Bubble Bobble Playstation 1

After years of working on Bubble Bobble conversions, I got the chance to return to it one more time. Probe was asked to convert the game to Sony's PlayStation 1 (PS1) and the Sega Saturn. Given my experience with the franchise, I was the obvious choice for the job.

Next-Gen Hardware

This was a brilliant opportunity to build a conversion much closer to the arcade original. The PS1 and Saturn were far more powerful than the arcade machine had been. For the first time, we could actually do the game justice without the constraints that had limited earlier ports.

Getting the Real Specs

This time, and the one and only time across all my Bubble Bobble work, I actually got the specs of the arcade game. It was fascinating looking at the design decisions. They were very clever and still stand out today as examples of smart game design.

Nothing in Bubble Bobble was random. Almost everything a player did in the game affected it in some way. The number of steps you took would determine if a speed-up bonus would appear. The arcade designers had created an intricate feedback system that rewarded player behavior in subtle ways.

Working with the Hardware

The conversion was very enjoyable. I didn't get a machine this time, but I did get the arcade board which I was able to connect to a monitor. It didn't really matter since I had the actual game design specs, so everything could be precise.

Validating Earlier Work

Having the specs enabled me to confirm that the earlier decisions we'd made in previous conversions were pretty close to the mark. The main difference was how the bonus items appeared. We'd opted for random generation, but the arcade version had obscure feedback from the player's in-game actions to determine which bonus appeared.

Final Project at Probe

As it turned out, this would be my last game for Probe. But it ended on a high, bringing Bubble Bobble to the next generation of consoles with the accuracy it deserved.