The Bubble Symphony FAQ v3.6 _________________________________________________________________ written by Carl Chavez (carl@bubandbob.com) with help from Tiri (anastos@informatik.tu-muenchen.de), Yoneda Mitsunori (fwik0826@mb.infoweb.ne.jp), and Anthony Greulich (tonyg@cmc.net). Available at http://www.bubandbob.com _________________________________________________________________ What's New! _________________________________________________________________ 28 January 97: Added secret options menu code and powerup code. Added explanation of the secret options menu's functions. These were provided by Yoneda Mitsunori. Yoneda also provided updated maps. 31 December 97: Yoneda Mitsunori made two PostScript documents containing minipics of every level and the locations of all hidden musical notes and ROD bubbles. You can download it separately. Since it's in PostScript, it can be printed from most printers or loaded into Photoshop or similar program. Because of Yoneda's excellent work, I've removed my incomplete map from this FAQ. 19 December 97: The Japanese Saturn version was released 27 Nov 97. It is a 98% perfect conversion. The only problem I experience is the waiting for the CD to access new levels. Otherwise, I must say Ving did an excellent job converting it! If only the English-language version (which is done, according to the programmer) would be released! I've added the Saturn versions of the codes to the FAQ. 16 November 97: I purchased the Japanese arcade cartridge for my Taito F3 JAMMA board, so now I can play Bubble Symphony at home! This means that I can work on the FAQ again... I've added the locations of more musical notes and screenshots of some of the endings and hidden room objects. I also listed many of the random words and phrases that appear on the high score list in the Japanese version. 8 June 97: v2.3 of this FAQ released. I found a few more notes while packing during a recent move! Diamond stage messages added, and also more item descriptions and note item locations. 27 April 97: The release for the home version of Bubble Symphony is now June 20, 1997. Therefore, I've come back to this FAQ to finish the conversion to HTML. March 97: I received e-mail from the Bubble Symphony conversion team. The game has been delayed until further notice. March 97: The home version of Bubble Symphony is supposed to be released on March 29, 1997, so I'm going to try and convert this FAQ from TXT to HTML before then. Started in mid-1995, using the Bubble Symphony machine formerly at Olympic View Ice Arena in Edmonds, WA. _________________________________________________________________ Game description _________________________________________________________________ Bubble Bobble meets - * New Zealand Story (aka Kiwi Kraze) * Darius 2 * Space Invaders * Arkanoid * Liquid Kids and the less famous (in U.S. and Europe)- * Kiki Kaikai (aka Pocky and Rocky) * Quiz By Yu Yu * Pulirula among others... _________________________________________________________________ Dramatis Dragonae _________________________________________________________________ Dragon Name Dragon Color Walking Speed Bubble Range Bubble Speed Bubble 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 _________________________________________________________________ Action Result 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 _________________________________________________________________ Each of these codes, except the Secret Options Menu code, are entered as Bub introduces the game. The Secret Options Menu code is entered on the Start/Options menu (the one that appears after pressing the Start button). LRLRABCB (Saturn ONLY) Enables secret options menu (see below) U$RJBL$D (arcade) UCRBALCD (Saturn) Select between Normal Game or Super Game LDUJR$BR (arcade) LDUBRCAR (Saturn) Start the game as humans instead of dragons JBJBJBL$ (arcade) BABABALC (Saturn) Get to the secret rooms, even if you die Old codes for Bubble Bobble do odd things, too. Try BJBJBJR$ (Original Game code) or LBL$LJL$ (Shoes/Yellow Gum Code) (on the Saturn, use ABABABRC and LALCLBLC) The game will begin with no background and remixed Bubble Bobble music! _________________________________________________________________ The Secret Options Menu _________________________________________________________________ The secret options menu allows you to do several things, like change the volume, select Normal or Super Game, enable English (!) and speed up the game a little (!!). * The first line toggles the Super Game code on or off. If on, the Super Game code is automatically enabled for every game you play! * The second line toggles the Language. The first three-character code enables Japanese. The four-character code enables English! This is by far the most important option of all, since no English version