player something extra of value that definitely adds to this somewhat limited package deal. I say "limited", because the stages aren't as inclusive as the original game in the ways you can earn score. That being said even though it detours from the original formula it does offer something new, and refreshing with a bonus trip down memory lane. 

The Verdict ...

Though it took me a while to adapt to the new mechanics, and gameplay features I did find "Bubble Bobble 4 Friends" to be a fun puzzle platformer. As I briefly mentioned it does seem to blend Bubble Bobble with the Mega Man series, but does an alright job doing so. It once again holds up that innocent childhood appeal, and brings it to a newer generation of gamers who might not have played any Bubble Bobble games before. The fact that it includes the original is a plus worth noting. All things considered it is a game worth the asking price. It gives you something old, and something new. I strongly recommend it to any fans of Bubble Bobble. Even those who do not yet know of the series will be in for a treat!