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bublbob2: MAME ROM Information.

History:

Bubble Bobble II (c) 1994 Taito.

Bubble Bobble II is the first direct sequel to Taito's 1986 platform classic, "Bubble Bobble" ('Rainbow Islands' was the first official sequel, but played very differently) in which one or two players take on the role of the infamous bubble-blowing dinosaurs who must once again fight their way through a large number of single-screen platform-based levels, trapping monsters with their bubbles before bursting them to destroy the trapped enemies.

While Bubble Bobble II plays identically to its predecessor, several new changes and additions have been made to breathe new life into the classic gameplay. As well as new bonuses, weapons, enemies and characters, players can now create 'Multiple Bubbles'; if the player holds the button down for a few seconds before releasing, up to three bubbles are produced at once.

Other gameplay changes include Boss encounters that occur every five to ten levels. These boss screens are part of a new 'branching level' structure; once a boss is defeated, players chose to enter one of two doors to determine what level set they tackle next.

In addition to Bubble Bobble's original heroes, Bub and Bob, two new selectable female characters have been added, called Kululun and Cororon. Each of the four dinosaurs possess different gameplay attributes, which are as follows :

* Bubblun - Average

* Bobblun - Faster speed

* Kululun - Bubbles float the furthest

* Cororon - Bubbles float the fastest

Bubble Bobble II's graphics are, inevitably, a vast improvement over the original game; with lush, colourfully rendered backgrounds and detailed, smoothly animated sprites doing full justice to Bubble Bobble's legendary characters. The game also features cameo appearances by a number of characters from many other Taito classics.

Bubble Bobble II features multiple endings.

- TECHNICAL -

Taito F3 System hardware

Game ID : D90

Main CPU : 68EC020 (@ 16 Mhz)

Sound CPU : 68000 (@ 16 Mhz)

Sound Chips : ES5505 (@ 15.23805 Mhz)

Screen orientation : Horizontal

Video resolution : 320 x 224 pixels

Screen refresh : 58.97 Hz

Palette colors : 8192

Players : 2

Control : 8-way joystick

Buttons : 2

= > [1] Bubble, [2] Jump

- TRIVIA -

Released in October 1994.

This game is also known as "Bubble Symphony". Though the game was sold for home systems as "Bubble Bobble II", Bubble Symphony is unofficially Bubble Bobble 4, since three earlier arcade games featuring the same characters exist (more if the 'Puzzle Bobble' series is included). It could even be called 'Bubble Bobble V', since a cartridge for the NES/Famicom exists called 'Bubble Bobble 2'.

In the attract mode title sequence, Bubblun appears in front of a closed red curtain (which will turn blue if the 'Game Mode Select' code is entered) announcing, 'Ladies and Gentlemen, this is... Bubble Bobble II!' The curtain then opens on the cast of enemies as follows :

* Bottom row (left to right) : Flhoop, Uni Bo, Drunk, Banebou, Invader, Zen-Chan, Mighta, Rappappa, Catch Maru, Roboj, Hattonton

* 2nd row from bottom (left to right) : Monsta, Komso, Kabukky, Mya-Ta, Heita-Kun, Warurin, Hidegonsu, No-No, Upper, Ame Da-Ma, PulPul

* 2nd row from top (left to right) : Robol, Rocketl, Yuki-Bombo, Mummy, Chu-Chu Man, Jiji Poppo, Kiri Kabu Kun, Bolt Man, Strong Shell

* Top row (left to right) : Dorabo, Ouji Sama, Knightron, Dranko, Magician, Denkyu-Kun, Ankororin

* Not pictured : Puka Puka, Bake Couchin, Killer Hijia, Ti Ta Ma, Kasabe, Kon-Chan, Mimic, Skel-Monsta, Nyororin, Rascal, Yu Bo, Unicoron, Cerberorin, Kabu-Chan, YZK-Takami, Golem

In the closing credits, PulPul's name is listed as 'Puru Puru'.

The enemy known as 'Catch Maru' can be seen in two different color schemes : one with a blue robe and purple shoes (as seen in the attract mode title sequence), and one with a green robe and blue shoes.

The game forbids the initials 'SEX' on the high score table. If you try, it gets changed to 'H !'.

There are a grand total of 164 rooms in the game, including 18 boss rooms.