was officially released. The second three-character code enables English, also, but also enables "Bubble Bobble II". I assume this is the European English --not the American English-- version of Bubble Symphony, because people who've seen the arcade version of Bubble Symphony in Europe most often report it as Bubble Bobble II. The title screen and attract modes both say Bubble Bobble II when this option is set. Also, the game is faster at this setting, so it may be in PAL. PAL is the European video standard which refreshes 16% slower than the American/Japanese NTSC. * The third line allows you to select and listen to a sound effect. * The fourth line adjusts the volume. * The last line adjusts the sound playback method. "1" sounds like a flat mono, "2" sounds like a surround-sound-compatible sound mode, and "3" sounds like normal stereo. If you happen to know how to enable English on the arcade board (if possible!), please tell me ASAP so I can set my board to English!!! _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ The Items _________________________________________________________________ Bubbles Most bubbles are 10 points each (red bubbles may be 100 points). Bubble Description 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. It may be possible to get two Rods in the game, since there are six worlds. I haven't fully mapped out the levels, though. 'I'? I _think_ I've seen this letter before, but have been unable to get it again. I wonder what it does... could it be some kind of Key? Back home, perhaps? Or did I imagine it? Maybe it's like the fireball bubble in Bubble Bobble (1/4096 chance of appearing). Summoning Scrolls and Items All Scrolls are XXXX points each. Green - Bob from Don Doko Don 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 7,000 point blue diamonds. Purple - Ptolemy from Fairyland Story will help you. You can control her. She has very short range with her magic spell, which turns enemies into 10,000 point cupcakes. 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 - summons Hipopo from Mizubaku Adventure/Liquid Kids. He can jump and shoot. His mizubakus (water bombs) cause a torrent of water (like the one that comes out of a water bubble) to wash down from its target onto anything in its path. Creatures killed by the water become ???. White Flag - it's not really a flag, but it looks like one. Pocky uses it in the video game Pocky and Rocky/Kiki Kaikai to sweep enemies away. In Bubble Symphony, it summons Pocky, who throws her cards at enemies. The Giant flag appears in Kiki Kaikai, and the flag itself appears later in the same world. Heart - summons a large, pink dragon who is not listed in the end credits but appears in one of the endings. 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 ???. This heart looks like the symbol that appears in Rainbow Islands (the arcade/Amiga/Saturn/PSX/PC versions, not NES version) when you first beat the game. Red Shield - summons the Silver Hawk from Darius 2. It drops bombs when jump is pressed, and fires its laser when bubble is pressed. You can fly it around the screen, but watch out where your dragon is! The Giant red shield, allowing you to get a red shield, appears in Sun "A" Zone's secret room, and the red shield itself appears late in the fourth world. Killed enemies become red diamonds. Cane - summons Mr. Mikata from Pulirula. It twirls around dancing, and anything it kills becomes strawberries. The Giant cane, allowing you to get a cane, appears in Radish Land. The cane itself appears early in the third world. It looks like the cane Tiki uses in New Zealand Story to shoot fireballs. Getting the Giant cane also seems to increase the odds that you will get a candy cane in a level. 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 Red - each blown bubble equals 100 points instead of 10. Lots of points when you pop bubbles against the wall! 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. Other items Shoe - your character moves faster. Bomb - When picked up, it detonates and every enemy on the screen turns into a dark blue diamond worth 10,000 points each. Book - An earthquake shakes the level and the enemies become dark blue 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, 14, 24, ???, and ???. Each secret door will be filled with many 6K-10K point Large diamonds and have a 100,000 point Giant item suspended in a bubble which gives you a special item in a later level. There is also a message encoded on the wall. The code for these messages is given on the first line on each wall. The messages are: * 1st world - THE ROAD IN FRONT OF YOU HAS MANY FORKS... BUT THERE'S ONLY ONE PLACE TO GO. * 2nd world - IF YOU WANT TO SEE YOUR TRUE ENEMY, SEARCH FOR THE KEY TO OPEN THE FINAL DOOR. * 3rd world - IF YOU WANT TO GO BACK TO YOUR OWN WORLD, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO RETURN TO YOUR BODIES FIRST. * 4th world - YOU MUST FIND YOUR WAY THROUGH A WORLD THAT IS LIKE, BUT NOT OF, THIS ONE. THAT IS THE ONLY WAY. * Last world - No secret message; instead there is an image of Ptolemy in the background. The Giant item is an alternate weapon to use against the final boss. (Thanks, Tiri!) Miscellaneous items Silver 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. Watermelon - 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 revealed 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. _________________________________________________________________ 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. 