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Proto:Bubble Symphony (Arcade)/Gameplay

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This is a sub-page of Proto:Bubble Symphony (Arcade).

General

  • Players can't charge up their shots yet.
  • The following bubble types are missing:
  • Wind Bubbles.
  • Melody Bubbles.
  • Special Bubbles.
  • "R", "O", and "D" bubbles.
  • The human versions of the player characters are also missing.
  • The rushing water from Water Bubbles advances every frame in the prototype. This was slowed down to once every 2 frames in the final version.
  • Rainbow Bubbles are completely silent in the prototype.
Prototype Final
BubbleSymphonyArcGameIntroP.png BubbleSymphonyArcGameIntroF.png
  • The game has a different subtitle in the prototype.
  • The game's branching system only goes three branches deep in the prototype, which means only Rounds A through F are implemented.

BubbleSymphonyArcProtoEnd.png

After completing the third round, this screen will appear and the game will end.
  • Rounds always have 10 stages in the prototype, while rounds in the final game can have as little as 7 or as many as 12 stages.

BubbleSymphonyArcCourseSelect.png

  • Round A is a straightforward 10 stages in the prototype. To get the player acquainted with the game's branching path system, three doors were added to Round A-1. Each door leads to its own path with 6 stages each.
  • There are no secret rooms in the prototype.
  • In the final game only, after getting a game over, a power-up will spawn above the player's head as an incentive to continue. Collecting this power-up will give the player one of the three candy effects or a +1 speed increase like the Shoe.
  • Getting a game over doesn't add a shame point to the player's score like it does in the final game.
  • Players only have 10 seconds to continue compared to 20 seconds in the final game.
BubbleSymphonyArcThankYouScreen.png BubbleSymphonyArcThankYou1.gif BubbleSymphonyArcThankYou2.gif
  • When a player continues or joins a running game, their bubble dragon will do a cute "Thank you!" animation that lasts about 50 frames. This was removed from the final version, possibly to get players back into the game quicker.

Players

  • The stats for Bobblun and Kururun were adjusted in the final game:
Prototype Final
Bobblun 3 Movement
1 Bubble Range
1 Bubble Speed
3 Movement
1 Bubble Range
2 Bubble Speed
Kururun 1 Movement
3 Bubble Range
2 Bubble Speed
2 Movement
3 Bubble Range
1 Bubble Speed
  • Bobblun only has five total stat points compared to every other character's six. To bring him in line with the other bubble dragons, he was given an extra point in bubble speed.
  • Both of the female bubble dragons in the prototype have a movement stat of 1, while Bubblun and Bobblun have 2 and 3 respectively. To better average out the character's movement speed, and to better differentiate Kururun from Cororon, her movement and bubble speed stats were swapped.
  • The movement stat affects the player's running speed and is capped at 6. The table below measures how fast the player moves in pixels per frame:
Proto Final
1 Movement 1.25 1.50
2 Movement 1.50 1.75
3 Movement 2.00
4 Movement 2.75 2.25
5 Movement 3.50 2.50
6 Movement 4.50 2.75
The effects of this stat are exponential in the prototype. Compared to the final game, players move more slowly at 1 and 2 movement, the same at 3 movement, and much faster at 4+ movement. The final version changes this to only add 0.25 pixels per frame for each stage.
  • The movement stat does not affect the player's jumping speed in the prototype.
  • The range stat affects the distance that bubbles travel when they're first blown out. The table below measures the distance in pixels:
Proto Final
1 Range 50 60
2 Range 75
3 Range 90
4 Range 125 100
5 Range 170 125
6 Range 235 155
Compared to the final game, bubbles don't go as far at 1 range, go equally as far at 2-3 range, and go further at 4+ range. At max range, they go 80 pixels further than in the final game; that's about a quarter of the screen!
  • Players' jumps are floatier in the prototype, taking 26 frames to reach max height and 53 frames in total to complete a straight jump. This was reduced to 17 frames to reach max height and only 38 frames to complete a jump.
  • Players can jump a single pixel higher in the prototype.
  • The players' "floating" speed was changed from 1.125 pixels per frame in the prototype to 1.80 pixels per frame in the final version.
  • Players can't hold Up or Down to alter their falling speed yet.

