SupaMural: Bubble Bobble [Parts]

Colors Required

Light Blue x 2

Dark Blue x 2

Dark Purple x 1

Light Purple x 2

Dark Orange x 2

White x 1

Green x 3

Black x 1

This is for the smallest amount possible. For longer/larger projects, double/triple amounts of paint.

Use Pixel/Montana/Belton Chart for Assistance on Color Selection.

Template Required

A 16-pixel template is necessary to complete this project.

Background Information

Bubble Bobble was a pretty interesting game. You are a dinosaur, and if you are lucky, you have a friend (2-player simultaneous optional). There are other square beings out to get you. The first of which are robots. Later, sorcerers and other unimaginables. Carrots and other fruits and vegetables give you points. Points lead to extra lives.

Goal of Original Game

The goal of the game is to blow bubbles at your opponents, who become trapped in the bubbles. They are vulnerable to an attack whereby the bubble bursts, they become dizzy, and then land and disappear, sometimes revealing fruit (or vegetables).

Metaphors

We're not sure what this game is a metaphor for. I think it's about problem solving, although I have a difficult time believing that the same solution exists for both robots and sorcerers.

Skill-Building

It builds stamina, in terms of ability to concentrate for lengthy periods of time. Successful games could end in levels which are up to the 100's. There is a final boss, and the game progresses in a manner which is not simply redundant, but nuanced in the slightest ways.

Legacy

It was followed by a similarly puzzling game, "Bust-A-Move," which also involved square dinosaurs and bubbles. That's fun! And now, it's a Super Mural Bros. project.

Scenes You Can Re-Create

Here are some videos you can use. Maybe you'll want to re-create one of these events. Use the stencils that you see in the above graphics. [Download] our templates, if you wish.

Nuances in the Animation

Bubble Bobble is a great place to start with a Super Mural Bros. project because the animation is relatively simple and easy, and the effect is gratifying just the same.

You'll find that the repetitive tesselate background images are easy to "copy and paste" (repeat stencil) over eachother, and that the non-scrolling aspect to the game is one of the easiest aspects of it.

When a bubble hits a character, it simply turns from this:

Into this, kind of suddenly:

You can be liberal in the manner with which you determine how to make this transition, because in the game it happens really fast and non-animated (meaning that you have the ability to make the gameplay appear more hyper-realistic in the animated mural, by paying attention to what was originally overlooked in the game.

Other aspects of the game are that little bits and pieces like to float around. Try to reverse the image on certain parts of the game to "alternate" the appearance. Be sure to animate the character using the two minor changes between positions while moving: