---------------------------- The Bubble Symphony FAQ v1.1 ---------------------------- written by Carl Chavez (forego19@nwlink.com) with help from Tiri (anastos@informatik.tu-muenchen.de) Available at http://www.nwlink.com/~forego19/bb.html or bbn.html Other game FAQs at that site: NBA Jam NBA Jam Tournament Edition NBA Hangtime Bust-A-Move 1 and 2 Parasol Stars Rampart Run 'n' Gun ---------------- Game description ---------------- Bubble Bobble meets - New Zealand Story (aka Kiwi Kraze) Darius 2 Space Invaders Arkanoid Liquid Kid and the less famous (in U.S. and Europe)- Kiki Kaikai Quiz By Yu Yu Pulirula among others... ----------------- Dramatis Dragonae ----------------- Dragon Dragon Walking Bubble Bubble Bubble Name Color Speed Range Speed Shot Bubblun green 2 2 2 1 Bobblun blue 3 1 2 1 Kululun orange 2 3 1 1 Cororon purple 1 2 3 1 Walking speed - speed of walking Bubble range - range of bubbles Bubble speed - speed of bubbles Bubble shot - rate of bubble blowing --------- The Moves --------- Up - slow down fall Down - speed up fall 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 Bubble - blow a bubble or fireball hold Bubble - special blow of three bubbles Bubblun - straight ahead Bobblun - spread pattern Kululun - 'T' pattern Cororon - upside-down 'T' pattern Bubblun Bobblun Kululun Cororon / -+- | - - - <- | -+- \ --------- The Codes --------- Here's the code for choosing Normal Game or Super Game- U$RJBL$D Here's the code for starting the game as humans instead of dragons- LDUJR$BR Old codes for Bubble Bobble do odd things, too. Try BJBJBJ$P (Original Game code) or LBL$LJL$ (Shoes/Yellow Gum Code) and the game will begin with no background and remixed Bubble Bobble music! --------- The Items --------- --Bubbles-- All bubbles are 10 points each. 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. ONLY ONE STREAM CAN BE ON THE SCREEN AT A TIME. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER ON 'JAPANESQUE.' 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 in the general direction opposite to the dragon's facing. Its actual path is determined by the air currents of the level you're on. Thus, where you pop the whirlwind is important. All enemies hit by whirlwinds become purple diamonds. 'revenge' - Every so often, a bubble with a fiery globe will float around somewhere. Whichever dragon pops it will gain the power to fire dozens of fireballs for several levels. All enemies hit by fireballs become red diamonds. 'R', 'O', 'D' - If you wait for the 'Hurry Up!' to appear on levels 6, 11?, 17?, ??, and ?? then one of these letters will appear. If you spell ROD, then a Giant Rod will drop from the sky. This will surround you with an energy field. Anybody you touch while this exists will become a diamond. All enemies become diamonds when the field dissipates and the dragons will have become human. 'I'? - I _think_ I've seen this letter before, but have been unable to find it. I wonder what it does... could it be some kind of Key? Back home, perhaps? --Summoning Scrolls and Items-- All Scrolls are XXXX points each. Green - ??? from ??? comes out to smash enemies with his mallet. Enemies he hits become ???. You can control him with the joystick and Jump. Press Bubble to smash. Grayish White - the Space invaders base ship. It cannot jump, so be careful about where you move it. It shoots through walls. Only one bullet is allowed at a time. Enemies shot by the base become ???. Purple - ??? from ??? will help you. You can control her. She has very short range with her magic spell, which turns enemies into ???. Pink - Tiki from New Zealand Story/Kiwi Kraze hops out of the ether and slings arrows of doom at the enemies so they will be ???. Blue - White Flag - don't know what it IS, but what it DOES is summon ??? from ???. He can be controlled, and his shuriken turn enemies into ???. Heart - summons a large anthropomorphic hippo who is not listed in the end credits. She's four times the size of the dragons (about the size of the characters from Giant World in Parasol Stars). She appears to cause Lightning damage, because if she touches a dragon the dragon is shocked. She will blow kisses if you press Bubble, but it is much more fun to trample the enemies under her massive feet. They will become ???. ??? - summons the Silver Hawk from Darius 2. It ???. ??? - summons Mr. Mikata from Pulirula. It ???. --Bubble Gum-- Orange - increase Bubble Shot (blow bubbles faster) Blue - bubbles move faster Purple - bubbles float farther --Rings-- Purple - each jump (excluding jumps on bubbles) = 500 pts Blue - each step = 10 pts ??? - ??? --Crosses-- Yellow - lightning streaks from the top of the screen and giant lightning bolts turn enemies into yellow diamonds. Blue - water floods the screen and turns enemies into blue diamonds *AFTER* the water fills the screen. While the screen fills, your dragon is still vulnerable!!! Red - dragon will gain