The Bubble Memories FAQ v0.8 _________________________________________________________________ written by Carl Chavez (carl@bubandbob.com) with help from Anthony Greulich (agreulic@u.washington.edu). Major contributions from Victor (toxico@speedy.gr). Available at http://www.bubandbob.com/bubblememories/bmfaq.html. Last modified 2 August 1998. FAQ started 25 June 1997. You can also visit another Bubble Memories site at http://members.es.tripod.de/~chgtj then click on Bubble Memories. _________________________________________________________________ What's New! _________________________________________________________________ 9 Aug 98: "Original game" code added, thanks to Thomas Combeleran. More secret room info added. Also added links to the Raine emulator. (Raine website is at http://raine.retrogames.com) 21 Nov 97: Minor editorial changes. 11 Sept 97: Added Power Up code, submitted by Kim Suk Tae. 30 July 97: Added pictures of some bosses, more information about scoring, and lots of new pictures in the Image Gallery. (Image Gallery is located at http://bubandbob.com/images). 18 July 97: More various additions. Too numerous to mention. 15 July 97: I've gotten four endings so far. Details of each are in the FAQ, as well as descriptions of more bosses and of some more items. Thanks to Victor E. (toxico@speedy.gr) for contributing some information. 25 June 97: first draft of FAQ. Nothing on here at all. _________________________________________________________________ Game description _________________________________________________________________ Imagine Bubble Bobble. Imagine them going up a tower instead of a cave. Now imagine that every single monster has dozens of animation frames and lots of colors. Imagine that some of the monsters have grown to huge proportions. Imagine that there's no longer a limit of 17 bubbles and 8 monsters on the screen any more; that in fact you can have lots of bubbles onscreen as you get a powerful item that causes meteors to fall from the sky and take out monsters as the earth shakes and the game's speakers roar...!!!!! That's Bubble Memories. The game is very hard to find in arcades. It is not yet available for a home system. However, Bubble Memories emulation become possible with v0.12 of the Raine emulator (website at http://raine.retrogames.com). _________________________________________________________________ The Moves _________________________________________________________________ +----------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | Action | Result | +----------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ +----------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | Up | nothing | +----------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | Down | swim down quickly | +----------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | Left | move left on ground or while falling | +----------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | Right | move right on ground or while falling | +----------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ |press Jump|jump - the dragons can jump through platforms and walls. | | |The dragons are invulnerable within a wall. A good technique | | |to know is to jump into a wall and blow a bubble from inside!| +----------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | hold Jump| press Jump toward a bubble, hold Jump to bounce on bubble | | | rather than pop it. | +----------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | press | blow a bubble or fireball | | Bubble | | +----------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | hold |Bub or Bob will start to glow with a halo. When you release | | Bubble |Bubble, a bubble large enough to trap several monsters or one| | |huge monster will come from the dragon's mouth. | +----------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ _________________________________________________________________ The Codes _________________________________________________________________ As far as I can tell, the old Bubble Bobble codes do NOT do anything. Three codes are known right now- Power Up: up, right, left, down, up, right, left, down Doing two clockwise circles causes Bub and Bob to have permanent shoes, blue gum, and yellow gum. Super Game: left, start, bubble, jump, up, down, start, right You get the second set of levels when this code is used. It does nothing special on a machine with Extra Mode enabled. I recommend avoiding this code until you have beaten the game in normal mode, so you don't miss part of the story (and the fun!). Original Game: start, left, bubble, jump, bubble, jump, bubble, jump You can get to the secret rooms on levels 7 and 37, even if you die. _________________________________________________________________ The Items and Scoring _________________________________________________________________ Bubbles Most bubbles are 10 points each (red bubbles may be 100 points). Huge bubbles are 30 points each. Popping multiple creatures in small bubbles causes the point value to double per creature bubble popped simultaneously. If you pop three trapped monsters, for example, you get 4000 points (1000 base x 2 x 2). The maximum score this way is 512,000 points (10 creatures simultaneously). Popping creatures trapped in huge bubbles is worth double, but only if all the popped creatures are trapped in big bubbles only. If any creature is in a small bubble (including a small bubble inside a big bubble), then you only get the normal score. Popping 10 creatures all trapped in big bubbles is worth 1,024,000 points! Popping creatures trapped in small bubbles, then enclosed in big bubbles, triples your score. No creature can be in only a small or