- UPDATES -

In 'Super' mode, accessible after entering the 'Game mode select' code (see 'Tips and Tricks' below), enemies are switched around, as follows (Legend : 'Normal' mode monster --> 'Super' mode monster) :

Zen-Chan --> Warurin (and vice-versa)

Mighta --> Dranko (and vice-versa)

Monsta --> Yu Bo

PulPul --> Strong Shell (and vice-versa)

Banebou --> Kasabe (and vice-versa)

Hidegonsu --> Hattonton

Drunk --> Chu-Chu Man

Invader --> Flhoop

Flhoop --> Bolt Man

Yuki-Bombo --> Drunk

Mya-Ta --> Yuki Bombo

Chu-Chu Man --> Hidegonsu

Magician --> Knightron (and vice-versa)

Komso --> Cerberorin (and vice-versa)

Catch Maru (in blue robe and purple shoes) --> No-No

Catch Maru (in green robe and blue shoes) --> Kabu-Chan

Mummy --> Unicoron

Puka Puka --> Bake Couchin

Ame Da-Ma --> Nyororin

Upper --> Kiri Kabu Kun (and vice-versa)

Bake Couchin --> Ame Da-Ma

Hattonton --> Roboj

Ti Ta Ma --> Robol (and vice-versa)

Heita-Kun --> Jiji Poppo

Kabukky --> Uni Bo (and vice-versa)

Nyororin --> Puka Puka

Ouji Sama --> Mummy

Yu Bo --> Golem

Rappappa --> Ouji Sama

Golem --> Monsta

Roboj --> Mya-Ta

Unicoron --> Rappappa

Kabu-Chan --> Heita-Kun

Bolt Man --> Invader

Jiji Poppo --> Catch Maru (in blue robe and purple shoes)

No-No --> Catch Maru (in green robe and blue shoes)

Monsters not listed remain the same.

- TIPS AND TRICKS -

* Always Access Secret Rooms : Before inserting your coin, at the intro screen with the curtain, press Jump, Bubble, Jump, Bubble, Jump, Bubble, Left, Start. A tone will sound.

* Black Background And Classic Music : Before inserting your coin, at the intro screen with the curtain, press Bubble, Jump, Bubble, Jump, Bubble, Jump, Right, Start. A tone will sound. The background of each room will be black and the original Bubble Bobble theme will play instead of the usual music.

Alternative Codes :

1. Left, Jump, Left, Start, Left, Bubble, Left, Start.

2. Start, Jump, Bubble, Left, Right, Jump, Start, Right.

* Game mode select : before inserting your coin, at the intro screen with the curtain, press Up, Start, Right, Jump, Bubble, Left, Start, Down. The curtain will turn blue. You can now choose between 'normal game' and 'super game'. In 'Super' mode, platforms appear in different colors, and most of the monsters are switched around (see 'Updates' above).

* Unlock Human Characters : Before inserting your coin, at the intro screen with the curtain, press Left, Down, Up, Jump, Right, Start, Bubble, Right. A tone will sound. You can now choose from 4 human characters.

* Fastest and Max Bubble : Down, Bubble, Jump, Start, Left, Right, Left, Start.

- SERIES -

1. Bubble Bobble (1986)

2. Rainbow Islands - The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 (1987)

3. Final Bubble Bobble (1988, Sega Master System)

4. Parasol Stars - The Story of Bubble Bobble III (1991, NEC PC-Engine)

5. Bubble Bobble Part 2 (1993, Nintendo Famicom)

6. Bubble Bobble II (1994)

7. Bubble Memories - The Story of Bubble Bobble III (1995)

8. Rainbow Islands - Putty's Party (2000, Bandai Wonderswan)

9. Bubble Bobble Revolution (2005, Nintendo DS)

10. New Rainbow Islands (2005, Nintendo DS)

11. Bubble Bobble Evolution (2006, Sony PSP)

12. Bubble Bobble Double Shot (2007, Nintendo DS)

13. Rainbow Islands Towering Adventure! (2009, Nintendo WiiWare)

14. Bubble Bobble Plus! (2009, Nintendo WiiWare)

15. Bubble Bobble Neo! (2009, Xbox Live Arcade)

- STAFF -

Project leader : Keppel Maekawa

Game planners : Yoshitake Shirei, Keppel Maekawa

Software designers : Harumi. K, Meltycat!, Kunio Kuzukawa, Takahiro Natani (Helper Natani)

Map creators : Taka. Furukawa, Yoshitake Shirei

Character designers : Turtle Mizukami, T. Ozaki, Koji?!, Yourychan

Dot design works : Akiyoshi Takada, Mari Fukusaki, Mochi Mochi Natsuko, Shigeki Yamamoto, Ken, Yourychan, Lin Chinkai (Indy Chinkai)

All music & sound composed by : Yasuko Yamada (Zuntata)

Sound effects : Ishikawa Babio (BABI) (Zuntata)

Music adviser : Tamayo Kawamoto (Zuntata)

Instruction designers : Mihoko Sudoh, Rintaroh Doi

Hardware Works : Katsumi Kaneoka, Hironobu Suzuki, Jun Sawaki

- PORTS -

* Consoles :

Sega Saturn (1997)

There was also a Sony PlayStation port by Virgin, but was not marketed.