Difficulty

The game's dynamic difficulty system is almost identical to the system used in the final game, with the following exceptions:

  • There is no CooldownVar.
  • Collecting a key does not increase Rank.

Items

Point Items

  • The following monster drops are missing from the prototype:
Item Persimmon. Thanks again for the sour ones, by the way Lemon. These are always sour Cake. Chocolate, to be precise. That pink thing is a strawberry! Strawberry. Did you know that this isn't technically a berry? Did you?! Apple. Did you know that this isn't technically a berry-- oh, you did? Cool Silver Orb. Well, it's an orb. It's silver. We know that much
Value 7,000 6,000 10,000 8,000 1,000 8,000
Used in
Final
Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
  • After all of the rounds were overhauled, the end-of-stage drops had to be changed as well. The only items that drop on the same stage in both versions are the Cherries in Round A-1.
A-4 A-9 B-8 C-3 C-6 C-8 D-1 E-5 E-7 F-7
Item Strawberry Shaved Ice. I'm not going over this again. Tastes of strawberries "Sapphire" by Push Orange Flower. Still looks like a cookie to me Strawberry. Dipping chocolate sold separately Hot Dog. Serve with hushpuppies Persimmon. Again, really appreciative of the acrid ones you gave me Lemon. Rated R-18 Mochi...it was me. I took the bite Apple, the most boring of all fruits Shrimp Sushi. Look at that baby glisten
Used in
Final
No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
  • These end-of-stage drops, each worth 700 points, aren't present in the prototype:
Item Chestnut prior to roasting Pear. Its better half was already eaten Strawberry Shaved Ice. Look at the main article already! Lemon Shaved Ice. Good in the summertime Melon Shaved Ice. Anagramilicious Purple Crystal. It's purple and it's a crystal Ruby. Do you know why? Coffee. Latte art not included Tuna Sushi. Did you know that the popularity of tuna in Japan partly comes from the post-World War II American occupation? Before then, tuna, especially the fatty belly meat, was seen as a lower-class food due to its odor and red meat flavor. During the occupation, the Japanese people started to eat a more westernized diet, and its incorporation of red, fatty meats helped lead to the eventual acceptance of tuna. Thanks for reading! Eel Sushi. Eels...well, they have fluorescent protein. Their name backwards is Lee. That's something, right? Amethyst. Prefers to be called "Iggy" Amethyst Necklace, princess of Necklaceworld Spaghetti. Goes great with more spaghetti Copper Crown I. The superior original
Used in
Final
No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No No No
Item Taito heart guy? This is probably a reference to some Taito thing, but what? Mitt. Baseball to be specific Rice Ball. Onigiri to be specific Ramen hallelujah Pounded Mochi. It's lunar! Chocolate Shortcake. Short in spirit but rich in calories Silver Orb. Again Donut / Doughnut Usagi Ringo. It's basically an apple wedge that's had part of its skin cut and removed; the skin left on should resemble a rabbit's ears. For recipes, consult your local internet
Used in
Final
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Special Items