only a large bubble or else you get a normal score. Doing this with ten creatures gives you a whopping 1,563,000 points!!! Popping more than three creatures at once allows EXTEND bubbles to appear. The number of EXTEND bubbles that will appear on a later level is (creatures popped simultaneously - 3). So popping six creatures at once causes 3 EXTEND bubbles to appear on a later level. This is cumulative, so popping seven at once on one level and 5 on another allows you to get 6 EXTEND bubbles. ========================================================================= Bubble Description blue or green..............a normal bubble clear......................bubble will pop soon red........................bubble is about to pop. fire.......................when popped, fire will fall toward the ground. Enemies which touch the fire become red diamonds. water......................when popped, a stream of water will run in the opposite direction of the dragon's facing. Enemies caught in the water become blue diamonds. lightning..................when popped, a lightning bolt flies across the screen in the opposite direction of the dragon's facing. All enemies hit by the bolt become yellow diamonds. whirlwind..................when popped, a whirlwind flies at a 45 degree angle away from you. All enemies hit by whirlwinds become purple diamonds. music....................when popped, a music note comes out and flies upward, swinging left and right. It is not a homing missile anymore like in Bubble Symphony. ----------------------- Bubble Gum and red lamp ----------------------- Orange - increase Bubble Shot (blow bubbles faster) Blue - bubbles move faster Purple - bubbles float farther Red lamp - gives powers of all three gums ------------------- Rings and blue lamp ------------------- Purple ring - each jump (excluding jumps on bubbles) = 500 pts Blue ring - each step = 10 pts Red ring - each blown bubble equals 100 points instead of 10. Lots of points when you pop bubbles against the wall! Blue lamp - equal to all three rings. ------- Crosses ------- ??? - a huge whirlwind blows onto the screen, blowing away the monsters as lightning crackles around it. Yellow - lightning bolts flash around the screen and destroy everything they touch. It looks really cool! Blue - water trickles, then falls, and finally FLOODS the screen and turns enemies into blue diamonds *AFTER* the water fills the screen. While the screen fills, your dragon is still vulnerable!!! The falling water will not kill the monsters! Red - dragon will gain ability to shoot about a dozen fireballs. Enemies hit will become red diamonds. Fireballs now cause a heat ripple while flying through the air. Green - dragon will gain ability to shoot music-note bubbles. Hold and release Bubble to fire giant music-note bubbles. These notes travel a little in front of you, and then fly upward. ----------- Other items ----------- Shoe - your character moves faster. Bomb - When picked up, it detonates. Book - All enemies instantly become fruit. ------------------- Miscellaneous items ------------------- Silver Axe (Rod?) - turns all bubbles into fruit; pops bubbles containing magic. This is important to remember on level ???. Purple Axe (Rod?) - ??? Candy Cane - when level ends, all bubbles will turn into 700 pt. fruit. All big bubbles become 7000 pt. fruit. In addition, a giant item will fall from the top. Goldfish cracker - ? pts. Purple ??? - 30 pts. Crystal Ball - ??? Necklace - a bright ball of energy starts bouncing around the level and killing monsters. Gold tiara - a shower of stars will fall from the sky and kill enemies. Enemies in the top far left and top far right corners will not be hit! Silver tiara - an energy wave will wash across the screen, killing all monsters. _________________________________________________________________ BOSSES _________________________________________________________________ Koornt Level 10 - Koornt Koornt is a gumball machine with helicopter rotors. It drops deadly gumballs. NORMAL MODE Weapon: Lightning SUPER MODE Weapon: Music NORMAL MODE Tactics: Koornt never moves up or down. It just moves left and right. Koornt never drops his gumballs in the corners, so just face a wall, form a line of bubbles along the wall, and pop the bubbles when some are on the same plane as Koornt. SUPER MODE Tactics: Since the music won't hit Koornt often, if at all, when you pop bubbles against the wall, go ahead and shoot music bubbles toward the center of the screen and pop them there so they hit Koornt more often. It's unlikely that you'll ever be hit by his gumballs unless you really suck... :) Level 20 - Kligan Kligan is a rock head with gems for hair. When you hit it enough, Kligan loses a gem. When it's completely bald, it dies. Kligan shoots rocks out of its mouth. NORMAL MODE Weapon: Whirlwind SUPER MODE Weapon: ??? NORMAL MODE Tactics: Blow bubbles into the wall so the whirlwinds fly right into Kligan. If your first whirlwind is a big one and you keep sending small ones at it, it'll be at less than half power before it shoots his first salvo of rocks. Once you see the rocks coming, run right at them. You'll pass under them. Head toward the other wall and pop bubbles against it. Kligan can be beaten in less than 10 seconds. Level 30 - Gacchan NORMAL MODE Weapon: Music SUPER MODE Weapon: ??? NORMAL MODE Tactics: When you start, stand near the right-side wall and store up some large bubbles. When Gacchan passes over you, pop 'em, blast a few more music notes Gacchan's way and run to the center. Blow some bubbles to the right; this is your escape route. Jump up to the top platform in the center, bounce on the bubbles over Gacchan to the next platform on the right. After