''Now, it is the beginning of a fantastic story! Let us make a journey to the cave of monsters! Good luck!''

Bubble Bobble is a classic arcade game made by Taito and released in 1986. It features two cute bubble dragon critters named [[color:green:Bubblun]] and [[color:blue:Bobblun]] who [[BubbleGun spit/blow bubbles]] to trap and pop a wide variety of weird enemy creatures (including wind-up toys) that [[OneHitPointWonder kill them in one hit]].

You want the truth? YouShouldKnowThisAlready: They're really two ''human boys'' named [[color:green:Bubby]] and [[color:blue:Bobby]] who are cursed with a transformation into bubble dragons and they have to rescue their human girlfriends (Betty and Patty, respectively) from a green-hooded giant named [[GannonBanned Super Drunk]].

[-[[MST3KMantra Pardon the anti-Woolseyism name confusion. We get that a lot.]]-]

It spawned a lot of [[NonLinearSequel Non-Linear Sequels]] which may [[TitleConfusion leave a person confused as to what the second installment is supposed to be]] or when each installment takes place:
*Rainbow Islands [-The Story of Bubble Bobble II-] (1987)
*Parasol Stars [-The Story of Bubble Bobble III-] ([[TurboGrafxSixteen TurboGrafx 16]]) (1991)
*Bubble Bobble '''''Part''''' 2 ([[NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]], GameBoy) (1993) also known as Junior on Game Boy, apparently takes place ''after'' Symphony
*Bubble Symphony (aka Bubble Bobble II) (1994)
*Bubble Memories [-The Story of Bubble Bobble III-] (1995) which apparently takes place ''before'' Symphony but after Parasol Stars [[spoiler:because Bub and Bob use their parasols in the good and happy endings.]]
*[-[[VideoGameRemake Bubble Bobble Old and New]] ([[GameBoyAdvance GBA]]) (2003-04)-]
*[-[[SoBadItsGood Bubble Bobble Revolution]] ([[NintendoDS DS]]) (2005-06)-]
*[-[[ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself Bubble Bobble Evolution]] ([[PlaystationPortable PSP]]) (2006)-]
*[-[[SoBadItsGood Rainbow Islands Revolution]] (DS, PSP) (2005-08)-]
*[-[[SoBadItsGood Rainbow Islands Evolution]] (PSP) (2007-08)-]
*[-[[SoBadItsGood Bubble Bobble Double Shot]] (DS) (2007-08)-]
*[-[[VideoGameRemake Bubble Bobble Plus]] ({{Wii}})/[[VideoGameRemake Bubble Bobble Neo]] ([[XboxThreeSixty Xbox 360]]) (2009)-]
*[-[[VideoGameRemake Rainbow Islands: Towering Adventure]] (Wii) (2009)-]

And it spawned a spinoff which has its ''own'' sequels:
*Puzzle Bobble / Bust-A-Move (1994)
*Puzzle Bobble 2 / Bust-A-Move 2 aka [[{{Americanitis}} Again]] (1995)
**[[UpdatedRerelease Puzzle Bobble 2x]] ([[NoExportForYou Japanese]], 1995)
*Puzzle Bobble 3 / Bust-A-Move 3 (1996)
*Puzzle Bobble 4 / Bust-A-Move 4 (1997)
*[-Bust-A-Move Millennium (GBC) (2000)-]
*Super Puzzle Bobble / [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore Super Bust-A-Move]] (PS2, GBA) (2000)
**[-[[TitleConfusion Super Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move All Stars, aka Bust-A-Move 3000]] ({{Gamecube}})-]
*[-Super Puzzle Bobble 2 / Super Bust-A-Move 2 ([=PS2=]) (2002)-]
*[-Puzzle Bobble DS ([[NoExportForYou Japanese]], DS) (2005)-]
*[-Bust-A-Move DS / Hippatte Puzzle Bobble (DS) (2005-06)-]
*[-[[SoBadItsHorrible Bust-A-Move Bash]] (Wii) (2007)-]
*[-[[RecycledInSpace SPACE]] [[ContinuingIsPainful Puzzle Bobble]] / [[RecycledInSpace SPACE]] [[ContinuingIsPainful Bust-A-Move]] (DS) (2008-09)-]
*[-Bust-A-Move Plus (Wii) (2009)-]

----
!!Tropes used in the video games:
* AdaptationDecay: ''Anyone who relies solely on the NES manual's comic will be surprised that the characters are all humans and not [[strike:dinosaurs]] [[DinosaursAreDragons bubble dragons]]!'' This caused a Plot Tumor for the ''Puzzle Bobble / Bust-A-Move" series and DS games; see the listing below.
* AdaptationDisplacement: Most people seem to believe the NES version that's now also on Virtual Console was the original. ''There was an arcade version, and it did NOT include [[NintendoHard a compulsory crystal ball]]!''
** Oddly, the Bubble Bobble Plus website has the NES version rather than the arcade's version of the Bubble Bobble logo. Maybe because [[ExecutiveMeddling Nintendo has the licensing?]]
* [[AllThereInTheManual All There In The Flyers (and Manual)]]: The storylines are not explicitly stated in the first game itself.
** Exceptions: The Story heading in the Bubble Symphony flyer is misleading ''and'' self-contradictory. By this time though the [[AttractMode Attract Modes]] begin to show the true story. Also, don't just rely on the NES version's manual stated above.
* AssPull: True ending of Bubble Bobble, arcade/NES/Virtual Console, and then the Game Boy (original monochrome) versions.
* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: Bosses, and some enemies in ''Memories'', are larger than the protagonists. But hey, in ''Memories'' they can find an item that makes themselves big too.
* BetaCouple: [[color:magenta:Cororon]] and [[color:orange:Kululun]], female companions, in ''Bubble Symphony''. And [[WhoIsThisGuyAgain whoever the heck the new magenta and orange females in Plus (WiiWare) are. Pab and Peb?]]
* BonusStage:
** Getting a certain item in ''Bubble Bobble'' to make all enemies disappear and put the player(s) in a race against the clock to get all or most of another type of item.
** If not for those in the NES version of '''''Part''' 2'' (after a world boss is defeated) being outright stated as bonus games along with the word "bonus" in the font of ''Bubble Bobble'''s secret rooms, they'd be an UnexpectedGenreChange.
* BubbleGun: Exhale/blow outward if you're a bubble dragon. [[spoiler:Or, if you're human and you have it, blowing through a bubble straw.]]
** And then the PC version cover of the first Puzzle Bobble game has [[spoiler: Bub as a bubble dragon using a bubble straw to blow bubbles]]. Talk about [[DidNotDoTheResearch lack of research!]]
* ChestMonster: in ''Bubble Symphony'''s Treasure Desert world. The enemy is named Mimic.
* CirclingBirdies: In the arcade version of ''Bubble Bobble'', when Bub/Bob "[[NotQuiteDead dies]]"/[[CriticalExistenceFailure dies]] they spin out and fall backwards, having stars above their heads as their eyes follow dizzily.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: In the ''Bubble Bobble'' series, root for green and blue! And magenta. And orange. Also, each bubble in the ''Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move'' games is sorted by color like in Tetris.
* ColorCodedMultiplayer
* ContinuingIsPainful: In Space Puzzle Bobble/Space Bust-a-Move, when you continue, you start from the first of the group of five levels all over again. And out of all available reviews, only Nintendo Power's Sept 2009 issue is most outright in pointing that flaw out.
* CursedWithAwesome: Blow bubbles to turn enemies into food! How cool is that?
** [[AndYourRewardIsClothes Considering in Bubble Symphony you can do this even as humans]], and, [[WeaksauceWeakness in general, once cursed you die too easily]], there isn't really any advantage to being dragons. Especially [[HowDoIShotWeb because any other person who is transformed (other than the protagonists) is so scared he/she doesn't even know they can use such a cool weapon.]]
