ScuzzBlog: Diaries April 2020
Entry 27th April 2020: Post 01: Bubble Bobble - Fun for all the family.
Bubble Bobble - Fun for all the family.
When someone on popular forum recently asked for a game to be
identified, it was interesting to note how many people claimed the
game to be one of their favourites. Often when games are featured
on forums there is a plethora of folk extolling the virtues of the
game and just how much it meant to them growing up.
Bubble Bobble by Taito is a game that I had never played, up until
a day or two ago. I do have the game on C64 tape and also a dubious
Amiga disk. I enjoyed playing the game so much on the C64 that I
decided to move over to my more serious C64C on the 1701 colour
monitor. In truth I could see no reason for not playing this as an
alternative to some of my modern games. It was that much fun.
I downloaded the game for the Amiga and discovered the copied disk
had no cracking/trainer scene information and simply worked like
the original game. There was little difference between the games other
than the lack of Bubble Bobble on the game screen for the C64, and
the avoidance of a long tape load time on the C64.
So what is the point ? Back in the late eighties I was encouraged
by my younger sister to get a PCW9512 as opposed to an Amiga. At
the time my dad was dead keen on the Amiga and had two A500s set
up in the box bedroom. He loved the computer. That in some ways is
why I didn't get an Amiga. Additionally my older sister now happily
married with children also had an Amiga 500. Most annoying was that
my younger sister then moved over to an A600, albeit she also had
a PC and the PCW9512. She was a computer engineer and saleswoman.
The fun for all the family is both something missing I feel from
most modern games, and also the emphasis on playing with others.
I was lucky growing up as I had three sisters and two brothers.
My dad was a gadget nutter and so it was no surprise when he got
an Amiga. he had been going on about them since the launch.
Dad would love to play his game Mean 18 on the A500. And when at
home I would get dragged off to dad's room and we would do battle
for hours on end. Man was he addicted to it, and for a computer
game of golf it really was very entertaining. However, his greatest
joy was beating me at the game.
My younger sister, now living with her boyfriend would often invite
us over for games nights and drinks. Her favourite game was Pictionary.
This little classic was suited so much to a group of people getting
steadily inebriated on cans of lager. Again the fun was in playing
together and the Amiga was centre stage.
My older sister had an A500 and she had three kids. The house was
so busy on a Sunday afternoon with young Jonathan's pals visiting,
complete with disk boxes full of dubious Amiga disks. It was frantic
fun and very noisy. Best game of all was Sensible Soccer. We played
till it got dark and it really never like ever got boring.
The joy of the Amiga then was the family and friends activities
that revolved around games that were harmless nonsense. None of
the dark online shooters of today. Just easy going family fun.
And so when I read comments on forums today about games like Bubble
Bobble, I do reflect on just where these guys played the classic
late 80's games. Were they stationed in the bedroom or did they
take centre stage in the living room in front of the TV for all the
family to enjoy.
Anyhoo... I like Bubble Bobble. And I'm still playing it. Makes me
regret not getting an Amiga when the rest of the family did. After
all it took me till 1993 before I actually purchased Sensible
Soccer for the 1200. Still , I was able to join up with friends
and have Sensible Soccer nights. That never got old, though to be
honest we did migrate over to FIFA on the PlayStation. Happens.
Bubble Bobble - Fun for all the family.
Bubble Bobble C64 on BW TV
Bubble Bobble C64C on 1701
Bubble Bobble Amiga 500
Happy Days
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