Use the arrows to move the dragon, hit space to shoot bubbles

Bubble Bobble is an arcade game by Taito, first released in 1986. It was ported soon for numerous home computers and game consoles. The game features twin Bubble Dragons, Bub (Japanese "Bubblun"), who is green with yellow spikes/horns and Bob (Japanese "Bobblun"), who is blue with cyan spikes/horns. Together, they journey through the Cave of Monsters to rescue their girlfriends. They move over a system of platforms, busting and pushing bubbles, avoiding enemies and collecting a variety of power-ups.

Gameplay

In the game, each player controls one of two dragons. The player can move along platforms, as well as jump from one platform to that above, or to the side, in a similar way to most platform games.

The player can also blow bubbles. These can trap enemies, who are defeated if the bubble is then burst by the player's spiny back. The bubbles also float for a time before bursting, and can be jumped on, allowing access to otherwise inaccessible areas. If a bubble containing an enemy is allowed to burst on its own, it turns "angry", becoming pink-colored and faster than normal.

Contact with the enemy is deadly, resulting in the loss of a life.

Levels

The objective of each level is to defeat all the enemies.

Each level (or round) consists of one screen. Some screens are completely enclosed, while in others the player can fall through holes at the bottom of the level in order to reappear at the top, or use bubbles to reach the top of the screen even vice versa (see gameplay techniques below).

The levels vary in their layout, as well as the types and numbers of enemies present. Also, the way the bubbles move around the levels varies, so they may converging on a certain point, move at different speeds, or be pulled down as if by gravity, etc., usually with notable effects on a level's difficulty. Also, the length of time before a bubble bursts varies between levels.

Each level (with two exceptions) has a time limit, the length of which varies between levels. If the level is not completed in time, an invincible "Skel" (see below) enemy appears for each player, and all aenemies become "angry", with a change in color and increase in speed. The Skel only disappears when the player dies, or if the level is completed by defeating the other enemies.

Some levels have very short bubble-popping times, meaning that bubbles pop almost as soon as they emerge. This becomes extreme in later levels to the point of only being able to kill monsters by "kissing" them (blowing a bubble in such a way that it's immediately squashed against the dinosaur, causing instant death to an enemy). Time limits are also used to increase the game's difficulty; two rounds having no time limit, some levels are almost impossible to finish under certain conditions (single player, lack of certain bonuses etc.).