The Secrets of Bubble Bobble. How to win!

A video about the secrets of Bubble Bobble. There's a secret room at levels 20, 30 and 40. Then there's a warp at level 50 that takes you to level 70. All you need to do is reach the appropriate level without losing a life and the door will appear. But did you know that you can manipulate the game into dropping the power up items you need? On each level an item appears at 6 seconds and 12 seconds. The 6 second item gives you points based on how long it took you to complete the previous level (quicker = more points). The 12 second item is a power up item that makes your life easier, and this video shows you how to manipulate the game to make sure you get all the items as quickly as possible. Bubble Bobble has lots of secrets, and this video explains them so you can become an expert player and beat the game.

[@Deimos_Fresh]

When I recently learned there is a system behind items appearance, I was really surprised and impressed. Really like this game.

[@StevesMagic]

Thanks for watching. I love this game as well.

[@chickensandwich9977]

They had to program it somehow It's pretty impressive

[@tuomas3505]

Same, always thought it was completely random

[@csc3538]

Bubble bobble is by far my favourite arcade game. Absolutely love it.

[@StevesMagic]

Same!

[@danielmarquis5258]

Not sure why this game never caught my attention until recently, but I must say this game is fun and WELL designed.

[@michaelreardon303]

It’s an under appreciated gem.

[@larryt2018]

There's a lot more to this, but great coverage to get people started. On the Arcade version, there are more tricks: - when you get a high score, enter the initials based on those screens you see in the higher level designs: MTJ, NSO, I.F, KIM, YSH, TAK, STR, KTT etc. so that on your first screen of a new game, you will get an item like a coke can, samurai octopi, knife, etc to make the end-result bubbles turn into something else cooler like pizzas, cocktails, pink flamingos ... - on the high score screen if you enter the letters 'SEX' the game will make a thunderclap sound and on the 1st screen of your next game you will get a fork that rains fruit from the sky and kills all monsters into diamonds - Also, as you mentioned the game 'stacks' your award items based on whichever counter you exceed. So you may have a yellow candy in the pipeline for example but if you stack a higher-value item after that candy, you will get the higher-value item first (this works the same on Bubble Bobble II: Rainbow Islands and Bubble Bobble III: Parasol Stars) - pop 20 fire bubbles and you get a bomb on the next screen - pop 12 lightning bubbles and get a clock on the next screen - kill monsters with fire bubbles: get the earthquake book from Fairyland Story to wipe out the screen - kill monsters with lightning bubbles: get the magic tiara from Fairyland Story which makes stars rain through the screen and kill monsters - kill monsters with water bubbles: get the fire cross to breathe fire on the next screen - number of times P1 has joined a game: get the blue teapot which grants running and jumping points (lasts until player dies) - number of times P2 has joined a game: get the red teapot which grants running, jumping and shooting points (lasts until player dies) - collect umbrellas: get a purple teapot which explodes and turns monsters into diamonds OR if the monsters were in bubbles when you collect this, they turn invisible and you still pop them (if you can find them ;-) ) - collect 4 clocks and get a yellow teapot which grants you all fire powers (fast, long and rapid) until player dies - playing 777 levels (can be retained across games if you save your progress) get the crayon which makes rainbow potions appear for the following 7 screens I could keep going as there's a lot more... but even after 40 years this game remains my favourite of all time!! ❤❤

[@GamerSpencer]

OK I've been playing this game since I Was 5. I never knew these secrets. I thought they were random! Awesome!

[@StevesMagic]

Yes, I never knew this when I used to play arcade. I learned it after via emulation.

[@TheCleaner76]

Same

[@bluorb]

Same, but I played it on NES & did know about the jumping & bubble blowing.

[@alikhan-uh3sq]

you never knew how to do the power-up and original game version?

[@GamerSpencer]

@@alikhan-uh3sq well no. Hence my comment, I didn’t know!

[@diluteduk]

I've always loved this game. I never knew there was a counting system or anything like that, I always thought it was just random! Great video thank you

[@jawdn9744]

God, I love this game. I used to play this occasionally with family on the ps2 "addiction goes retro". As a kid when I saw items, power ups, and letters, I would try to get as much of them as possible. Now that I'm older I see there's a delightful system to this game that I hadn't known about before and now I know better not to make playing it harder for myself lol. The true ending is with 2 players because the game really is much better and more fun with a friend/family member.