Microsoft XBOX (2006, "Taito Legends 2") : as "Bubble Symphony".

Sony PlayStation 2 (2006, "Taito Legends 2") : as "Bubble Symphony".

* Computers :

PC [CD-ROM] (2006, "Taito Legends 2") : as "Bubble Symphony".

- SOURCES -

Game's rom.

MAME Info:

0.37b11 [Bryan McPhail]

Artwork available

WIP:

- 0.133u1: Renamed (bubsympe) to (bubsymphe), (bubsympu) to (bubsymphu), (bubsymph) to (bubsymphj) and (bubsympb) to (bubsymphb).

- 0.127u2: Brian Troha added redumped roms for the clone Bubble Symphony (bootleg with OKI6295).

- 0.126: Tirino73 added clone Bubble Symphony (bootleg with OKI6295). This is a 1994 bootleg without ensoniq sound system, it has some graphical problems because the actual bootleg hardware doesn't replicate the f3 system perfectly.

- 3rd December 2006: Mr. Do - We have the instruction card for Bubble Symphony from Tormod.

- 0.106u12: MASH added plds ($0, 200, 400, 600, 800 - pal16l8a-d77-09.bin, pal16l8a-d77-10.bin, palce16v8q-d77-11.bin, palce16v8q-d77-12.bin and palce16v8q-d77-14.bin) to clone Bubble Symphony.

- 17th April 2006: Tirino73 dumped Bubble Symphony (bootleg with OKI6295), this romset comes from a bootleg single board modified Taito F3 System, the only known bootleg/hacked game of this system.

- 0.105u1: Changed description of 'Bubble Bobble 2 (World)' to 'Bubble Bobble II (Ver 2.5O 1994/10/05)' and clones 'Bubble Symphony (Europe)' to 'Bubble Symphony (Ver 2.5O 1994/10/05)', 'Bubble Symphony (US)' to 'Bubble Symphony (Ver 2.5A 1994/10/05)' and 'Bubble Symphony (Japan)' to 'Bubble Symphony (Ver 2.5J 1994/10/05)'.

- 20th February 2005: Bryan McPhail - Correct VRAM layer mixing in Bubble Bobble 2. This fixes boss stages (energy bars now have correct priority against the VRAM platforms).

- 0.60: Added clone Bubble Symphony (Europe).

- 19th March 2002: Pekka Salmia and Brian Troha submitted an addition of the European version of Bubble Symphony to the Taito F3 driver.

- 0.37b11: Bryan McPhail added Bubble Bobble 2 (World) (Taito 1994) and clones Bubble Symphony (US) and (Japan).

- 16th January 2001: Bryan McPhail fixed some memory corrupting bugs in the Taito F3 driver.

- 15th January 2001: Bryan McPhail finally submitted his Taito F3 driver, which is not graphically perfect and crashes hard sometimes but has complete ES5505 sound emulation thanks to Aaron Giles, Ian Schmidt and R. Belmont. Not all games are working due to 68020 core bugs, but these are: Ring Rage, Arabian Magic, Riding Fight, Grid Seeker: Project Stormhammer, Gunlock / Rayforce, Super Cup Finals / Hat Trick Hero '93, Top Ranking Stars, Light Bringer, Kaiser Knuckle / Global Champion, Bubble Bobble 2 / Bubble Symphony, Space Invaders DX, Taito Power Goal / Hat Trick Hero '95, Quiz Theater - 3tsu no Monogatari, Akkanvader, Moriguchi Hiroko no Quiz de Hyuu!Hyuu!, Puzzle Bobble 2 / Bust-A-Move Again, Puzzle Bobble 2X, Kyukyoku Tiger 2, Bubble Memories, Cleopatra Fortune, Puzzle Bobble 3, Arkanoid Returns, Kirameki Star Road, Puchi Carat and Pop 'N Pop.

LEVELS: 62

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Romset: 11776 kb / 14 files / 4.39 zip

MAME XML Output:

<description>Bubble Bobble II (Ver 2.5O 1994/10/05)</description>

<manufacturer>Taito Corporation Japan</manufacturer>

</input>

</game>

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