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Bubble Bobble's tale of the twin brontosauruses first appeared on the C64 in 1987, an out-and-out classic that easily swiped a Gold Medal (97%, Issue 30).

Of course, even by then, non-scrolling, platforms-and-ladders coin-ops were rather old-hat, but Bubble Bobble was different. Very different.

The basic idea on each of the 100 screens is simple: kill all the monsters! But rather than zapping the various walking or flying baddies with a ray-gun, in Bubble Bobble you blow bubbles. If your aim is good, the baddy is neatly trapped inside the bubble (well, they are dinosaur bubbles!) and helplessly drifts upwards.

To kill the monster you jump on the bubble and bonus fruit is thrown out for you to collect.

However, if you miss the bubble, the monster begins to struggle and eventually breaks free. It now becomes a very angry, red monster which chases after you at great speed!

There's no time limit to complete a level, but eventually all the monsters get angry and Baron von Blubba, an indestructible baddy, joins the chase.

There's no reason to be too quick killing the baddies though; drifting letters can be collected by jumping on them. Spell out E-X-T-E-N-D for an extra life and skip a level. Also, at least two bonus items always appear per level and some give you faster speed, more bubbles or skip a dozen levels or so. So while some people try and rush through, getting as far as possible, others go for bonuses.

Bubble Bobble is far from easy though; there's a large variety of monsters from flame-breathing ghosts to flying sharks to space invaders - all with their own attack patterns. It's a classic game, and one of the very few which are excellent with two players.

Unsurprisingly this got a complete rave from all three reviewers. Julian's comment was typical: "One of my favourite arcade games... maddeningly addictive... so much depth and so many different features... simply superb.' Indeed when it was first released on budget, the mark went *up* to 98%! In 1991, the game still scores highly; the graphics were never amazing even in the coin-op and they're certainly not awesome today. But they are fast, cute and effective, while the accompanying music and FX are superlative (yes, it's another Software Creations conversion!) Of course it's no mega-blasting Turrican, it does look a little old, but gameplay is great and the two-player mode is terrific. Unmissable.

Aside: Fans of the series will be pleased to know the third in the Bubble Bobble series has been released in the arcades. Called Parasol Stars, our heroes are this time armed with umbrellas! Ocean seem likely to be converting it. The only question is, after Software Creations work on the original and Graftgold's superlative sequel Rainbow Islands, who's brave enough to handle it?