[@ottomans2876]

I played this when i was young on my brothers Atari ste 520. I have so much affection for this game, completed it with my mother as a great 2nd player. I continue to play it now, so thank you for this. We always had an inkling it was to do with how you played the game. Nice one!

[@scben]

Nice. As a child I completed it on the C64 with my mother 😊. We still talk about it occasionally.

[@why_i_game]

I've played this game quite a bit over the years, starting with the C=64 version. Most of my time spent playing on arcade emulators. I never had a clue the bonus items weren't random, or that there were cheat codes! Impressive.

[@MrTinkx]

This is the best review of Bubble Bobble I have seen. Thank you. Re discovering this game on the PlayStation 1 with my daughter. One of the best 2 player cooperation games I have come across!

[@StevesMagic]

Thank you very much

[@unity6926]

Incredible video dude. I used to just cross my fingers and pray for good items to appear!

[@StevesMagic]

Thank you! I didn't mention in the video that the counters don't reset between games, so in the arcade halls you might find the counters are already close to their maximum, but when you play at home on an emulator everything starts from zero.

[@kristianTV1974]

Played this game in some form at least once a month since I discovered it on a Greek island while on holiday in 86 aged 12. Just had two (ltd edition) plushies of Bub and Bob delivered only yesterday!

[@nft99]

This is one of my all time fave Arcade games yesterday i went to arcadeclub in Blackpool and spent a few hours playing this again! Thanks for the video and the tips!

[@AvexFuddle]

This is brilliant. I had no idea what I was doing when I played this a few months ago

[@StevesMagic]

Glad to see people still play it! Great game.

[@TheAxelay]

I played this game alot in my now defunct local via the NES in 1988 and it was a real crowd drawer of a game showing what the console could do. After 35 years since I'm still not go at this game even though I love the franchise! Always knew that there alot more to it than just it's face value cute nature, it's pretty devious actually and way way ahead of it's time. This guide has helped me understand the logistics of the franchise somewhat better now rather than play a rom hack here....

[@NIKOSGEOR]

Another tip: When you playing a double player game you can set the last three digits of a player to have double similar digits like 770, 330, 110, 440 etc and the other player pops all the bubbles with the trapped enemies. This will force every bubble to pop as a gift, like the cherries on the first level.

[@sluiceboxcharlie9836]

Thank you you have brought back a few good memory's for me.

[@timsampson2941]

This is a great, concise guide and nice to see people still creating Bubble Bobble content in relatively recent times. It just pains me a little bit with the description of the cheat codes and the 51 vs 35 thing.

[@DaveMasters1121]

THANK YOU!!! Omg I've been playing for years!! I never realised. I'm playing on PS5 at the moment

[@geekconnoisseur]

Love this content! I wish you had more. :)

[@justinday5988]

Lovely to see videos about Bubble Bobble. As a gamer of 35 years, this remains my favourite of all time which I own an arcade original of :) I think the sweetie counters actually default to 35 and not 51 but I would be keen to understand if 51 is a dip switch setting anywhere. But as much as I thought I knew this game inside out including all the things you put in this video, I did *NOT* know about the dynamic difficulty with extra lives. Amazing trivia! Great video. I always threaten to try a 1 credit clear but I'd need an unholy amount of practice. I got to Level 74 through the Level 50 warp door (to Level 70) only once and got caned. Level 42 always destroys me!!! Any tips? :)

[@StevesMagic]

Lucky man owning the arcade machine! The counters do not reset between games, so it's hard to control the outcomes. If play on an emulator you'll start the game with all counters reset so it's 51 bubbles etc. But if you own the machine you'll find that, for example, if you fire 21 bubbles them end the game you'll only need 20 to trigger the counter on your next game.

[@timsampson2941]

​@@StevesMagic I'm confused about this 51 thing. If I jump 35 times on level one, I get the yellow sweet on level 2 (I have an original Romstar PCB). This corresponds to Chris Moore's info where the hex value is 23, which is 35 in decimal. I just mentioned this to Gareth Hall and he said he would change his FAQ.

