Bubble Symphony

Bubble Symphony
Information
Developer(s)	Taito
Publisher(s)	Taito
Release date	1996
Genre	Platformer
Modes	Up to 2 players simultaneously
Platform(s)	Arcade, PlayStation 2

Bubble Symphony (バブルシンフォニー, Baburu Shinfonī^?), also known as Bubble Bobble II, is an arcade video game in the Bubble Bobble series developed by Taito in 1994. While being a new Bubble Bobble for a new generation, in actuality it takes place after Parasol Stars.

Gameplay

For this adventure, Bubblun and Bobblun, the familiar green and blue bubble dragons, are joined by girls Kululun (an orange dragon) and Cororon (a purple dragon). However, they are stated as the children of the Bub and Bob of the first game.

According to the intro, the four characters (as humans) inadvertently unleash Hyper Drunk, the final boss, while reading books. Hyper Drunk transforms the four into bubble dragons and banishes them to a new world.

Plot Sequence

Narrator: Little Bubby, Little Bobby, Kululun, and Cororon

Bubby and Bobby's four children all together happily reading a book.

Hyper Drunk: Now is the time

to get my revenge for what your parents did to me!

Narrator: The four children were transformed by a magic spell into dragons and

banished to live in a strange new world.

Will they ever be able to return to their own bodies

and their own world?

Characters

• Bubblun (バブルン Baburun^?) is the well-rounded character; he can fire three grouped bubbles straight ahead when powered up (the bubble button is held for a few seconds then released).
• Bobblun (ボブルン Boburun^?) has faster speed in exchange for shorter range. He can shoot three bubbles in a spread pattern when powered up.
• Kululun (クルルン Kururun^?) has the longest available range, but is slow. She can shoot her bubbles in a "T" pattern (forwards, backwards, and down) when powered up.
• Cororon (コロロン Kororon^?) has the fastest bubble blowing and can shoot her bubbles in an inverted-"T" pattern (forwards, backwards, and up) when powered up.

Although a sequel to Bubble Bobble, the game inaugurates few changes to the gameplay formula of that title. The small changes that have been made are that a boss is now encountered every five to ten levels, giving those scenes a similar prominence to Rainbow Islands, and the player takes a branching route through the levels by selecting one of two doors after every boss. The players can now charge the bubble shot; if released when the dragon's horns or bow is glowing, he/she will breathe three bubbles at once, with the specific formation dependent on the character chosen. The players must collect certain square cards with music notes inside, in order to get the 4 keys that lead to the final world or face an early false ending. Also, the characters have to collect a rod to turn theircharacters from their dragon to human forms during the course of the game.

Cameos

The game features cameos by other notable Taitocharacters or settings from games as diverse as: The NewZealand Story, Darius, Space Invaders, Arkanoid, Liquid Kids, KiKi KaiKai (including Cindy, known in Japaneseversion as Sayo-chan and the English Pocky & Rockygames as Pocky), Yūyu no Quiz de Go! Go!, PuLiRuLa, andThe Fairyland Story. Catch from Super Bust A Move and Super Bust A Move 2 as a cameo in Round H ( Computer Land ).

Worlds

Round A (all three options)

• Round A-1: Entrance Room
• Round A-7: Super Drunk

Round A (left door) (Fairy Land)

• Round A-2: Step Cabinet
• Round A-3: Storehouse
• Round A-4: Water Duct
• Round A-5: Downhill
• Round A-6: Unseen Monsters

Round A (middle door) (Dessert Land)

• Round A-2: Narrow Staircase
• Round A-3: Water Line
• Round A-4: Toy Box
• Round A-5: Fake Jailer
• Round A-6: Symmetry Room

Round A (right door) (Toy Land)

• Round A-2: Secret Key Room
• Round A-3: Monster Room
• Round A-4: Country Valley
• Round A-5: Doll Step
• Round A-6: Monster Laboratory

Round B (Kiki KaiKai)

• Round B-1: Imperial Court
• Round B-2: Let's Go
• Round B-3: Intricate Room
• Round B-4: Smart Room
• Round B-5: Uncle Face
• Round B-6: Fast Whirlpool
• Round B-7: Rainy Days
• Round B-8: Manuke

Round C (Radish Land)

• Round C-1: Honeycomb
• Round C-2: Alligator's Nest
• Round C-3: Waterwheel
• Round C-4: Revue Dancehall
• Round C-5: Free Fall
• Round C-6: Wrap in Flag
• Round C-7: Jack in the Box
• Round C-8: Jack O'Colson

Round D (TV Machine)

• Round D-1: Taito World
• Round D-2: Space Invaders
• Round D-3: Chack'n Pop
• Round D-4: Elepong
• Round D-5: Bubble Bobble
• Round D-6: Cameltry
• Round D-7: Arkanoid
• Round D-8: Challenge Hitter
• Round D-9: Giant Invader

