The reason Bub and Bob are back and blowing bubbles this time, is because their friends have disappeared on a faraway island. The basic idea of the game is still the same, you trap the bad guys in the bubbles that you blow and then pop them to collect items. This formula is two decades old, but this new setup is terrible. The levels span across both screens but they also scroll to the right, so it makes it impossible to see what bad guys are coming at you from off the screen. Not to mention they throw things at you so fast that unless you can anticipate them, it’s really hard to react. At least there is an unlimited amount of continues.

In the new age version besides blowing your usual bubbles you can also charge a larger bubble if you hold down the B button. A fun trick is charging your bubble against a wall so that you can trap yourself inside and bounce back and forth a few times. The key to successfully completing the 30 levels is to use your bubbles wisely, position yourself carefully and use the special water, lightning and ghost bubbles. Apparently you can blow into the DS microphone in some levels with fans, but I didn’t come across any. There is a known bug with the game where it ends at level 30, when there are supposed to be 100 levels. At level 30, which is a boss level, there is simply no boss. You have no other options except to reset the game from there. Compared to the classic version, this version involves a little more strategy, but even then, the 30 level bug kind of brings the fun to a stop.

So we’re back to playing the classic Bubble Bobble which looks to be a direct port from the arcade. There is the option to play with a friend, which I remember being a blast to play, but it requires both people to have copies of the game. This is rather disappointing, especially since we are already feeling a little jipped from the lack of levels in the new age version. Although now you have the two cute original dinosaurs in the palm of your hand, going from screen to screen, which back then did not have any surprise blindspots. You still have an unlimited amount of continues but only 3 lives to play with before it’s game over. Scrambling to grab all the items is also a challenge, especially if you’re aiming for that high score.

The graphics have been slightly updated in the new age version, but nothing extraordinary to make it more endearing than the original. The music has been redone, but it’s not a huge advancement from the 1986 version. I noticed that there were a few levels where you are whisked away after a few seconds as though you have cleared the stage. This makes advancing much easier, but it really doesn’t make a lot of sense. It’s really too bad that this game is full of glitches, because it would have at least been some form of entertainment.

I really couldn’t recommend Bubble Bobble Revolution to anyone, until Codemasters decides to release a version that is not full of problems. The new version doesn’t use the touch screen at all, unless it’s the press start to start the game. The arcade version is just as good as it has always been, but it probably isn’t worth the money to pick it up for the Nintendo DS unless you are a diehard fan. Being able to play the original Bubble Bobble is a treat though, not only because it’s been so long, but it is one of the many symbolic representations of video games in the 80s.