* DeathThrows: ''Parasol Stars'' and ''Bubble Bobble '''Part''' 2''. Also the US/Japanese NES version of ''Rainbow Islands''.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: If one thinks about [[http://www.vazcomics.org/mamend/png/pbob0007.png this Puzzle Bobble 2 ending]] and/or one of the good endings of ''Bubble Symphony'' with the premise of having to bubble and pop these enemies to turn them into food and items and then move on... Okay, it's a MindScrew.
* DegradedBoss: Super Drunk in the first ''Bubble Bobble'' returns in ''Bubble Symphony'', a lot easier and the first boss you meet. He appears in other games in between as well but who knows?
* DescendingCeiling: In ''Puzzle Bobble'' and ''Puzzle Bobble 2''.
* DistressedDamsel: Bub and Bob's girlfriends. [[spoiler:And their parents. [[AssPull Wait, what?!]]]]
* EarlyBirdCameo: Mighta/Stoner and Monsta/Beluga (the white-hooded boulder roller and floating purple head respectively) were the main enemies in ''Chack'n Pop'', an earlier Taito game.
* EarWorm: AUUUUGH!!! [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTmJJ0lUyQc Too catchy!]] They even throw it in other games in the series too!
** Or perhaps CrowningMusicOfAwesome! Some of the tracks in the Arrange Mode of ''Plus'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6Ku1i-LLZ4 can be quite catchy in a very pleasant way]]...The original theme included!
* [[EverythingsBetterWithSpinning Everything's Better With Spinning]]: When anyone, be it protagonist or cute baddie, dies. Most previous Taito games did not feature anyone spinning upon death.
* EverythingFades: '''LoveItOrHateIt''', the eight outward facing lines when a dizzy-dead protagonist or an item that's been left alone disappears are not the equivalent of explosions. The protagonists poof away into magic dust and items poof into a cloud of dust that quickly dissipates, as shown in ''Symphony''. Maybe it's because the 8 outward facing lines in ''Bubble Bobble'' and its remakes as well as the Game Boy games are [[WildMassGuessing so ambiguous.]]
* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Or: Everything is out there trying to touch you. And kill you by doing so.
* ExcusePlot: The Game Boy and Game Boy Color ports, [[JustifiedTrope due to them being single-player]], has Bub looking for the [[ChekhovsGun Moon Water]] [[TheLawOfConservationOfDetail "so [he] can help [his] brother"]] instead of rescuing his girlfriend. Because trying to leave in a plot [[spoiler: that requires 2 players to finish on a 1-player portable]] was too hard back then.
* FloatingInABubble: Main mode of transportation.
* ForgottenPhlebotinum: Holding down the bubble button to: Inflate oneself to float, shoot bubbles in a pattern, or shoot giant bubbles. Each of these only applies to '''one''' game in the 1990s, no more.
* GannonBanned: ''Super'' Drunk is the FinalBoss in ''Bubble Bobble''. ''Hyper'' Drunk is the TrueFinalBoss in ''Symphony''. [[AllThereInTheManual The flyer for the latter said so]], yet they confuse themselves in ''Symphony'''s AttractMode animations too. The name ''"Sorceror"'' Drunk only got into all this because of the [[DidNotDoTheResearch uninformed]] soundtrack listing.
** 魔王どらんく ([[http://vgmdb.net/album/310 on the soundtrack]]) in Japanese roughly means "demon king" Drunk. How'd "sorceror" come out of that one? Yet the flyer uses はいぱーどらんく, a transliteration of "Hyper Drunk".
** To clear things up, Hyper Drunk and his palace each have an H. No, not in [[HaruhiSuzumiya that]] sense!
* {{Garfunkel}}: Unfortunately, Bob(blun), the blue bubble dragon, has not been in as many games and ports as Bub(blun), the green bubble dragon, is.
* GenerationXerox: If the "children" story of ''Bubble Symphony'' [[LoveItOrHateIt is to be believed]], then no one in the protagonists' families is safe from becoming cursed into [[OneHitPointWonder dying when they touch anything]]. Heck, at least two of them will be a green bubble dragon and a blue bubble dragon BecauseDestinySaysSo.
* GratuitousEnglish / BlindIdiotTranslation: The secret rooms in Bubble Bobble, intros/endings in ''Bubble Bobble'', ''Rainbow Islands'', and ''Bubble Symphony'' (''Symphony'''s endings have the characters saying "year" for "yeah".), and some text in ''Bubble Memories''.