Gacchan touches the left-side wall, he'll fire a salvo of eight notes toward you. Drop from the platform toward the floor. The notes will all pass over, and you should be next to the wall so you can shoot a lot more music bubbles against Gacchan. Repeat until Gacchan dies. Level 40 - Wafflful HORROR OF HORRORS, IT'S A GIANT WAFFLE CONE! And it's coming to get you... NORMAL MODE Weapon: Whirlwind SUPER MODE Weapon: ??? NORMAL MODE Tactics: Like Kligan, Wafflful is a pushover when facing whirlwinds. No tactics necessary. Level 50 - Maita P This boss has a strong resemblance to a mighta, except it's dressed in blue and purple. It enters the screen amid cheers and whistles from its fan club. NORMAL MODE Weapon: ??? SUPER MODE Weapon: ??? Tactics: ??? Level 60 - Taru P A REALLY drunk Drunk, Taru P swaggers onto the screen. As he sways around the screen, he can't help but bump into things.. like the walls and ceiling. Hilarious to watch, but difficult to beat. NORMAL MODE Weapon: Water SUPER MODE Weapon: Fire Tactics: ??? Level 70 - Swimming Queen Monsta Swimming Queen Monsta is a big monsta wearing a cape. She can open her mouth and fire homing torpedoes. You have to fight her in the water. NORMAL MODE Weapon: Lightning SUPER MODE Weapon: Rainbow Tactics: ??? Level 80 - Super Dark Great Dragon NORMAL MODE Weapon: lightning SUPER MODE Weapon: ??? Tactics: ??? Level 80 - Super Dark Great Skel Monsta Just when you thought you've defeated the Super Dark Great Dragon again, he becomes the Super Dark Great Skel Monsta! Ever seen Star Blazers? Remember the Wave Motion Gun that can destroy whole fleets? SDGSM has one... prepare to die. NORMAL MODE Weapon: none SUPER MODE Weapon: ??? SUPER MODE Tactics: ??? _________________________________________________________________ The Endings _________________________________________________________________ Your worst ending (besides death...) occurs when you have not obtained the seven colored potions in normal mode. If you don't have all the potions, you presumably drink what you've got. Instead of becoming human again, you become a random monster. You descend the outside of the tower as the credits roll, and when you land you discover everybody on the island is now a bubble dragon! The game ends at level 70. If you get all seven potions, a door will open to levels 71-80. On level 80, you fight Super Dark Great Dragon. When you beat him, he laughs and flies away from the Rainbow Tower. He lands on his Dark Tower, taking the potions with him. You're stuck as dragons, and you discover everybody on the island has also become a bubble dragon!!! You get a nice portrait of every dragon in shock. You also get the motions for the Super Game. If you enter the Super Game code and do not get the seven potions, the Super Dark Great Dragon stops you on level 70 and turns you into small, ghostly lantern carriers (small versions of the end boss from NES Bubble Bobble 2). You float down the tower and everybody is stuck in dragon form forever. You suck. If you get all seven potions in Super Game mode, you fight Super Dark Great Dragon on level 80. He becomes Super Dark Great Skel Monsta if you beat him up enough. If you win, you get transformed back into human form, descend the tower by floating with your parasols, and when you land everybody is human again! YAY! Then a message comes up: "History repeats itself..." I wonder what that means in the game? Do you have to beat it twice in a row to get a fifth, even better ending? _________________________________________________________________ Secret Rooms and Hints _________________________________________________________________ You can get into secret rooms either by not dying up to the level the secret room is in, or by using the Original Game code and playing up the that level. The latter option is much easier! Unlike Bubble Bobble or Bubble Symphony, the secret rooms in Bubble Memories are in the Latin alphabet instead of the usual Bubble Bobble alphabet. They are also in English, even on the Japanese version. There are two secret rooms. The first one is on level 7, and you can get lots of points there. The second is on level 37, and you can get points PLUS a random hint. The known random hints are: * The key of Original Game: Start Left Bubble Jump Bubble Jump Bubble Jump * The 7 potions won't become complete unless you play up to the 70th round with 1 credit. Note: this is virtually impossible to do without aid of the save-game function in Raine, so I think something got lost in the translation. The potions do become complete even if you continue. _________________________________________________________________ Emulation _________________________________________________________________ Bubble Memories is now emulated on the Raine emulator. (The website for the Raine emulator is at the address above). _________________________________________________________________ Credits _________________________________________________________________ Thanks to Bondeal HK for selling me the PCB. Thanks to Music-Vend for providing the cabinet. Thanks to Anthony Greulich for being my playing partner and driving the U-Haul to get the game into my apartment. Thanks to Victor E. (toxico@speedy.gr) for adding more info. Thanks to Kim Suk Tae for submitting the Power Up code, and to Thomas Combeleran for the Original Game code. _________________________________________________________________ Copyright Notice _________________________________________________________________ Copyright © 1997, 1998 Carl Chavez. This article may not appear in any for-profit organization (especially EGM or COP-DN) without permission. _________________________________________________________________