ability to shoot about a dozen fireballs. Enemies hit will become red diamonds. --Secret Doors-- There are secret doors in the game. To have one appear, you must not die in that world until the level the door appears. You can die on that level, though, and the door will still open. Doors appear on levels 5, 13, ???, ???, ???, and ???. Each secret door will be filled with Large diamonds and have a Giant item suspended in a bubble. There is also a message encoded on the wall. The code is given on the first line on each wall. The messages are: Level 5 - THE ROAD IN FRONT OF YOU HAS MANY FORKS... BUT THERE'S ONLY ONE PLACE TO GO. Level 13 - ??? (I forgot to write it down, but I have it on film) I have not reached the secret doors on any other world yet. --Miscellaneous items-- Rod - turns all bubbles into fruit. Candy Cane - when level ends, all bubbles will turn into 700 pt. fruit. In addition, a giant item will fall from the top. Blue popsicle - 10k. Peach? - 20k. ??? - 30k. ??? - 40k. Treasure Chest - like a Candy Cane, but a 50k pt. Giant blue diamond will fall. Tennis shoes - dragon moves faster. Goldfish cracker - ? pts. Purple ??? - 30 pts. Crystal Ball - all hidden Keys will be ghosted onto the screen for several levels. Necklace - an Arkanoid ball will bounce around, turning any enemy it hits into a blue diamond. Gold tiara - stars will fall from the sky and turn all enemies into 10k items. Silver tiara - the screen will become brighter and all enemies will become 10k items. ------------------------ Locations of hidden keys ------------------------ Locations are given as a general location. I have divided the screen into 9 sections: +---+---+---+ | | | | | A | B | C | | | | | +---+---+---+ | | | | | D | E | F | | | | | |---+---+---+ | | | | | G | H | I | | | | | +---+---+---+ FIRST LEVEL- B LEFT DOOR CENTRAL DOOR RIGHT DOOR 2 B I 3 D E 4 5 E 6 D W 7 Boss - Hyper Drunk Boss - Hyper Drunk Boss - Hyper Drunk KIKI KAIKAI RADISH LAND 1 2 3 4 5 A 6 F 7 B 8 Boss - Manuke Boss - Clown Wizard SUN 'A'-ZONE TV MACHINE 1 B 2 E 3 A 4 5 6 H 7 8 E 9 Boss - Yamato Crab Boss - Super Invader PYRAMID LAND CENTRAL PARK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Boss - ??? Mecha Boss - FOREST LAND JAPANESQUE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Boss- Father ??? Boss - King ??? LAST LEVEL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Boss - Hyper Drunk Puppet, Papal Hyper Drunk --- MAP --- Key- +---+ +-------------+ /--|1st|-\ |map abbrev. | / +---+ \ |boss weapon | / | \ |R-O-D letter | +----+ +----+ +----+ +-------------+ |LEFT| |CENT| |RGHT| |Zap | |Rain| |Wind| Zap - lightning | R | | R | | | Rain - rainbows +----+ +----+ +----+ Wind - whirlwinds \ | / Fire - fire \- | -/ Music -musical notes \|/ X / \ +------+/ \+------+ |RADISH| |KIKI | |Wind | |Rain | | D | | O | +------+ +------+ | \ / | +------+ +------+ +------+ |KIKI | |SUNAZN| |TVMACH| |Zap | |Zap | |Wind | | O | | | | | +------+ +------+ +------+ / X X \ +------+ +------+ +------+ +------+ |PYRAMD| |CENTRL| |CPULND| |RADISH| | | | | |Water | |Zap | | | | | | | | | +------+ +------+ +------+ +------+ / X X X \ +------+ +------+ +------+ +------+ +------+ |FOREST| |JPNSQE| |TRSRE | |WTRFLL| |SKYPLC| |Fire | |Water | |Zap | | | | | | | +------+ +------+ +------+ +------+ +------+ \ \ | / / \ \ | / / \--------\-----+----/--------/ | +-------+ | LAST | |Music | | D | +-------+ ------ BOSSES ------ HYPER DRUNK - FIRST LEVEL (ANY DOOR) Hyper Drunk is the old Bubble Bobble boss. He doesn't throw wine bottles as much as in the old game; many times you'll defeat him without even seeing him throw any bottles. He will usually stay in the middle of the screen. But if you inflict certain amounts of damage, he will become angry and charge you. If you see him get angry, just stop what you're doing and dodge him until he returns to the center of the screen. To defeat him with lightning, move to the top of the screen, drop off one of the sides and repeatedly press Bubble and Jump after you have dropped halfway down. You'll be popping lightning bubbles, jumping after getting shocked, and popping more. Since you will be hovering, you'll have a large concentration of bolts going toward Hyper Drunk. Stop pressing Jump when you near the top of the screen or when Hyper Drunk becomes angry. After he charges, repeat the procedure until you can pop him. Your wall of lightning should protect you from any bottles he throws at you. An alternative is to blow a large amount of bubbles on the side of the wall from about two dragon lengths away and pop the whole bunch of them when they near the top of the screen by moving toward the wall. I think this takes longer, but some people find it easier. To defeat him with rainbows, stay on the ground and simply blow the bubbles into the center of the screen. The air currents will carry the bubbles right through Hyper Drunk. Just pop a large ribbon of bubbles