Round E (Sun "A" Zone)

• Round E-1: Death Room
• Round E-2: Small Branch
• Round E-3: Zone-V
• Round E-4: Power Meter
• Round E-5: Kaleidoscope
• Round E-6: Congestion Room
• Round E-7: Monster Territory
• Round E-8: Zone-L
• Round E-9: Yamato

Round F (Kiki KaiKai)

• Round F-1: Bowl
• Round F-2: Electric Circuit
• Round F-3: Old Well
• Round F-4: Sun Roof
• Round F-5: Basement
• Round F-6: Noisy Room
• Round F-7: Splash Water
• Round F-8: Hide Talisman
• Round F-9: Manuke

Round G (Radish Land)

• Round G-1: Large Hall
• Round G-2: Gelidium Jelly
• Round G-3: Help! Help!
• Round G-4: Lodging House
• Round G-5: Water Slider
• Round G-6: Melody Room
• Round G-7: Barbecue
• Round G-8: Dangerous Roof
• Round G-9: Watchtower
• Round G-10: Jack O'Colson

Round H (Computer Land)

• Round H-1: Piston Rod
• Round H-2: Car Shop
• Round H-3: Condenser
• Round H-4: Dance Hall
• Round H-5: Resistance
• Round H-6: Double River
• Round H-7: Small Labyrinth
• Round H-8: Rocketdrome
• Round H-9: Parallel World
• Round H-10: Mechabubblun

Round I (Central Park)

• Round I-1: Wine Glass
• Round I-2: Candlestick
• Round I-3: Umbrella House
• Round I-4: Fountain
• Round I-5: Eat It
• Round I-6: Infinity
• Round I-7: Fire Brigades
• Round I-8: Aquarium
• Round I-9: Junction
• Round I-10: Giant Invader

Round J (Pyramid Land)

• Round J-1: Silk Hat
• Round J-2: Secret Room
• Round J-3: Lunar Rainbow
• Round J-4: Laughing Skull
• Round J-5: Run Away
• Round J-6: Saucepan
• Round J-7: Ant Nest
• Round J-8: Monster Mansion
• Round J-9: Holy Cup
• Round J-10: Mechabubblun

Round K (Sky Palace)

• Round K-1: Audience Hall
• Round K-2: Aerial Garden
• Round K-3: Monster's Nest
• Round K-4: Building on Fire
• Round K-5: Dragon Slayer
• Round K-6: Astrodome
• Round K-7: Tea Corner
• Round K-8: Mailbox
• Round K-9: Castle Warriors
• Round K-10: Super Maita

Round L (Water Fall)

• Round L-1: Ridge
• Round L-2: Water-Thunder Magic
• Round L-3: River Gleaming
• Round L-4: Pong Pong Pong
• Round L-5: E-Y Area
• Round L-6: Freedom Four
• Round L-7: Around the World
• Round L-8: The Chase One
• Round L-9: Super Charge
• Round L-10: Super Monsta

Round M (Treasure Desert)

• Round M-1: Miss M
• Round M-2: Attention Treasure
• Round M-3: Aerial City
• Round M-4: Monster House
• Round M-5: Bubble Rider
• Round M-6: Treasure Box
• Round M-7: Empire of Invader
• Round M-8: Battle Hammer
• Round M-9: Last Treasure Hunter
• Round M-10: Super Maita

Round N (Japan-esque)

• Round N-1: From Japan
• Round N-2: Rice Ball
• Round N-3: Break Water Tank
• Round N-4: Triangle Enemy
• Round N-5: Public Bathhouse
• Round N-6: Traffic Congestion
• Round N-7: Balance
• Round N-8: Breeze Room
• Round N-9: The Rib
• Round N-10: Super Monsta

Round O (Forest Land)

• Round O-1: Amazon
• Round O-2: Rainy Season
• Round O-3: Rainbow Appeared
• Round O-4: Tree Hollow
• Round O-5: Bare Rock
• Round O-6: Universal Gravitation
• Round O-7: Rocky Mountain
• Round O-8: Wood House
• Round O-9: Rock Wall
• Round O-10: Super Maita

Round P (Last Road)

• Round P-1: F-1 Track
• Round P-2: Wall Painting
• Round P-3: Machine Shop
• Round P-4: Sky Walker
• Round P-5: Roll Cake
• Round P-6: Third Room
• Round P-7: Lithograph
• Round P-8: Tightrope Dancing
• Round P-9: Concentrated Fire
• Round P-10: Beautiful Snow
• Round P-11: Acrobat Jump
• Round P-12: Puppet Drunk/Hyper Drunk

Round Q

• Round Q-1: Cursed Room
• Worlds B & F and C & G are repeated in the game.