** ''Bubble Bobble'' also has the introductory quote that's featured at the top of this page. It has been fixed in the GBA and WiiWare re-releases by including the first "the".
** ''Symphony'': "Let's try and challenge". Also results in a {{Narm}} moment in a DownerEnding: [[spoiler: The protagonists are back as humans but they come across a bunch of boarded up doors. Bob (according to the Japanese version's speech order) says "Year, but will ''[sic]'' can't go back to our own world!"]]
** ''Memories'': "The only way to get to a boss"... You're already at the boss when you're reading that, aren't you?
*** And "''DANGER!'' The room guard''er'' Koornt or Kligan or [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Wafful]] [[BlindIdiotTranslation fl]] (without that emphasizing space) etc. is approaching fast". Or maybe it's the FinalBoss, the "Super Dark Great Dragon".
*** The wall-of-text intros upon starting the game (in either Normal or Super Mode). What does "supplicating" mean anyway?
** Most Gratuitous English examples in the games can be found at [[http://zanyvgquotes.com/ ZanyVGQuotes.com]] under "Bubble _________" and "Puzzle Bobble 3" and "Bust-A-Move 4" (by the way, the latter two are in the same series).
** Puzzle Bobble 4 / Bust-a-Move 4 gets overloaded with Blind Idiot Translations especially when comparing the AttractMode how-to-play screens of [=PB4/BAM4=] with earlier installments, which were [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks perfectly grammatically fine before.]]
* GuideDangIt: In ''every single game''. Please read a strategy guide before starting.
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: ''Bubble'' _________ and/or "The Story of Bubble Bobble (confusing installment number)".
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Bubbles, rainbows, and [[ParasolOfPain parasols]].
* InexplicableTreasureChests: A huge chest drops down at the end of each level in ''Rainbow Islands'' and after defeating a world boss in ''Bubble Symphony'' and ''Memories''. It is the basis of one of ''Symphony'''s bad endings.
* InvincibleMinorMinion: The floating skull named Skel-Monsta/Baron von Blubba that comes with StalkedByTheBell. [[spoiler:He has been promoted to [[SequentialBoss Sequential]] TrueFinalBoss status in two games.]]
* InvoluntaryShapeshifting: Throw in {{Animorphism}} (and some SuperDeformed IncredibleShrinkingMan for ''Bubble Memories'') and you have someone inflicted with a [[OneHitPointWonder deadly]] curse.
* JawDrop: Bubble Memories normal mode good ending; Space Puzzle Bobble when Bob(blun) is used and the board is almost full. Both are used in conjunction with BlankWhiteEyes, mainly used in death sprites in ''Memories''.
* {{Kawaisa}}
* KidHero: Any older than teenage years, and children/descendants come around. [[LoveItOrHateIt Wait, what?]]
* KillItWithFire: Fire bubbles kill enemies and stun protagonists, enemy fireballs [[strike:kill]] incinerate protagonists. ''Obviously, don't touch the latter!''
** PlayingWithFire: The red cross allows a protagonist to blow fireballs for the current level. Which thankfully [[FriendlyFireproof don't incinerate the partner.]]
* [[strike:Kill It With Lightning]] ShockAndAwe: Lightning bubbles regardless of size used by protagonists will kill enemies but can also stun themselves. Any lightning summoned by enemies regardless of size can simply-kill or electrocute protagonists.
* KillItWithWater: Water bubbles kill enemies and carry ([[PortingDisaster and/or visibly stun]]) protagonists. The blue cross item in ''Bubble Bobble'' floods the room and drowns all enemies. [[SuperNotDrowningSkills Just ''being in'' water isn't sufficient enough to kill or stun anyone in ''Bubble Memories''.]]
* TheLawOfConservationOfDetail: If you're just coming across the first BubbleBobble and choose to play it, you wouldn't know Bub and Bob are really human and have girlfriends to rescue. Especially if "it is [the] beginning of a fantastic story! Let's make a journey to the cave of monsters!" ''[[YouShouldKnowThisAlready You should already.]]'' Because about 20-30 or so levels later in the arcade, you see the two captured girls screaming for help. That's one plot revealed.