  • The following items are missing from the prototype:
Item Condition Effect
Top Hat #1 Enter "BUNNY" on the high score screen. At the end of the stage:
  • All bubbles turn into 700 point Bunny Girls.
  • A Big Bunny Girl worth 100,000 points drops down from the top of the screen.
Gold Skull Spawn Skel-Monsta X times. Summons a purple comet that initiates the "HURRY UP!" sequence.
Silver Skull Die by Skel-Monsta X times. Instantly spawns Skel-Monsta.
Gray Scroll Pop X Water Bubbles. Summons the Cannon from Space Invaders as an assist character.
Purple Scroll Pop X Water Bubbles. Summons Ptolemy as an assist character.
Blue Scroll Pop X Water Bubbles. Summons Bob as an assist character.
Green Scroll Pop X Water Bubbles. Summons Hippopo as an assist character.
Red Scroll Pop X Water Bubbles. Summons Tiki as an assist character.
Orange Scroll Pop X Water Bubbles. Summons Chack'n as an assist character (yup, no Pop for you).
"Red Item". Really Collect X Big Red Items. Summons Silver Hawk as an assist character.
Pink Heart Pop X Water Bubbles. Summons a large purple bubble dragon as an assist character.
Onusa Collect X Big Onusa. Summons Sayo-chan as an assist character.
Magic Staff Collect X Big Magic Staves. Summons Mr. Mikata (1P) or Peppl (2P) as an assist character.
Top Hat #2 Enter "GIRL" on the high score screen. Summons a Bunny Girl as an assist character.
Pinwheel Pop X Wind Bubbles. Greatly slows down the stage's air currents for 20 seconds.
Cross of Fire Defeat X enemies with Water Bubbles. Gives the player 16 uses of fire breath for the current stage.
Taito Coin Start X stages. Gives the player an extra life!
Crystal Ball Collect X big point items. Reveals the location of hidden Notes in the next 2 stages.
Item Value D1 D2 D3 D4 D1 D2 D3 D4 Condition
Bell 2,000 15 10 Trigger "HURRY UP!" X times.
Blue Magic Cane 500 3 4 Collect X red "E" Extend Bubbles.
Brown Magic Cane 500 3 4 Collect X "X" Extend Bubbles.
Orange Magic Cane 500 3 4 Collect X "T" Extend Bubbles.
Red Magic Cane 500 3 4 Collect X blue "E" Extend Bubbles.
Yellow Magic Cane 500 3 4 Collect X "N" Extend Bubbles.
Gray Magic Cane 500 3 4 Collect X "D" Extend Bubbles.
Star Tiara 3,000 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 Defeat X enemies with Thunder Bubbles.
Moon Tiara 3,000 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 Defeat X enemies with Rainbow Bubbles.
Book of Death 3,000 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 Defeat X enemies with Fire Bubbles.
Holy Grail 1,000 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 Defeat X enemies with Wind Bubbles.
Cannon I suppose 1,000 35 60 Collect X end-of-stage drops.
Cross of Water 3,000 8 10 12 14 10 12 14 16 Collect X special items.
Cross of Thunder 3,000 8 10 12 14 10 12 14 16 Collect X point items.
Transformation Potion 1,000 35 80 Collect X treasure items.
Ruby Ring 1,000 3 6 Collect X Pink Candies.
Amethyst Ring 1,000 3 6 Collect X Green Candies.
Crystal Ring 1,000 3 6 Collect X Blue Candies.
Super Heart 3,000 30 30 35 35 40 40 50 60 Collect X monster drops.
Purple Holy Water 300 24 29 Fall into X pits.
Red Holy Water 300 23 28 Fall into X pits.
Yellow Holy Water 300 22 27 Fall into X pits.
Gray Holy Water 300 21 26 Fall into X pits.
Orange Holy Water 300 20 25 Fall into X pits.
"Dynamite", a.k.a. a purple bomb 200 8 11 18 23 70 80 90 100 Pop X Fire Bubbles.
Clock 200 13 100 Pop X Thunder Bubbles.
Hourglass 1,000 13 100 Pop X Rainbow Bubbles.
Gray Scepter 1,200 8 20 Collect X bubble potions.
Yellow Scepter 1,200 7 18 Collect X bubble potions.
Red Scepter 1,200 6 16 Collect X bubble potions.
Orange Scepter 1,200 5 14 Collect X bubble potions.
Brown Scepter 1,200 4 12 Collect X bubble potions.
Blue Scepter 1,200 3 10 Collect X bubble potions.
Blue Shoes 100 12,288 N/A Walk for X frames.
Purple Shoes 100 9,216 N/A Walk for X frames.
Yellow Shoes 100 6,144 N/A Walk for X frames.
  • There are 8 special items that aren't in the item table. Put the following code in bublbob2p.xml to force one of them to appear:
  <cheat desc="Change Special Item">
    <parameter>
      <item value="0x00BE">Blue Chest</item>
      <item value="0x00BF">Purple Chest</item>
      <item value="0x00C0">Yellow Chest</item>
      <item value="0x00C1">Red Chest</item>
      <item value="0x00C2">Pink Chest</item>
      <item value="0x00EF">Silver and Yellow Candy</item>
      <item value="0x00F0">Silver and Purple Candy</item>
      <item value="0x00F1">Silver and Blue Candy</item>
    </parameter>
    <script state="run">
      <action>maincpu.pw@408D60=param</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>