at once and he'll get hurt a lot. When he gets angry, just move left or right and continue blowing into the center. To defeat him with wind, just move your dragon into a corner and blow bubbles into the wall. Winds will follow the air currents into the center and hurt Hyper Drunk. By the time he's angry he's only got about 3 or 4 life bars left. Dodge if you have to, but sometimes he can't even reach you before he dies. CLOWN WIZARD - RADISH LAND I don't know what his name is, but he looks like a clown and has magical powers. He's also ridiculously easy. He will throw fireballs in 8 directions from each hand and will hurl his own head at you. Hit either the head or the body to hurt him. To defeat him with wind, just move to a corner and blow away. You may have to dodge his fireballs or head, but you'll kill him eventually. To defeat him with ??? MANUKE - KIKI KAIKAI Manuke is a cute girl who happens to be wearing a Tanooki suit. As a girl, she will levitate and wave a wand which conjures up whirling leaves. If you walk under her, she will become stone and do nothing. When you're to the left or right of her, she may become a raccoon which blows Ps, Os, Ns and paw-shapes at you (PON is the sound of a raccoon?). These objects will bounce on the ground and may travel high up, so watch the top of the screen for falling shapes. When using rainbows against her, you'll find that the bubbles drift toward the sides. Make sure you're popping the bubbles in the direction she's going, because she moves quickly enough to dodge rainbows that drop where she was. Whenever possible, move under her so she becomes stone. When she's stone you can drop lots of rainbows on her. When she's a raccoon she won't move but she will blow lots of objects at you so you'll have to dodge them. To defeat her with lightning, stay on the opposite side of her and blow bubbles onto the walls. BEWARE THE LEAVES, they sweep around and you may find yourself unable to go up or down. Even though you'll have to dodge a lot, remember to point away from Manuke so your lightning bolts fire toward her. SUPER INVADER - TV MACHINE I couldn't think of a better name for this guy either... The Super Invader is a space invader 3/4 the size of Hyper Drunk. It has a seemingly normal space invader on both sides of itself, and four rows of normal space invaders below it. There are four indestructible shields to stop the invaders' shots. You use winds to destroy the space invaders as they move slowly down. The winds will not injure the Super Invader or its guards. (Has anybody ever allowed the invaders to reach the bottom?) After you've destroyed the four rows of invaders, then the Super Invader and his guards will become annoyed. The super invader will fire five shots in a spread pattern, and the guards will fire beam lasers at the ground for a few seconds. Air currents will carry the winds along the walls if you pop them there, so the best way to hurt the Invader is to move back and forth along the ground hoping that the whirlwinds will hit the thing. Because the air currents carry the winds almost straight up, they are most likely to hit if you pop the bubbles a little bit ahead of the Invader. Watch the guards; when they're about to fire their beams you'll see a wave-motion-gun style glowing effect. Get under the Invader to dodge the beams and follow the Invader's movements until a beam stops. STOP BLOWING BUBBLES WHILE THE BEAMS ARE ACTIVE! If you continue to blow bubbles while you're dodging the beams, the bubbles may push you into a beam! Note: if you do not destroy the invader rows quickly, a bonus saucer will fly across the screen. Hit it with a whirlwind and it will crash to the ground. A 3000 pt fruit will appear. YAMATO CRAB - SUN "A" ZONE The great super-battleship Yamato arises from the deep to destroy the Gamalon fleet led by Desslok... er, actually it arises as the shell for a giant crab mecha. ??? MECHA - PYRAMID LAND, CENTRAL PARK A mecha version of a ???. FATHER MIGHTA - FOREST LAND, TREASURE DESERT This is a Giant Mighta. He wears a cape and carries a sceptre. KING Monsta- JAPANESQUE This is a Giant Monsta. He wears a cape and crown. ------- Credits ------- Thanks to the Sno-King Ice Arena for being the ONLY PLACE IN THE WHOLE STATE OF WASHINGTON, USA that has Bubble Symphony, and thanks to my roommate David Haramoto for finding an apartment that's only a few blocks away from the skating rink. And thanks to a certain employee at the rink who, after hearing me swearing up a storm, walked up to me and my friend Anthony Greulich and said, "I don't mind you guys playing this game, but please don't swear around here; there are kids around." So now I don't swear as much... Thanks to Tiri... Thanks to Anthony Greulich... ---------------- Copyright Notice ---------------- Copyright 1996 Carl Chavez. This article may not appear in any for-profit magazine (especially EGM) without permission.