** Game Boy version(s): What is Bub supposed to help his brother Bob from? Is Bob sick? [[spoiler:Because a river outside is dried up? What? Really?]] If Bob's sick and [[ICouldaBeenAContender can't participate]], why would he be transformed? [[{{Discontinuity}} Or not.]] And anyway, what the heck is the [[ChekhovsGun Moon Water]]? [[YesButWhatDoesItDO What is it supposed to do?]] Does it turn out to be an [[TheUnreveal Unreveal]], or an AssPull?
* TheManyDeathsOfYou: Aside from touching something, a bubble dragon or their human form can die by getting ''[[FireIceLightning exaggeratingly incinerated, unsuccessfully cryogenized, or harshly electrocuted]]'' by enemies. ''[[MST3KMantra Okay, never mind. It's horrible.]]''
* MatchThreeGame: ''Puzzle Bobble aka Bust-A-Move'' and its own sequels.
* MirrorMatch: They're not fighting against themselves, but in the first ''Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move'', twin Bubs or Bobs blow-shoot and carry bubbles, and turn the crank respectively. [-And if you lose... one spins out and dizzy-dies as in ''Bubble Bobble'', the other gets stunned.-]
* MultipleEndings: TropeMaker. Mostly [[DownerEnding Downer Endings]]... for a game (series) that's [[MoodWhiplash supposed to be happy!]]
** ''Bubble Bobble'': Want to see the real ending? Then you'll have to beat it with a friend! Sorry, soloists playing the NES/Virtual Console or arcade versions!
*** For the NES/Virtual Console version: Trap Super Drunk in a bubble, press Start to pause the game, [[GameBreaker Select to give P2 one of your lives]] (if you have any left in game), Start to unpause the game, then pop the bubble. Instant HAPPY END.
*** For the arcade if the machine lets you, just [[GameBreaker insert a coin/credit and press P2 Start]] before you pop Super Drunk's bubble.
** ''Bubble Symphony'': Taken literally. You don't have to beat it with a friend but you can [[AdventureTowns go through multiple paths/worlds]], and you'll see a world-exclusive ending if you don't get [[PlotCoupon the stuff needed]].
* MusicalAssassin: Bubbles that unleash music notes can help fight enemies.
* NewGamePlus: Super Mode.
* NightmareFuel - The same music used in the bad endings to ''Bubble Bobble'' and ''Rainbow Islands''.
** The music when (up to two) Skel-Monsta/Baron von Blubba appears. Or maybe it's him/them chasing you to no end!
* NintendoHard: [[HulkSpeak The]] ''[[HulkSpeak Nintendo]]'' [[HulkSpeak versions are]] ''[[HulkSpeak hard]]'' [[HulkSpeak indeed]]:
** ''Bubble Bobble'': The NES/Virtual Console version has an objective '''required for a good ending''' that is not in the arcade version. And there is a very thick wall in the way.
** ''Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move'': The SNES version has 100 levels and the FinalBoss Super Drunk to face as opposed to 30 levels in the arcade and subsequent arcade installments.
* NostalgiaLevel: See Shout Out below.
* [[OminousLatinChanting Ominous]] [[strike:Latin]] [[OminousLatinChanting Chanting]]: ''Symphony'''s TrueFinalBoss theme. Although with children choirs chanting, it comes off as a little annoying. YourMileageMayVary.
* OneHitPointWonder: Carries on into its sequels but subverted in '''''Part''' 2''.
** [[WeaksauceWeakness Even after they turn back into humans, they still die by touching anything.]]
* PinkGirlBlueBoy
** Coro and Bob (respectively) who are always beside each other in ''Symphony'''s cutscenes. Extended with green boy Bub and orange girl Kulu.
**Most likely subverted in the DS game ''Bubble Bobble Revolution'' in which an unlockable character Lovelun is pink ''[[AmbiguousGender but the gender is unknown.]]''