[@timsampson2941]

Level 42 is horrible if you don't have a yellow sweet, I'm not convinced it's possible without losing a life. Jump up and "kiss" the lowest enemy at the start and get another one on the way up. At least that's 2 dealt with. I just recently got to the stage where I can finish level 100 on one credit, it's only taken 36 years!

[@der1red507]

Without the help from any magical items, I would say to carefully time your jumps to bubble/kiss enemies as you go up, and hopefully the AI doesn’t fire at you but prepares to jump instead. Also, take advantage of walls (more likely on lowest and highest levels of enemies) to help block their projectiles.

[@Scripture-Man]

Excellent video. There are a few details missing, such as the highest-scoring ways to kill enemies.

[@istAssociates]

I saw someone beat level 100 in the arcade without ever using a single lightning bubble. He simply avoided super drunk for a while and eventually he ended up in a bubble. Any idea how this is done? I tried replicating it with no success....

[@nyhcbd]

damn, this would be usefull back then!! spent a lot of coins! luv this game! btw, i know some tricks for other arcade games (how people knew that, almost 40 years ago, still is a mystery😊): tetris - moving both joysticks opposite ways 9 times, will give 9 credits! pinball action - like the power up on this bubble bobble vid, on pinball action, wait the ball to enter the collect bns and quickly insert the coin then and you will continue the game with the points, bns and etc that are on display and the insert coin display will stay on until you move to red, blue or green room!

[@cherokeefit4248]

My game is giving me better random items. After a while playing this game, I was getting a grey rattle in the first stage that rattled and flashed the screen mostly every new level. Now I’m getting a grey door that explodes the enemies on screen every time on the first stage. I’m actually getting the first 1up at 40,000 points on the first stage. It’s weird but I’m basing this off the fact that every time you beat your old high score something changes.

[@QUANT_PAPA]

when i was kid, i dont remember perfect more but i always failt on final boss, and like 10-5 levels before final boss there was diss special key ore somthing but i always failt on that to get it XD

[@chickensandwich9977]

I would love to see more of your work

[@TonytheTiger123]

Jeez... and I thought I understood this game. Amazing to find something out almost 4 decades later.

[@illmonstro]

I am impressed! How did you discover all these things! My favourite game when i was a kid and still now that i have 3 kids. Thankss!!!

[@jmeme4997]

I understand that your video is to explain to people how the items show up. But as someone who play far too many hours of this game as a kid, it hurt my soul when you left all the fruit behind.

[@BIGgamez78]

Taito has some great games like Bubble Bobble, Akanoid, Renegade and Elevator Action. I recently downloaded all 4 of these games for the Nintendo Switch. Having a blast playing them. However do wish Bubble Bobble allowed continues.

[@shawnferguson5121]

My all time fave arcade game

[@dickoon]

Impressive work - both by you and by the programmers!

[@TheCleaner76]

After you get the Door on levels 20,30, and 40 without loosing a life it takes you into a secret room. If you reach Level 50 without loosing a life the door will appear but this time it acts like an umbrella ☂ and takes you past 20 levels. I've only done this twice and one time I lasted until level 97 before loosing my first life.

[@user-yy2bk2pg1l]

Yeah I remember when I first time picked up umbrella and was amazed that I past so many levels xd

[@godgirlsguitars]

What happens if you go through 20, 30 and 40 levels without losing a life?

[@TheCleaner76]

@@godgirlsguitars The Door appears on Levels 20,30,40 if you have lost a life taking you in to a secret room Then of 50 if you haven't lost a life it acts like an umbrella and takes you up 20 levels

[@timsampson2941]

@@godgirlsguitars A room with loads of diamonds.

[@mrgunit3352]

Used to spend 10pence in my local cafe/gift shop in the 80s as a teenager……..would last me a good hour! VERY fond memories and definitely triggered by that theme tune especially when it gets faster!! In 2022 nearing my 50s I’ve just downloaded onto my iPad……..any hints or tips? Very different without a joystick or am I just being a grandad.!?!

