33 years after the debut of the classic video game Bubble Bobble by TAITO, the two dragons Bub and Bob are returning to the screens. On November 19, 2019, Bubble Bobble 4 Friends will be released digitally in Europe and Australasia, exclusively for Nintendo Switch. On the same day, the physical version will be available in stores throughout Europe.
North and South American digital Nintendo eShop releases Q1 2020
As previously announced, there will also be a Special Edition that comes with two keychains, a poster and four trading cards – this very special edition of Bubble Bobble 4 Friends will be available on December 13th, while stocks last.
Publisher ININ today announced new details on the EXTEND feature. This is a new skill upgrade system that will allow players to boost their dragons with additional features. To unlock the upgrades, players will need to collect letter bubbles, each containing one of the letters of the word “EXTEND”. In every stage, one of those special letter bubbles appears briefly and has to be collected before it bursts. If the player manages to collect all letters of the word “EXTEND” within a world and also win the boss battle, the player will receive either a new skill or an upgrade to an existing skill to become even more powerful.
The following skills can be unlocked;
- Long Shot: increases the range of the bubbles
- Thunder Bubble: attacks enemies in a horizontal line when bubble bursts
- Bomb Bubble: The bubble explodes after some time and causes damage.
- Stop Wind: air flows are interrupted for a short time
- Dash Skill: lets characters pass through enemies unharmed
Before entering a new world, players can equip their dragons with the skills they’ve learned so far, using a variety of tactical variations to master even the most difficult stages and clear a stage particularly quickly.
Apart from skills, there are other features that increase the replay value of Bubble Bobble 4 Friends and spur players on to ever wilder maneuvers. Chain reactions from multiple bursted bubbles with captured enemies generate more and higher quality food for players to collect – the higher the number of bubbles, the more points and food you get as a reward. Special bubbles, such as bomb or lightning bubbles, provide new aspects of the game and tactics.