*** But he's not wearing a bow.
* PinocchioSyndrome: The quest to turn back into humans is made more apparent in ''Bubble Symphony'' in which one of your objectives for a good ending ''is'' to turn back human while you travel, and ''Memories'' in its Attract Mode storyline and when the game begins.
* PlotCoupon: Big diamonds [[spoiler:and mirrors]] in ''Rainbow Islands''. Symbol cards in ''Parasol Stars''. Keys, music note cards, and a rod in ''Bubble Symphony''. Potions in ''Bubble Memories''. A bunch of stuff in Bubble Bobble Plus/Neo's "Arrange mode". [[GuideDangIt Not like any of the games says if you need them or if they exist, but you need them, and they do exist.]]
* PlotTumor: The DS games ''Bubble Bobble Revolution'' and ''Double Shot'' keep the "living as bubble dragons in the first place" background introduced by the discontinuous NES manual's comic, or at least give absolutely no indication of them ever being human once. The ''Puzzle Bobble / Bust-A-Move'' series scrap the human-character-background completely. ''All because [[RuleOfCute everyone loves the bubble dragons more.]]''
* PointOfNoReturn: Aside from kicking players to the next level automatically after a few seconds, players will miss any available items or Plot Coupons after defeating all enemies because they can't go back.
* PopsicleSplat - Getting frozen into an ice block in ''Bubble Symphony'' kills the character right after the ice shatters shortly afterwards only because touching anything is fatal.
* PortingDisaster: Let's just say that most of the non-arcade versions were not well received. The port-bashing section of the first game's Wikipedia article vastly outsized anything else for a while.
** Incineration deaths in the arcade are only otherwise seen in ports on any of the Game Boys and the DS, and although the original GB version kept the style of the arcade sprites, most frames are cut out resulting in a quicker and choppy animation.
** The squish-yourself-against-bubbles animations are implemented (poorly) only in the Game Boy Advance and DS ports of the original.
** In the GBA/DS ports, deaths did not match the arcade implementations. In the port, you freeze in midair when you start spinning out instead of just before you [[strike:explode]] poof away into magic dust. Also, the standing-non-dead sprite frame is used, followed by the sitting-down-dead sprite frame ''only'' when your character spins out.
** And all this comes from the fact that [[NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup the source code was lost]]. [[http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=bubble-bobble&page=detail&id=343 According to this.]]
* ThePowerOfFriendship: A major theme, quoted several times throughout the first game (if you know where to look) and the key behind its MultipleEndings.
* RandomlyDrops: The rare items such as the Super Star heart, magic crosses, umbrellas, etc. that appear out of nowhere. Or maybe it's when the unpopped bubbles turn into cool and/or (self-) Shout Out items when all enemies are defeated.
* {{Recycled IN SPACE}}: Space Puzzle Bobble/Space Bust-A-Move.
* ReplacementScrappy: Man, the next-gen systems don't even feature Coro or Kulu. It's like CanonDiscontinuity or something. For the Wii, they've been replaced (or chronologically preceded?) with two other females named Pab and Peb (according to [[http://wii.ign.com/articles/993/993029p1.html this]]), supposedly Bub and Bob's girlfriends. ([[CanonDiscontinuity But weren't the girlfriends supposed to be Betty and Patty? Oh well.]]) For the DS, we have -- what the hell? -- Robolun and Lovelun (a just-as-defenseless robot, and a pink unknown-gender bubble dragon, respectively), and a cousin (red male bubble dragon) named Bubu.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Bub and Bob. And Coro and Kulu. And basically all those random baddies.
* RobotMe: An unlockable character in ''Revolution'' (DS).
** ArmorIsUseless: ...who can still get hurt when he touches anything.
* RyuAndKen: Bub and Bob, once just mere [[PaletteSwap Palette Swaps]]. But they were [[{{Luigification}} fleshed out with different personalities]] (only apparent in the ''Symphony'' arcade flyer and the ''Memories'' Attract Mode) and abilities later on.
* SecretLevel: The secret rooms in most (if not all) ''Bubble Bobble'' games. [[OneHitPointWonder Not like anyone's gonna last long enough to get there.]]