BubbleSymphonyArcChestPlaceholder.png

All five chests use the Gray Magic Cane sprite BubbleSymphonyArcItem00E0.png as a placeholder. They act like the chests in the final game, but the big sprites for the Big Diamonds aren't properly set up yet. They're supposed to use animations 09 to 0D but instead use sprites 0009 to 000D, which are from an unused animation for Bubblun/Bobblun and their first jumping frame.

BubbleSymphonyArcSilverCandies.png

The three silver candies use effect ID 30, which is a null subroutine in the prototype. These items didn't make it into the final game.
  • A few items were changed to improve their effectiveness:
  • The lightning bolts that the Thunder Cross spawns fall every 181 frames in the prototype. This was decreased to every 61 frames in the final game.
  • When a Star Tiara is collected, stars spawn every 31 frames in the prototype and every 6 frames in the final game. Stars don't affect bubbled enemies in the prototype but they do in the final version.
Prototype Final
BubbleSymphonyArcBonusGameP.png BubbleSymphonyArcBonusGameF.png

BubbleSymphonyArcPineappleP.png

  • The Pineapple is incorrectly tagged as a point item instead of a monster drop, so it spawns 4 pixels below the ground.
Used Full
BubbleSymphonyArcDynamiteExplosionP.png BubbleSymphonyArcDynamiteExplosionF.png
  • The Dynamite item's explosion is assigned the incorrect palette in the prototype, appearing completely white; the actual palette can be seen in either of the sprite viewers. This was fixed in the final game.

Music Notes

  • The way that music notes work is very different in the prototype:

BubbleSymphonyArcNotes.png

There's only one color of music note: Pink. To get a key, players have to collect all 9 music notes in a world.

BubbleSymphonyArcKeyChest.png

When all notes are collected, the small items in the treasure chest are replaced by music notes worth 7,000 points, and the large diamond is replaced by a key. Only the Red, Blue, and Yellow Keys are available in the prototype.

BubbleSymphonyArcMusicNotes.png

In the final game, there are four different kinds of music notes. The music note color depends on what world the player is on.

BubbleSymphonyArcKeySpawn.png

A key spawns as soon as the player collects three notes of the same color.

BubbleSymphonyArcNoteDisplay.png

The game displays which notes have been collected both below the stage name and below the high score.
  • Keys don't do anything in the prototype but increment a counter at 408D93 in the RAM. This counter isn't used by anything else in the game.

Enemies

  • Only the following twelve enemies are code-complete in the prototype:
BubbleSymphonyArcEnemy00.png BubbleSymphonyArcEnemy01.png BubbleSymphonyArcEnemy04.png BubbleSymphonyArcEnemy02.png BubbleSymphonyArcEnemy08.png BubbleSymphonyArcEnemy0B.png BubbleSymphonyArcEnemy03.png
Zen-chan Mighta Monsta Pulpul Banebou Hidgeons Invader
BubbleSymphonyArcEnemy05.png BubbleSymphonyArcEnemy06.png BubbleSymphonyArcEnemy07.png BubbleSymphonyArcEnemy09.png BubbleSymphonyArcEnemy0A.png
Knightron Uni Bo Dorabo Dranko Magician