World Branches Map

For the 1st bad ending without collecting 4 keys:

• A-C-F-J-O

For the 2nd bad ending without collecting 4 keys:

• A-C-F-J-N
• A-C-F-I-N
• A-C-E-I-N
• A-B-E-I-N

For the 3rd bad ending without collecting 4 keys:

• A-C-F-I-M
• A-C-E-I-M
• A-C-E-H-M
• A-B-E-I-M
• A-B-E-H-M
• A-B-D-H-M

For the 4th bad ending without collecting 4 keys:

• A-C-E-H-L
• A-B-E-H-L
• A-B-D-H-L
• A-B-D-G-L

For the 5th bad ending without collecting 4 keys:

• A-B-D-G-K

Characters

Playable characters

• Bub
  • Bubby
• Bob
  • Bobby
• Cororon
  • Coron
• Kululun
  • Kulun

Helper characters

• Chack'n
• Sayo-chan
• Tiki
• Ptolemy
• Bob
  • Jim
• Silver Hawk
• Hipopo
• Mr. Mikata
• Cannon
• Peppl
• Flower Dragon
• Bunny Girl

Enemies

• Zen-chan
• Maita
• Monsta
• Pulpul
• Banebou
• Hidegons
• Drunk
• Invader
• Dranko
• Knightron
• Uni Bo
• Flhoop
• Magician
• Catch-Maru
• Robo J
• Robo L
• Ouji-sama
• Yu Bo
• Hattonton
• Chu-Chu Man
• Kabu-chan
• Mummy
• Puka Puka
• Kasabe
• Bake Chouchin
• Bolt Man
• Kon-chan
• Rocket-L
• Nyororin
• Komso
• Cerberorin
• Denkyu-kun
• Kiri Kabu-kun
• Jiji Poppo
• Yuki-Bombo
• Warurin
• Mya-Ta
• Dorabo
• Kabukky
• Mimic
• Heita-kun
• Golem
• Ankororin
• Unicoron
• Ame Da-Ma
• Rappappa
• Killer Hijia
• No-No
• Upper
• YZK-Takami
• Strong Shell
• Ti Ta Ma
• Skel-Monsta
• Rascal
• Dusty (unused)

Bosses

• Super Drunk
• Manuke
• Jack O'Colson
• Giant Invader
• Yamato
• Mechabubblun
• Super Maita
• Super Monsta
• Hyper Drunk
• Super Dranko (unused)

Hidden Rod Letters Location

To make the letters appear, let the time run out and when the words "Hurry Up!!" appear, a bubble with the letter will float on the screen.

The "R" letter can be found:

• Entrance World, Left Door, Unseen Monster Stage (A-6)
• Entrance World, Middle Door, Fake Jailer Stage (A-5)
• Entrance World, Right Door, Country Valley Stage (A-4)
• Sun "A" Zone, Kaleidoscope Stage (E-5)
• Radish Land, Melody Room Stage (G-6)
• Pyramid Land, Lunar Rainbow Stage (J-3)
• Treasure Desert, Battle Hammer Stage (M-8)

The "O" letter can be found:

• KiKi KaiKai, Smart Room Stage (B-4)
• KiKi KaiKai, Basement Stage (F-5)
• Computer Land, Double River Stage (H-6)
• Sky Palace, Building on Fire Stage (K-4)
• Japanesque, Traffic Congestion Stage (N-6)

The "D" letter can be found:

• Radish Land, Waterwheel Stage (C-3)
• TV Machine, Cameltry Stage (D-6)
• Central Park, Aquarium Stage (I-8)
• Waterfall, Freedom Four Stage (L-6)
• Forest Land, Rainy Season Stage (O-2)
• Final Stage, Concentration Fire Stage (P-9)

Continuity

• Within the context of the game world, Bubble Memories - The Story of Bubble Bobble III takes place before Bubble Symphony, even though the latter is released earlier.
• All the enemies from the original Bubble Bobble appear in this game, along with a lot of newer enemies.
• The credits (in the arcade version) show all the enemies' names, and those of characters who make cameos from other Taito games.
• Interestingly enough, the credits don't mention any of the bosses that are battled.

Ports

Bubble Symphony was released on the Sega Saturn in Japan, as well as via Taito Legends 2 on the PC in North America and Europe, and on the Xbox in Europe only. It was released on the PlayStation 2 in Japan only, via Taito Memories II Volume 2. A PlayStation version was completed, but never released.

Note: That Xbox and PS2 versions run in upscanned 640x448 resolution, which results in slight flickering, no scanlines and slightly blurrier image compared to the Arcade and Sega Saturn versions.