Bubble & Squeak

[chuckwalla]

Just received a copy of this game from Amazon.com for $9 shipped.

 

Nice game involving shooting, some strategy, and some puzzle elements along with nice graphics and sound.

 

Wish I found out about this game years ago!

 

Has anyone found this game to be a nice addition to the collection too?

[Torr]

Looking at just the box art, and not the Genesis logo on the left, I'd swear that was a SNES game... has that cutesy/cartoony look to it...

I vaguely remember the image from gaming mags back in the day, but know nothing about it... Google here I come...

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

I knew it as an AMIGA game.

[chuckwalla]

For those who don't have the instruction manual here's the most pertinent info (?)......have fun!

 

 

 

Bubble and Squeak

 

Of Bozo Domes, Gumballs, and the Kat of the Nine Tails…

 

As a pretty smart Bubble, you weren’t looking for trouble.

 

But it found you anyway. Or rather it was brought to you, by friend Squeak.

 

One night the funny fella just sort of dropped in through a nearby Black Hole. And asked you to become the hero of the universe.

 

Well, hero of the planet Grool, actually, which is where Squeak dropped in from.

 

Because (as you soon found out) the once happy land of Grool has become a very cruel place. The evil Kat of Nine Tails – commanding his hordes of nasty aliens – has enslaved all the Grooleans and stolen their tails (he’s a gangster who lives up to his name). This bad Kat has put the Grooleans to work in the places called Bozo Domes, where they do his dirty work of mining Grool’s rich porridge deposits.

 

Only Squeak escaped. Managing to retrieve his tail, he eluded the Kat’s nasty agents as they pursued him through the many odd worlds of Grool. Until one night, tired and hungry, he dropped his last few coins into a gumball machine. As he stood there chewing, he felt…something strange…some energy…some power to do…he didn’t know what.

 

So he jumped into the nearest Black Hole, and -

 

Here you are, back on the planet Grool. He talked you into it, and together you jumped right back through that Black Hole. So it’s just the two of you, together. Out to save the desperate Grooleans…defeat the Kat of the Nine Tails…and become the heroes of the universe.

 

 

As Bubble, you can walk, jump, throw stars, and pick up and use magic items and collectibles.

 

Basically where you go, Squeak goes too – though you can command Squeak to stop and wait. Otherwise he follows you.

 

Squeak can walk and jump, but usually not as fast, high, or far as you can. Except when he gets a taste of those magic gumballs, of course, You need at least three coins to buy gumballs. Give a gumball to Squeak and you can ride on his back. Once you’ve told him to stop, you can use him as a platform. He can throw you up in the air too, if you tell him too.

 

When the need arises (and it will), you can give Squeak a good swift kick. He’ll roll up into a ball and shoot off in the direction he’s been kicked, picking up gems in his path. He’ll even roll along slopes and curves, scouring the nooks and crannies of any tasty creatures lurking there. And he won’t stop until he runs into a solid object. By the way, you qualify as a solid object. Isn’t that nice to know?

 

 

Here’s how to use the buttons on your controller to do what you can do and to get Squeak to do what he can do:

 

D Pad: Walk in the direction pressed.

 

Button A Shoot – in the direction you’re facing; or kick Squeak after you’ve stopped him.

 

Button B Jump – in the direction you’re moving. To jump higher, press B longer.

 

Button C Squeak stops or, if you’ve stopped him and he’s waiting, he starts moving again. Keep A depressed to watch where he goes.

 

Press A after stopping Squeak to kick him.

 

D Pad Up While standing in front of Squeak, press this and Squeak will toss you in the air.

 

 

When you’re buying gumballs from the gumball machine, use these buttons:

 

Button C Press C three times to deposit your coins.

 

Button A Press A to take the gum out of the machine. Now you can jump up onto Squeak’s back.

 

D Pad Down & Button C Press these at the same time to get down off Squeak’s back.

 

 

Sometimes you may want to look up or down a little ways – say, to scout for platforms or to check the level of the waters rising below you. You can scroll up or down one full screen, by pressing the D Pad Up or Down.

 

 

What to look for:

 

On every level of every world, you’ll find various magic and helpful items and collectibles, including –

 

Gems – Scattered throughout the levels, these are used to amass points and, most important, to free captive Grooleans. It takes 50 gems to shatter a Bozo Dome and liberate the Groolean inside. Gems you haven’t used are converted to points at the end of a level.

 

Coins – Use these, which are dropped by aliens you zap, to buy gumballs for Squeak. Coins you haven’t used are converted to points at the end of a level.

 

Food (cupcakes) - You need this to replace lost health points.

 

Extra Lives (Hearts) – Found on every level, an extra life is yours for the taking – so take it!

 

Gumball Machines – There’s at least one on every level. Use your coins to buy gum for Squeak and turn on his special powers.

 

Goal Post – Hooray! It’s the end of the level!

 

 

Useful objects: These give you special abilities, so be sure not to miss any of them – you need all the help you can get! They are –

 

Flower pots – These give you extra height when you jump off them. You can pick a flower pot and carry it to reach a higher spot.

 

Springs – Use these too, to jump higher than you thought you could. Springs are also moveable, Carry one to a better jumping spot.

 

Lava flow – When you activate a lava flow with the handy switch, a column of lava pours down from the top to the bottom of the screen and knocks the water down one screen.

 

Levels of the game:

 

There are five worlds on the planet Grool, and each world has at least five different levels.

 

And…at the end of each level, if you were able to collect the Shoot ‘Em Up icon, you get to go up against that krooked Kat of Nine Tails and his pack of malicious minions in a fast-paced Shoot ‘Em Up. You must complete the Shoot ‘Em Up before advancing to the next Shoot ‘Em Up stage.

 

Plus…there are bonus games you get to play as a reward for freeing 4 of the bad Kat’s prisoners from the domes.

[chuckwalla]

Bubble & Squeak Gampro review...

[Rex Dart]

I knew it as an AMIGA game.

 

Must be why the graphics always bugged me...

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

Must be why the graphics always bugged me...

 

lol wut? Most games ported to Genesis don't even look as good as they did on the Amiga.....now if the graphical style of this particular game is not to your taste then that is something else but most ports to Genesis seemed to loose a lot of colour and vibrancy to suit the Genesis more muted palette. Compare screens between games on both and you would see that clearly.

[Drixxel]

Bubble & Squeak Gampro review...

 

Wow, that is a very generous review. I still dig thumbing through old GamePro mags and I definitely used to look forward to reading them back then, but their scoring is sometimes hard to take seriously. 4.5 for FunFactor? Did writer Manny LaMancha honestly think Bubble & Squeak was among the top echelon of Genesis titles?

[chuckwalla]

Wow, that is a very generous review. I still dig thumbing through old GamePro mags and I definitely used to look forward to reading them back then, but their scoring is sometimes hard to take seriously. 4.5 for FunFactor? Did writer Manny LaMancha honestly think Bubble & Squeak was among the top echelon of Genesis titles?

 

You kidding, you should see the one they gave Awesome Possum - i'll dig through my files and see if I have that one....