[@huntermitchell6335]

No it sucks without a joystick or controller, look up 8bitdo bluetooth gamepad

[@SuperJim]

Great video - a lot of the bubble pops and blow routines I never knew! Still learning stuff about this game. Recently heard typing rude words into the high score table has effects also and depending on what your score ends on on each stage can also cause changes!

[@ziggydamaestro]

LOVE this video! I can’t believe that a game that’s nearly forty years old had so much hidden stuff. Well done for finding it. Did other games of the time have as much detail? I’ve never managed the secret warp from level 50. The best I managed was level 49, and lost a life. I’m aware of the “digit” trick to trigger extra goodies when you kill the last enemy of each level; are some numbers better than others? I’m sure I read somewhere (years ago) that collecting multiples of the same letter bubble triggers some stuff, but can’t remember what. Any ideas? I sure I also read that going off the top of the screen and reappearing at the bottom several times triggered something. Any ideas? The iOS version of BB no longer works (hasn’t been updated), so haven’t played in a while. Is there anywhere safe online to play this? Will the cheats you mentioned work? I’m guessing the cheats you mentioned won’t work for the NES version. BTW - The little yellow bomb-like character bonus that drops in the final levels: is this a character from another game, or a BB character than was never used?

[@ZEBASS]

I grew up playing arcade games all the time, but for some reason I never played this game back then. I remember seeing it at one or two places, at best, and I was more into shmups and action games. So I was looking for some info and wow, this game has a lot of stuff, makes me wanna learn it a bit more! Question: What does super mode do?

[@ofoufoutos7110]

ATTENTION !!! at the end of every stage if you match the last two digits of your score , meaning "00" at the end of the number and entering the stage as is , at the end of the stage all the bubbles will drop food eg 700 points like it does when you pick the cane minus the big drop

[@kiyoaki1985]

Nice guide, I really wonder why they made it like this. I suspect they wanted to make a fun and easy looking game that requires expert knowledge to get far into, do it makes more of a profit. I also just love Taito's style, very distinctive with the bright colors and emphasis on powerups. Most of their games have this "busy" look that invites people to play

[@BIGgamez78]

Sort of like the Arkanoid game Taito created. It takes a lot of skill and concentration to get far in that game.

[@rossvegas7]

Legend

[@versevica]

I remember this thing we would do where you pop bubbles till the hundred and tens decimal in your score are matching i.e 660 or 110 or 330, as long as these two numbers are are the same it will always work. What you do is shoot the enemies, set your score to say 54220 for instance, notice the hundred and ten numbers are the same, shoot a lot of bubbles away from you but don't allow your score to change if it does it won't work, if it changes thats okay just reset it to another set of the same numbers then burst the enemies and all the bubbles will turn into fruit, each number represents a different kind of fruit. You can do this on every level. It's easier if your playing doubles that way one of you can set the score while the other bursts the enemies but this trick does work solo as well. It's a good way to rack up points and get 1ups that way too. Thanks :)

[@T.R.U.T.H.]

Cool, that's why it keeps going 'Game Over' cause we must be dying simultaneously

[@Juststuffinnitbruv]

Great video best game of all time , one you didn’t mention in the video is Fire jump Fire jump Fire jump Right 1p Unlocks original game mode

[@timsampson2941]

He mentioned all the codes but mixed up the names a bit.

[@stevemcleod8607]

I knew 2 codes, 1 of that I dont think you got there, it was a variant of the super code, fire, jump, fire, jump, fire, jump, right 1 player. and I think that was "original game..." which if I recall correctly was that diamond doors would appear even if you died. ( the other I knew of was the "power up!")

[@stevemcleod8607]

Also I recall you could stack the codes, if you did one on the title screen, you wait till it loops around again, and then enter the next one.

[@StevesMagic]

Cool, thanks for sharing that - I never knew, and will give it a try later

[@kshaps4159]

What?? I could have done with knowing this 30 years ago 🤣🤣 I only knew the thing on the first level if there are a lot of bubbles when you kill the enemies.