BubbleSymphonyArcDrunkProto.png

  • There's one other enemy, the Drunk, that is partially coded. It can move and jump around, but when it tries to attack, it freezes in its throwing animation.
Put the following code in MAME's bublbob2p.xml cheat file and enable it to replace the Zen-chans in the first stage with Drunks:
  <cheat desc="Get Drunk">
    <script state="run">
      <action>maincpu.mb@02F85C=0x8C</action>
      <action>maincpu.mb@02F860=0x8C</action>
      <action>maincpu.mb@02F864=0x8C</action>
    </script>
    <script state="off">
      <action>maincpu.mb@02F85C=0x80</action>
      <action>maincpu.mb@02F860=0x80</action>
      <action>maincpu.mb@02F864=0x80</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>
  • Five more enemies only exist as sprites:
BubbleSymphonyArcEnemy35.png BubbleSymphonyArcEnemy38.png BubbleSymphonyArcEnemy2D.png BubbleSymphonyArcEnemy3F.png BubbleSymphonyArcEnemy36.png
Name Flhoop RoboJ RoboL Ouji-Sama Hattonton
Frame IDs 06DF-06F1 N/A 06F2-06FE 06FF-070F
All of these enemies are lacking attack animations and projectile graphics.
  • Enemies take about twice as long to land after dying.
  • The Super Heart item transforms enemies into point items based on their species when players run into them. In the prototype, any enemy that wasn't part of the original Bubble Bobble turns into a Peach BubbleSymphonyArcItem0025.png worth 2000 points.
In the final game, Knightrons turn into pink diamonds BubbleSymphonyArcItem00AB.png worth 6,000 points, Uni Bos turn into Bananas BubbleSymphonyArcItem0027.png worth 500 points, and Drankos turn into Blue Diamonds BubbleSymphonyArcItem00B1.png worth 7,000 points. Dorabos and Magicians still turn into Peaches.

Boss Stages

General

  • Boss stages use the same music as every other stage in the prototype.
  • There are no boss intro animations yet.
  • With the exception of Super Drunk and Mechabubblun escaping from their bubbles, bosses are completely silent.
  • All bosses have 12 HP in the prototype. In the final game, the HP for normal bosses depends on what round it is.
  • There are no cameo bosses in the prototype.
  • All boss stages in the prototype only use the Thunder Bubble Potion, but the Fire, Water, and Rainbow Bubble Potions have already been coded and work as expected. Place the following cheat in MAME's bublbob2p.xml cheat file to swat out the Thunder Bubble Potion with one of the unused ones:
  <cheat desc="Change Bubble Potion">
    <parameter>
      <item value="0x00D0">Fire</item>
      <item value="0x00D1">Water</item>
      <item value="0x00D3">Rainbow</item>
    </parameter>
    <script state="run">
      <action>maincpu.mw@0505EE=param</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@0505F0=param</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@0505F2=param</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@0505F4=param</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@0505F6=param</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@0505F8=param</action>
    </script>
    <script state="off">
      <action>maincpu.mw@0505EE=0x00D2</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@0505F0=0x00D2</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@0505F2=0x00D2</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@0505F4=0x00D2</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@0505F6=0x00D2</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@0505F8=0x00D2</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>
  • Bubble Potions don't provide players with temporary rapid-fire capabilities yet.
Prototype Final
BubbleSymphonyArcCourseSelectP.png BubbleSymphonyArcCourseSelectF.png
  • The large treasure chest has no sound effects in the prototype.
  • The signs underneath the doors in the prototype are rather unhelpful, only including the text "over there" (あっち) and "over here (こっち). The final game uses different sign graphics that includes an icon and the name of the world the door leads to.
  • In the prototype, the large treasure chest stays around while the player chooses a door. In the final game, it disappears as soon as the doors spawn.
  • The prototype is missing the animation of the player(s) entering the door.

BubbleSymphonyArcWorldClear.png

  • The prototype has a unique "World Clear" screen that appears after entering one of the doors. The final game deletes this and instead places a World Clear graphic in the stage itself.