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. Sometimes she's really easy to beat with lightning; simply get onto the first platform above the floor and blow into the wall. This does not happen regularly, though. 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 guarding both sides of itself, and four rows of normal space invaders below it. There are four indestructible shields to stop the invaders' shots (but not the boss' 5-shot spread shot). You use winds to destroy the space invaders as they move slowly down. The winds will not injure the Super Invader at this point. You can destroy a guard. Don't worry about the invaders reaching the bottom of the screen: when they reach the top of the shields, they go back up. You won't lose, like you would in the original Space Invaders. 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. After you've destroyed the four rows of invaders, then the Super Invader and his guards will become annoyed. If you killed a guard earlier, another will reappear.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! 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. The only weapon you can use on the Yamato Crab is lightning. It is easiest to hit it by standing on the second level, facing the wall, and blowing lightning bubbles. This will hit the Yamato shell and any Zero fighters that fly out from it. It will not damage the arcing missiles, though, so jump up to avoid them and then drop back down to the second level. Eventually, you'll destroy the shell. That leaves the robotic crab, which you can destroy the same way: stand on the second level, etc. Periodically, the crab will fire five globes of death into the air. These will hover for a while, then home in on your current position. Wait until the first one is about to hit you before jumping up. WARORIN MECHA - PYRAMID LAND, CENTRAL PARK A mecha version of a Warorin. FATHER MIGHTA - FOREST LAND, TREASURE DESERT This is a Giant Mighta. He wears a cape and carries a sceptre. QUEEN MONSTA- JAPANESQUE This is a Giant Monsta. He wears a cape and crown. HYPER DRUNK PUPPET AND SORCERER DRUNK - FINAL LEVEL The Hyper Drunk, attached to puppet strings this time, should die instantly if you're playing a two-player game. Just pummel it with music from both sides if you're using the musical bubbles as your weapon. Pic of Sorcerer Drunk Once it is defeated, a drunk wearing a papal miter drifts down toward you. This is the Sorcerer Drunk (aka Papal Drunk). I don't have a strategy for beating it with lightning because I'm not as good as Tiri. :) If you have music, though, he's not too hard. First, the Sorcerer will shoot several beams at one of you. If it hits you, you're dead. When that beam hits the floor, a wall of fire will form and head in your direction. If the floor below you is on fire and you're on the platform above, beware the tip of the fire as it moves. Eventually, he'll create a shield of booze jugs that surround him. Every so often, he'll propel one toward you or your partner. When it hits the ground, six snowflakes of death fly out at 60-degree angles. On rare occasions, a destroyed jug will cause a blue diamond to appear. I haven't figured the significance of this, or how to do it. Once you've destroyed the shield of jugs, the Sorcerer Drunk will fly away. He will then plummet to the floor at high speed, his staff forming a sphere of fire that explodes into several fireballs when he lands. If you're playing with two players, make sure you're both on the same side of the screen when he flys away because he will land near your last spot on the screen. As he takes up about one-third of the screen, you have to make sure that you both stay at the walls until he flies, then move as quickly as possible toward the opposite wall before he lands. _________________________________________________________________ The Endings _________________________________________________________________ Your worst ending (besides death...) occurs when you have not obtained the four colored keys. Without the four keys you cannot open the door to the final level. There are four or five such endings: * As dragons: + Forest: ??? + Japanesque: ??? + Treasure Desert: You find a box full of treasure, but you can't figure out how to get home. + Waterfall: A Dranku seduces Bub and Bob, so Kulu and Coro have to grab their tails to keep them away from her. + Sky Palace: * As humans: + Forest: ??? + Japanesque: ??? + Treasure Desert: + Waterfall: the huge pink dragon that appears when you grab the pink heart looms over the horizon. The four kids run away, shrieking in horror. I don't get this... I wish I could read the Japanese script... + Sky Palace: The decent ending occurs when you beat the Sorcerer Drunk without the Rod. Without the Rod, you cannot change yourselves back to human form. The four kids remain in the magical land because they can't go back to our world while dragons. The good ending occurs when you beat the Sorcerer Drunk with the Rod. When you grabbed the Rod, you were transformed back into humans. Thus, after defeating the Sorcerer Drunk you are able to go back home. _________________________________________________________________ The High Score List _________________________________________________________________ The English version of Bubble Symphony has a typical three-character high score list. Entering SEX, RYU, or the other special Bubble Bobble initials does not appear to have an effect upon the game, though the initials are changed to "S.!" when you enter them. HOWEVER, the Japanese version (the one I own!) is different. You can enter eight characters. If you enter the Bubble Bobble initials, they will be changed to "S.!" like the English version. If you enter "AAAAAAAA", "BBBBBBBB", or probably any string consisting of the same eight characters, you get a random string! So far, I've gotten these: String Comments VIOLENCE ??? METALBLA Metal Black WARRIORB ??? BUBBLEBO Bubble Bobble - if you don't know what this is, then you haven't been reading this FAQ! MS ISSAC ??? PULIRULA Pulirula - I've never seen this game, but a character says "Pulirula" in Bust-a-Move 2... DONDOKOD Don Doko Don - interesting Bubble Bobble-like game where two guys smash enemies on their heads with large mallets. Kind of cute, but disturbing. SCI SCI (Special Criminal Investigation), aka Chase HQ 2 AQUAJACK ??? DARIUS Darius - famous horizontal shoot-em-up series ARKANOID Arkanoid - famous ball-and-wall series GYRODYNE ??? ELEVATOR Elevator Action - famous game with cool 1995 sequel, Elevator Action Returns MASTEROF ??? PUZZNIC Puzznic - great puzzle game from 1989 or 1990 where you match blocks together. The PC Engine/Turbografx-16 version is like Bubble Symphony in that it features guest characters from other Taito games like Bubble Bobble and Kiki Kaikai. TOPLANDI I think this is the 3-D aircraft simulator Taito made a few years ago, Top Landing. INVADER Space Invaders - the first super-popular shoot-em-up; it caused teenagers to rob stores in Japan just to get quarters to play it (SERIOUSLY!!!). BENBEROB ??? GRIDSEEK ??? CRIMECIT Horizontal-scrolling Taito shoot-em-up, 1989. Similar to Atari/Namco's Rolling Thunder. RUNARK ??? RASTANSA Rastan Saga - series of arcade and home games featuring a barbarian who explores a horizontal- and vertical-scrolling world. MEGABLAS ??? MIZUBAKU Liquid Kids (aka Mizubaku Adventure), one of the best Taito games! CHAMPION ??? - maybe Champion Wrestler? KIKIKAIK Kiki Kaikai/Pocky and Rocky - pretty good series of games for SNES (Super Famicom)/TG16 (PC Engine). POWERWHE ??? AIRINFER ??? _________________________________________________________________ Credits _________________________________________________________________ Thanks to the Sno-King Ice Arena for being the ONLY PLACE IN THE WHOLE STATE OF WASHINGTON, USA that had Bubble Symphony. 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 until they removed the game from the rink, I didn't swear as much in my life... Thanks to Bondeal Sales International Limited, in Hong Kong, which supplied me with the arcade boards for Bubble Symphony, Bubble Memories, and Rainbow Islands. They have a HUGE selection of boards! Why they don't list them on their Web site is beyond me (probably because their inventory changes often), but the list they do have is always interesting to look at. Thanks to Tiri (anastos@informatik.tu-muenchen.de), who contributed a lot to the FAQ. Thanks to Yoneda Mitsunori, who made the complete level/note/bubble location map. Thanks to Anthony Greulich (tonyg@cmc.net) for being my playing partner. _________________________________________________________________ Copyright Notice _________________________________________________________________ Copyright © 1995, 1997 Carl Chavez. This article may not appear in any for-profit organization (especially EGM or COP-DN) without permission. _________________________________________________________________