Or at least I thought Taito's classic single-screen platformer had earned a number of FDS releases. In reality, it appears it earned just two: a limited edition that offered buyers a copy of Bubble Bubble's Famicom port plus a larger-than-normal instruction manual and the version that's showcased in photos throughout this write-up.
The second iteration could be purchased for a nominal fee from one of the many Famicom Disk Writer Kiosks (learn more about them at famicomdisksystem.com) Nintendo installed in game stores across Japan from the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s.
This "Disk Writer" version of Bobble Bobble has long intrigued me thanks to its two-tone, watermelon-colored manual.
I mean, anyone who has ever visited my Twitter or Tumblr pages knows I'm fond of pink things. Of course, I'm also fond of adorable things--and how else would you describe the cover imagery that's highlighted below?
To be honest, I'd probably have sought out a "Disk Writer" copy of Bobble Bobble's Famicom Disk System port even if its instruction booklet's paper was the color of pea soup thanks to its "lucky cha-cha-cha wow!" tagline.
Thankfully, it's not. And as is hopefully plainly evident in the snapshot below, this booklet's pink-and-green palette looks especially great when employed on its interior pages.
Speaking of which, this particular page of Bubble Bobble's manual highlights some of the game's many point items. My very next blog post will be filled with scans of this manual, by the way, so keep an eye out for it if you get a kick out of stuff like that.
In the meantime, here's one last look at the contents of the "Disk Writer" iteration of Bubble Bobble for FDS.
It has to be noted that Japanese Famicom owners bought this particular version (with the game written onto "brand new" disks, as Nintendo referred to them at the time) for somewhere between 2,600 and 3,500 yen.
Bubble Bobble could be "rented" via a Famicom Disk Writer for just 500 yen, too, but folks who went that route had to provide their own blank disks (2,000 yen a pop). Also, rather than receiving a glorious, dual-color booklet like the one that's on display here, they got a folded piece of paper with the game's instructions and accompanying illustrations printed in simple black text.
If you'd like to take a closer look at Bubble Bobble's game disk, you can do so here. Or you can check out its colorful cover slip here.
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