Super Drunk

  • In the prototype, Super Drunk only starts shooting bottles in his third phase, while in the final game, he starts from the second phase.
  • Super Drunk has an animation right before his third phase where he turns angry and starts billowing smoke. He's easy pickings in the prototype, but the final game makes him invincible in this animation.
  • Super Drunk has four movement speeds in his final phase that are based on both Rank and how low his HP is; these were all sped up in the final game. The values listed in the table below are in pixels per frames and apply to both vertical and horizontal movement:
00-15 Rank 16-18 Rank 19-21 Rank 22-24 Rank 25-27 Rank 28-30 Rank
Proto 0.500 (1st)
0.750 (2nd)
0.875 (3rd)
1.000 (4th)
0.600 (1st)
0.850 (2nd)
0.975 (3rd)
1.100 (4th)
0.700 (1st)
0.950 (2nd)
1.075 (3rd)
1.200 (4th)
0.800 (1st)
1.050 (2nd)
1.175 (3rd)
1.300 (4th)
0.900 (1st)
1.150 (2nd)
1.275 (3rd)
1.400 (4th)
1.000 (1st)
1.250 (2nd)
1.375 (3rd)
1.500 (4th)
Final 0.875 (1st)
1.000 (2nd)
1.125 (3rd)
1.250 (4th)
0.975 (1st)
1.100 (2nd)
1.225 (3rd)
1.350 (4th)
1.075 (1st)
1.200 (2nd)
1.325 (3rd)
1.450 (4th)
1.175 (1st)
1.300 (2nd)
1.425 (3rd)
1.550 (4th)
1.275 (1st)
1.400 (2nd)
1.525 (3rd)
1.625 (4th)
1.375 (1st)
1.500 (2nd)
1.625 (3rd)
1.625 (4th)
  • The delay between firing bottles is always 320 frames in the prototype. In the final game this is based on Rank:
00-03 Rank 04-06 Rank 07-09 Rank 10-13 Rank 14-17 Rank 18-23 Rank 24-30 Rank
480 frames 256 frames 192 frames 160 frames 128 frames 96 frames 64 frames
  • Super Drunk doesn't have to stop to fire bottles, which is more in line with how he acted in Bubble Bobble. He sits still for 30 frames in the final version.
  • In the prototype, Super Drunk always fires 6 bottles. In the final game, he'll fire between 3 to 8 bottles depending on how fast players gets to his second phase.

Super Monsta

  • The way that Super Monsta spawns Monstas was modified:
  • In the prototype, Super Monsta will try to spawn Monstas every 384 frames. In his first phase he'll never spawn any, in his second phase he'll spawn two, and in his final phase he'll spawn three. Only one batch of monsters can appear at once.
  • In the final game, Super Monsta will always try to spawn two at a time, provided there's space available. However, both of the boss stages he's in are fairly cramped, so he doesn't get the change to spawn enemies often. The spawn delay is based on Rank:
00-06 Rank 07-09 Rank 10-12 Rank 13-15 Rank 16-18 Rank 19-21 Rank 22-26 Rank 27-30 Rank
960 frames 840 frames 720 frames 600 frames 480 frames 360 frames 330 frames 300 frames
There can be multiple batches at a time, but there's a cap on the number that can be on-screen that's also based on Rank:
00-05 Rank 06-11 Rank 12-17 Rank 18-23 Rank 24-29 Rank 30 Rank
1 Monsta 2 Monstas 3 Monstas 4 Monstas 5 Monstas 6 Monstas
Note that since Super Monsta always spawns two at a time, he can go 1 Monsta over the limit if the number of Monstas on screen is Limit-1.

Super Mighta

  • In the prototype, Super Mighta can summon boulders every 240 frames. In the final game this delay depends on, as should be obvious by now, Rank:
00-03 Rank 04-06 Rank 07-09 Rank 10-12 Rank 13-16 Rank 17-20 Rank 21-30 Rank
300 frames 270 frames 240 frames 210 frames 180 frames 150 frames 120 frames
  • In the final version only, if Rank is at least 24, Super Mighta will spawn a Mighta after every 4 attacks.

Mechabubblun

  • Mechabubblun flies around twice as fast in the final game.

BubbleSymphonyArcMechabubblunAttack1.png BubbleSymphonyArcMechabubblunAttack2.png

  • Mechabubblun only has a single attack, one that doesn't appear at all in the final version. Its head floats a little bit off of its body, revealing its core, which then fires two sets of five energy balls. They go upwards off the top of the screen and then fall back down after a bit.
Prototype Final
BubbleSymphonyArcMechabubblunDefeatP.png BubbleSymphonyArcMechabubblunDefeatF.png
  • In the prototype, after being defeated, Mechabubblun's body slowly falls apart: First its right arm, then the right foot, then its head, its body, left arm, left leg, and finally its tail. In the final game, all of these parts fly off simultaneously.