* ShoutOut (these result in [[NostalgiaLevel Nostalgia Levels]])
**''Bubble Bobble'' [[http://www.klov.com/images/10/1054487455.jpg recreates]] [[http://www.adamdawes.com/retrogaming/bbguide/images/round29.gif a stage]] from an earlier game, ''Chack'n Pop''. It also features the title character on the SuperStar item stated below and in various games.
**''Rainbow Islands'' features worlds based on Arkanoid, [[spoiler: Fairyland Story, Darius, and Bubble Bobble itself]].
**''Bubble Symphony'' [[http://www.vazcomics.org/mamend/png/bubl0135.png features character cameos from]] [[http://www.vazcomics.org/mamend/png/bubl0136.png other Taito games]] as well as base some of their AdventureTowns off them. The aforementioned ''Chack'n Pop'' level appears again.
**''Bubble Memories''' practice mode features "Ready, go!" and level completion music from Puzzle Bobble 2, released the same year. Bub and Bob also look the same in both games.
**In all ''Bubble Bobble'' games in general, whatever the enemy roster is, it will almost always include an Invader (aka "Super Socket") from ''SpaceInvaders''. This is more pronounced in ''Bubble Symphony'', as one of the boss battles pits you against a giant version of the standard Invader enemy used in the ''Bubble Bobble'' games, while you are additionally being swamped with normal enemy Invaders of all three designs and even the UFO, all graphically redesigned to fit with the new sprite style of ''Symphony''. If you do hit the UFO, it falls to the ground and [[RuleOfFunny its top comes off to reveal a yummy dish.]] [-Just... don't let the Invaders incinerate you.-]
* SinsOfOurFathers: '''LoveItOrHateIt.''' However, they're really [[ViewersAreMorons screwing us over with this.]] Anyone call EpilepticTrees here?
** ''Bubble Symphony'': The four protagonists are ''said to be'' the children of the two original heroes of the first Bubble Bobble, and the TrueFinalBoss targets them for what their parents did to him. Weird because Super and Hyper Drunk are supposed to be two separate entities. But then again there's Bub and Bob's StrongFamilyResemblance, which can make new or uninformed players think they've been the same Bub and Bob.
*** Thinking about children, though, one can assume Bub and Kulu are first-Bub's children, and Bob and Coro are first-Bob's children, as the two of each group are always beside each other in cutscenes.
*** The flyer's Story section is (self-)contradictory on this one. It says that "a long time ago, four old men confined the evil Superdrunk in the book. As [the four of them] started to read the book, they freed Superdrunk who changed the children into bubble dragons and trapped them in this magical book world." And then Hyper Drunk's profile on the opposite page says that ''he'' was the one who banished the four. ''Even this flyer mixes up the GannonBanned factor.''
** ''Bubble Bobble '''Part''' 2'': Even more ''apparent'' descendants of the first two heroes according to the NES box back named Cubby and Rubby (or Robby according to the Game Boy version's intro). The manual inverts itself off this one however, and says it's the Bub and Bob of the first game.
* SpikesOfDoom: '''''Part''' 2'', NES: Several levels have them. Also, when a protagonist walks above a certain enemy, it shoots its needle hat onto him, causing him to over-inflate, then deflate to normal and then die.
* StalkedByTheBell: "Hurry up!"
* StrongFamilyResemblance: If the "children" story of ''Bubble Symphony'' [[LoveItOrHateIt is to be believed]], then Bub and Bob in this game look just like Bub and Bob of ''Rainbow Islands/Parasol Stars''. With a hair color change.
* SurpriseDifficulty: Let's see, you got two tiny cute little bubble dragons, and a lot of cute enemies. [[RuleOfCute And they're all smiling or very cute looking]]. '''And the dragons die when they touch anything.'''
* SuperDeformed
* SuperNotDrowningSkills: See Kill It With Water above.
* SuperStar: The flashing multicolor heart in later levels.
* SweatDrop: Flying sweat drops when anyone is stunned or killed. More apparent (both flying and dripping sweat) in ''Symphony''[='=]s cutscenes, which are Anime-styled.
* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: Basically any female character wears a large or small bow across the top of their head (Coro and Kulu of ''Bubble Symphony''), on one side of their head spike (Peb and Pab in ''Bubble Bobble Plus (WiiWare)'') or straight on, on the corner of their heads [[spoiler:(three of the eleven [[TheAlcatraz Alcatraz]] victims in ''Rainbow Islands)'']]. Whether the characters in question have a tooth or not doesn't really apply anymore.
**[[http://na.square-enix.com/bbp/ The Bubble Bobble Plus website]] shows Bub and Bob each with a two-bump tooth (or however one calls them; based directly on the original arcade flyers), and Pab and Peb each with a one-bump tooth. If not for Puzzle Bobble/Bust-a-Move SNES's depiction of Bub and Bob each with a flat tooth, the first description would be fully canonical.
* ThemeTwinNaming: Bub(blun/by) and Bob(blun/by). And Coro(ron/n) and Kulu(lun/n). Possibly Pab and Peb.
* TitleConfusion: Three second-installments and two third-installments, and [[NonLinearSequel the release orders and chronological story orders don't even match]].
* TrueFinalBoss: Most if not all ''Bubble Bobble'' games, although some (including notoriously ''Bubble Memories'') won't let the players face the ''regular'' FinalBoss himself unless they get... [[SoYeah you know.]]
* TurnsRed: Enemies who don't get bubbled before "Hurry up!" appears or who have escaped from being bubbled. Or the last one standing when the other enemies have been bubbled and popped.
* {{Unwinnable}}: ''Bubble Memories'' and ''Puzzle Bobble / Bust-a-Move (SNES)'' [[spoiler: because you die/lose too frequently]].
* VideoGameRemake: The classic has been remade for the Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo DS. [[YourMileageMayVary To very-slightly-less-than-perfect results.]] ''Bubble Bobble'' is also featured in ''[[CompilationRerelease Taito Legends]]'', and ''Symphony'' in ''Taito Legends 2''.
** The original is remade for WiiWare, [[SpritePolygonMix with the characters rendered in 3D]], and brand new levels with four player support. [[WhoIsThisGuyAgain Pab and Peb]] (according to [[http://wii.ign.com/articles/993/993029p1.html this]]) are [[ReplacementScrappy definitely NOT Coro and Kulu]].
* VisibleSigh: In the arcade version of ''Bubble Bobble'' when the player gets burned and thus incinerated. It goes by very quickly though.
* WhoIsThisGuyAgain - Character names are barely stated in the game itself. One must look at flyers or credits.
** NoNameGiven... yet: "Pab" and "Peb".
* {{Wingdinglish}}: The secret rooms in ''Bubble Bobble'' and ''Bubble Symphony''.
* {{Woolseyism}}: ''Bubble Bobble''[='=]s NES manual and ''Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move''[='=]s SNES port rely on such names as Bubble Buster for the iconic wind-up toy Zen-chan, Stoner for Mighta, Super Socket for the [[SpaceInvaders Invader]], Willy Whistle for Drunk, etc. Puzzle Bobble gave the secret room InvincibleMinorMinion Rascal the name Rubblen. But then ''Bubble Bobble '''Part''' 2''[='=]s NES manual gives them wholly different names.
** Self-contradictory in the NES/Virtual Console version of the first game in that if you beat the game with the best ending, a screen with both protagonists and all enemies show up credited with their original names.
** Although Bub and Bob's short 3-letter names have been products of Woolseyism, they work better.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: The humans' HairColors are played straight and subverted.
** ''Bubble Bobble/Rainbow Islands/Parasol Stars'': Both Bub and Bob [[RedHeadedHero have red hair]]. The weird hair (and skin) colors in the NES/Virtual Console versions do ''not'' count, as Bub and Bob already had those colors in their bubble dragon forms in that particular version due to NES limitations.
** ''Bubble Symphony'': Bub has light brown hair. Bob has dark brown hair (or is it black hair?). Coro has pink hair. Kulu has blonde hair.
** ''Bubble Memories'': Both Bub and Bob have dark brown hair.

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