[@pfiuee5073]

thanks ! je vais essayer cela rapidement ! (try it soonly ^^)

[@StevesMagic]

J'espère que tu t'amuses bien! C'est un super jeu.

[@Goochy129]

Me and my mate completed this game after weeks of fun over 30 years ago. We had no idea whatsoever about how you could trigger different powerups etc. There was no internet then lol

[@chrisoracer]

Thanks for posting this. I have the PS1 version. Looks the same as what you’re playing. I’m having a lot of difficulty getting the umbrella to appear. Even after popping a ton of water bubbles I don’t see it anywhere in the next levels. Any other tips on this?

[@StevesMagic]

No problem 👍This is the actual arcade version running under an emulator. I am not sure of the programmers of the PS1 version would have known all the individual play mechanisms in order to covert them. Are you able to check, do the coloured sweets appear on the PS1 when you fire / jump the approriate number of times?

[@chrisoracer]

@@StevesMagic Thanks for the reply. I think the PS1 version seems to be random with the appearance of items. The umbrella appears rarely and strangely when that does happen the next level or two another appears. In case anyone needs it, For codes on PS1 you can skip to any level with the following: At the title screen, press Down, Up, Down, Up, Right, Down, Left, Down, Up, Down. Level skip Enter debug mode. Then while playing the game, press L1 to skip to the previous level or press R1 to skip to the next level. Debug menu Enter debug mode. Then while playing the game, press R2 to display the debug menu, and press R1 to hide the debug menu. This displays the map number, Bub's lives, and Bob's lives.

[@gizaha]

Blast 3 or more enemies at once, and the game will give you a letter. 4 enemies two letters etc. If the stage doesn't have hole, it counts them and gives them in the first available stage. While in a stage, it "borns" the same letters again and again. Depends on stage, either 0,2,4 or 1,3,5. After hurry up, it swaps and gives you the opposite 3 letters.

[@fullfire0]

This game is amazing. I love how complex it is behind the scenes for how old it is

[@scottlarsh3119]

Great Video. Good information. My only criticism is the narration is too soft sounding. I had to turn the caption feature on .

[@StevesMagic]

Yep sorry about that my microphone is a bit crappy. Buying a new one next week

[@TheOneTrueSpLiT]

How on Earth did you find/work this all out??? I've been playing Bubble Bobble since 1986 when it appeared in "Clouseau's" wine bar in Royal Tunbridge Wells in 1986. I had/have the versions for the ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, Amiga and now MAME - it is still my all-time favourite coin-op - just above Pac-Man, Gauntlet, Galaga, Amida, Rod Land, Scramble and Xain'd Sleena, and I still play all of these regularly on MAME. I'll be looking into your tips as I've been oblivious to them for all these years, it is only very recently I have been able to re-live my youth and to be able to play these AMAZING games using since I was but a teenage by using MAME.

[@BIGgamez78]

Sometimes the developers of the games release the information and other times it’s done by data mining… digging through the game files.

[@lessmemorehe136]

Excellent video - thanks for the tips! Blessings! - John 11:25-26

[@TheNeilsolo]

Any ideas on how to input "cheat codes" as my emulator always has a credit so pushing start, starts the game?

[@raizinmcnaught]

I remember doing the power up in the start

[@helpu2health]

I have the retro nintendo with 30 games built in (bubble bobble included) will these tips work on this?

[@StevesMagic]

Not sure to be honest. Depends if the game was written by programmers who emulated the original code or rewrote their own. It's like in my Pacman videos, people say the routes dont work when they're actually playing a game that looks like the arcade version but isn't actually.

[@CRBarchager]

I remember when I was around 9 or 10 years old I got to level 93 without dying on my Commodore 64. I would have hoped to get to 100 without dying to see if that would give a bonus of some sort but I never got to repeat my attempt.

[@elizabethp.7354]

Never played this version, sadly not very good with emulators and most arcades don’t have it. But my mom showed me the NES version when I was little, I’m curious if these item things apply in the NES version and it’s virtual console form (which I play).

