Bubbles (video game)

Infobox VG
title = Bubbles


developer = Williams Electronics
publisher = Williams Electronics
designer = John Kotlarik
Tim Murphy
Python Anghelo
release = 1982
genre = platform
modes = Up to 2 players, playing alternately
cabinet = Upright, Mini-upright, cocktail-table
arcade system =
display = Horizontal orientation, raster graphics
input = Joystick: 8-way
platforms = Arcade

Bubbles is an arcade game from 1982 by Williams Electronics. The objective of the game is to collect objects in a sink so that your player (which resembles a bubble) expands in size, whereas gains you points and exceeds you to the next level. The game was included on Midway Arcade Treasures.

Gameplay

The objects you can collect, or "absorb", are Crumbs, Greasies, and Ants.

• Crumbs move slowly to the drain at the center of the screen. They add 50 points to your score count and make the bubble a little larger. They are absorbed by moving into them.
• Greasies are larger spots which move toward the drain. If one touches a razor blade, it splits into two Greasies. They increase the score by 150, and add to the bubble's size.
• Ants move around on screen, patrolling the sink. They eventually return to the drain, and are worth 100 points and a little size if absorbed before they leave.

From time to time, a tiny Cleaning Woman with a broom comes out of the drain. If the bubble is able to "touch the broom before any other part of the Lady" it can be collected. The broom is useful against Roaches, which emerge from the drain after a while on each level and can otherwise pop the bubble instantly on contact. Besides Roaches, there are other enemies which are fatal to touch: Razor Blades, Sponges, and Brushes. Razor Blades are silver and vaguely rectangular. These appear often and cannot be destroyed, but are immobile. Sponges look like little orange lumps with angry faces on it, and Brushes look like a triangle with little bristles coming out of the bottom with angry faces. These can destroy you, but once the bubble is over a minimum size (signified in the game as big enough to have a mouth) they can be defeated by touching one, knocking it back, so that it hits the drain. This is worth a significant score award, but even if large enough to push Brushes and Sponges, touching them will reduce the bubble's size by one stage.

As the player progresses through the game, the sink becomes more and more crowded with enemies and obstacles. To complete a level the player must collect enough Crumbs, Greasies and Ants to become large enough to have a mouth before all sources of growth are consumed. If the bubble is not big enough at this point a life is lost, but the player may still advance to the next level.

Like most of the Williams Electronics games, you start off Bubbles with three lives, with extras awarded every 25,000 at default settings. Although entering the drain ordinarily causes the player to lose a life, once the bubble is large enough to have a mouth the drain will flash green, signifying that the player can safely dive into it, "warping ahead" past the current level and the next in exchange for a greater bonus. Collecting objects near the drain doubles their score, but the bubble is harder to control around that area.

ee also

* Katamari Damacy, a 2004 game with similar basic gameplay.

=External links=
*KLOV game|id=7226|name=Bubbles
* [http://www.bubblestribute.com My Tribute to Williams Bubbles]
* [http://www.arcade-history.com/index.php?page=detail&id=347 Bubbles] at arcade-history.com