Genesis REVIEWS: Bubble and Squeak
Bubble and Squeak is not the awful English dish made of leftover vegetables; it is one of the lesser-known Genesis platformers, and one that is actually pretty unique. At its core, B&S is actually one giant escort mission, one that introduces a puzzle element to the game.
91: Bubble and Squeak:
Year: 1993.
Genre: Puzzle-Platformer.
Publisher: Audiogenic Software.
Developer: Audiogenic Software.
I don't know what is supposed to be the plot of B&S. Apparently, there are aliens involved, and an unlikely alliance between an alien and a human boy is center stage. Unfortunately, the ambiguity regarding the plot is reflected by the ambiguity of the world's design.
Enemy sprites are boring, and the world, while looking good, is lacking in personality.
All in all, there is little in the game that separates it from the pack in terms of design.
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| Alien worlds are a dime a dozen; it takes effort to make them special |
"Kick that Alien up the ramp"
At first, I thought the game would be a simple platformer. The human jumps around and shoots, while the alien follows. However, the game soon unravels as an escort mission with puzzle elements. For starters, the blue alien cannot jump as high as you, so you will sometimes need to manipulate the environment to help him go forward.
Additionally, you will sometimes need that alien to throw you to previously unreachable ledges, or just step on his head to get that extra jump height. Many times, you must kick the alien into a ball and send him flying through a set of ramps to reach a point in advance. Sometimes, you will need to actually race with that ball and try to make it stop at a better point.
Unfortunately, this introduces one of the biggest weaknesses of the game. The fact that if you kick the alien into a ball, you don't exactly know where he is going to end up. This means that you take too many blind decisions, and with many stages having a time limit, it can cause undue frustration.
Besides the base gameplay, there is a poorly thought-out Shmup section in between a lot of stages. It is poorly done because your ship is huge and can only shoot forward. This causes it to get stuck to the environment, and makes avoiding one-hit-kill shots more difficult than they should be. Thankfully, these portions are actually just bonus rounds and are not needed to finish the game.
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| If you are familiar with Shmups, you will notice that the ship is TOO BIG |
"Does not look like vegetable leftovers"
While the world design of B&S is surely boring, you cannot argue that it doesn't look good. Graphically, this is a nice-looking game that animates really well. There is nothing too special about it, but it all looks really solid.
As for the sound, while I initially didn't like it much, there were some really good tracks. The music in the shmup sections is atmospheric and makes those sections worth it just to hear it alone.
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| It looks good |
In Conclusion:
If B&S was a better-designed game, its gameplay could have carried it to classic standards. However, it is one of those forgettable games that didn't bother to differentiate themselves from the pack.
This is one of those games that had smart ideas, but it couldn't be bothered to be special.
Final: 5/10 (Not Recommended)
Pros:
- Some interesting gameplay ideas
Cons:
- Boring world design
- Not all ideas are executed well
Tips:
- Try exploring the stage a little bit before kicking the alien.
- In the Shmup sections, make sure to attack destructible blocks so that you cannot get stuck.
Series:
For those reading one of my Genesis review blogs for the first time, here is the basic concept:I already reviewed a bunch of SNES games, so, naturally, I am going to review the games of its prime competition. Does the SEGA Genesis stand a chance against the legendary SNES library?
My review series is based on the top 100 list of Retro Sanctuary
Originally, I posted most of my content on a football forum called "Goallegacy," which was the first online community I had ever joined. I found it to be the best place for a football fan (the REAL football, not handegg) to hang out on the internet, but the forum is not as active as it was years ago.
Next Game:
A month later, I probably will forget about reviewing B&S, but that is better than remembering reviewing a terrible game.The next game is the first shooter in this list, so I predict a tough time. It finishes up the first 10 in the list; ESWAT is at #90.
Stay Tuned
For Previous Genesis Game Reviews:
This blog was originally posted in Destructoid Community Blogs on January 1st, 2016. The blog was slightly edited to fit my newer review format.
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