[@StevesMagic]

Not sure, sorry. But if you do a google, you'll find the BubbleBobble game files probably. the emulator is Mame www.mamedev.org/

[@rnewton1221]

I have been playing this game for years trying to work out the logic but never understood it to this detail. Now I have the numbskull quartercade version then I will work on my game play. Your mame does not suffer from slowdown it seems. Would be good to know which version you run of the rom? Nice work. Now I just need Rainbow Islands uncovered to the same degree...

[@timsampson2941]

I also have the Numskull machine. It's a very nice thing to have on the shelf but the gameplay is not perfect, the enemies act a bit funny.

[@jaygriffiths100]

Does the Power Up code work on the NES version or only the arcade/emulator?

[@ShadyHitchhiker]

'm not convinced the power-ups on the C64 version were coded in this way, I feel like they were much more hardcoded or static. I remember a level skip umbrella appeared on one of the levels 100% of the time in my playthroughs, and always skipped the same 7 levels It was so consistent I never got to experience those levels until I decided to intentionally not collect the umbrella

[@deadstarlinz]

I bought a second ps4 controller last week to keep the game going 🤣 got my 11 yr old playing now too. We're level 83. Does power mode work on ps4 do you know?

[@StevesMagic]

I doubt it, unless the game is running the arcade code under emulation. let me know if you try!

[@bingefeller]

how did you find out all of this stuff?

[@thdelig442]

I never knew these things

[@cabomful]

This is brilliant:-D I succeeded to get into the hidden door 🚪 💪 And got 1.2 mill and reached level 33.. Level 33 was a bitch because I died in level 32 so I had slow bubbles in lv 33:-/ thanks a lot for sharing this 🙏 BTW ?? How do you acces the [Root] menu?? I’m plying bubble bobble on a Mame emulator:-)) I was going through the menu and never find this menu where you can choose easy mode and so on.

[@StevesMagic]

press TAB on the keyboard for Mame's menu

[@cabomful]

@@StevesMagic Nice thank you so Much 😀

[@lukedeutschbauer6724]

I play this gam with my dad it is pretty epic

[@dymondzncurlz]

I'm so confused I need a machine to add to my nintendo?

[@cae6900]

Para activar el SUPER MODE en la pantalla de inicio se deben presionar las siguientes conbinaciones de teclas: Disparar , saltar Disparar , saltar Disparar , saltar Derecha, start( presionar 2 veces)

[@SwazNasty]

Is this the same across all versions? I only played this on Nintendo as a kid

[@timsampson2941]

The Nintendo version had different and extra levels to the arcade original. Some ports were quite close to the arcade version but you can't beat playing on the original PCB or at least in MAME.

[@americaonline3835]

pretty cool i guess

[@StevesMagic]

I could do with better recording skills, but it's a great game, thanks for watching

[@vladimirborisov252]

There is a door that appears inly on level 50 and it jumps forward like 20 levels. Does anyone know how to trigger that door to appear?

[@StevesMagic]

Don't lose a life.

[@user-fuckY0utube]

EASY: Kick ass and chew bubble gum ! (also spit bubbles) :)

[@Psychonaut-im3zz]

Always thought they appeared random.

[@AngelFlores-bq4fd]

What's the difference between hard and super mode?

[@StevesMagic]

Not sure to be honest. I just learned that you can stack the codes, entering a code, allowing the demo to loop and entering another code on the next loop.

[@daltoncraig8300]

what r u playing on

[@timsampson2941]

Actually, the codes are Power Up, Original Game and Super Game. Original Game just gives you the treasure rooms whether you die or not and Super Mode starts out hard because you get enemies from the later levels on the earlier levels. You have to finish Super Game to get the best ending.

[@marializianichols648]

Wonder boy in monster land ... bubble bubble the best music ..im trying to build arduino .h player with sn76489 chip

[@blueghost4121]

Sweets? You mean 🍬 candy??

[@timsampson2941]

He's English so this is a tomato/tomahto thing.

[@jplxlabelle1681]

You can’t well wssswp was always

[@alikhan-uh3sq]

why not do the original game and power-up version, you get a much better game, the last time I played I got time and the walking ring, by just keeping 1 enemy in a bubble my point increased immensely by just walking. EDIT Sorry mate I typed my comment before watching the whole video.