Last week, in the run up to Gamescom, Europe’s biggest games convention, Taito Corporation has revealed a new Bubble Bobble game coming to Nintendo Switch.
It’s been more than 10 years since the last US release of a true Bubble Bobble. The original game was a classic of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The game was a non-scrolling platformer which featured one of the earliest examples of cooperative play. In the game you play as Bub and Bob, two stuffed dragons magically animated and cast into a cave by an evil wizard. Each Bubble Bobble level took up only one screen and if Bub or Bob falls through a gap in the floor they simply reappear at the top so play focuses on avoiding enemies more than avoiding falling.
Bubble Bobble 4 Friends will include a brand new local four player mode and so appears to be leaning in to the multiplayer roots of the first game. The reveal trailer shows off the new four player co op which appears to stick closely to the original game’s formula of one screen per level with a focus on puzzle platforming. The new gamewill be released exclusively for Nintendo Switch in Europe on November 19, 2019, with the release in the USA to follow in the first quarter of 2020
As for the why the releases will be staggered Hiroshi Uemura, Executive Officer at Taito had this to say:
“Bubble Bobble is an extremely popular title in Europe, so we decided to implement a pre-sale in Europe in conjunction with ININ Games and Strictly Limited Games. It is also the first internally developed title since Taito has re-entered the consumer market, and the development team is thrilled to be working on this famous IP. I deeply hope that many people will enjoy it”
A Collector’s Edition of Bubble Bobble 4 Friends, was also announced alongside the base version.
There’s a new Bubble Bobble coming, time to plan a game night.
