Bubble Bobble (NES)

Bubble Bobble
Developer: Taito Publisher: Taito Platforms: NES, Famicom Disk System Released in JP: October 30, 1987 (FDS) Released in US: November 30, 1988 Released in EU: October 26, 1990 Released in AU: 1990 This game has unused music. This game has regional differences.

They may have lost the original arcade source code somewhere along the way, but that certainly never stopped Taito from trying to port it to anything with a CPU.

Unused Music

Track 35 on the NSF (34 in the sound test) is an interesting folk dance-like tune, normally accessible through the sound test. This tune is not in the arcade version, so it was probably included as a bonus for those who managed to unlock the sound test.

Interestingly, this track was used in the American/Japanese version of Rainbow Islands as the staff roll theme!

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Regional Differences

To do: There are still a few more differences.

Title Screen

FDS	NES

The NES version has a new Taito logo. The FDS version is identical to the one seen in the original arcade version. The Bubble Bobble logo was also moved to make more room for the new "licensed by Nintendo of America Inc." text.

Game Select

FDS	NES

The FDS version uses the save function to select the current level progress. The NES version allows the use of a password system to select levels.

Intro Text

FDS	NES

The intro text was given a clean up for the NES version. For some reason, the exclamation mark was made taller.

Color Palette

FDS	NES

For some reason, the FDS version leaves the PPU's red emphasis bit on at all times, giving the entire game a red tint. The NES version leaves all emphasis bits turned off.

(BMF54123: Original TCRF research)

Game Over

FDS	NES

In the FDS version, return to the game selection screen immediately after the music is played. The password is added in the NES version, After the music is played, the player needs to press the start button to return to the game selection screen.