| Lucky Star Puzzle Bobble | |
 | |
| Developer(s) | Taito Azumanga Interactive |
| Publisher(s) | Bandai Namco Games |
| Platform(s) | Bandai CD Revolution Bandai PocketTurbo Plus |
| Mode(s) | 4 Players |
| Ratings | E for Everyone |
Lucky Star Puzzle Bobble is a puzzle game based on the characters from Lucky Star developed by Taito and Azumanga Interactive, and published by Bandai Namco Games for the Bandai CD Revolution and Bandai PocketTurbo Plus.
The game is similar to Puzzle Bobble.
Gameplay
At the start of each round, the rectangular playing arena contains a prearranged pattern of coloured "bubbles". (These are actually referred to in the translation as "balls"; however, they were clearly intended to be bubbles, since they pop, and are taken from Bubble Bobble.) At the bottom of the screen, the player controls a device called a "pointer", which aims and fires bubbles up the screen. The colour of bubbles fired is randomly generated and chosen from the colors of bubbles still left on the screen.
The fired bubbles travel in straight lines (possibly bouncing off the side walls of the arena), stopping when they touch other bubbles or reach the top of the arena. If a bubble touches identically-colored bubbles, forming a group of three or more, those bubbles—as well as any bubbles hanging from them—are removed from the field of play, and points are awarded.
After every few shots, the "ceiling" of the playing arena drops downwards slightly, along with all the bubbles stuck to it. The number of shots between each drop of the ceiling is influenced by the number of bubble colors remaining. The closer the bubbles get to the bottom of the screen, the faster the music plays and if they cross the line at the bottom then the game is over.
The objective of the game is to clear all the bubbles from the arena without any bubble crossing the bottom line. Bubbles will fire automatically if the player remains idle. After clearing the arena, the next round begins with a new pattern of bubbles to clear.
Scoring system
As with many popular arcade games, experienced players (who can complete the game relatively easily) become much more interested in the secondary challenge of obtaining a high score (which involves a lot more skill and strategy). Lucky Star Puzzle Bobble caters to this interest very well, featuring an exponential scoring system which allows extremely high scores to be achieved.
"Popped" bubbles (that is, bubbles of the same color which disappear) are worth 10 points each. However, dropped bubbles (that is, bubbles that were hanging from popped bubbles), are worth far more: one dropped bubble scores 20 points; two score 40; three score 80. This figure continues doubling for each bubble dropped, up to 17 or more bubbles which scores 1,310,720 points. It is possible to achieve this maximum on most rounds (sometimes twice or more), resulting in a potential total score of 30 million and beyond.
Bonus points are also awarded for completing a round quickly. The maximum 50,000-point bonus is awarded for clearing a round in 5 seconds or less; this bonus then drops down to zero over the next minute, after which no bonus is awarded.
Two player mode
There are no rounds in the two player game. Both players have an arena each (both visible on screen) and an identical arrangement of colored bubbles in each arena. When a player removes a large group (four bubbles or more) some of those removed are transferred to the opponent's arena, usually delaying their efforts to remove all the bubbles from their individual arena. And the two player game can also be played by one player against a computer opponent. The playable characters in the game includes Konata, Tsukasa, Kagami, Miyuki, Ayano, Misao, Yutaka, Minami, Patricia, and Hiyori.
Voice Actors
Japanese
- Aya Hirano as Konata Izumi
- Emiri Katō as Kagami Hiiragi
- Kaori Fukuhara as Tsukasa Hiiragi
- Aya Endo as Miyuki Takara
- Mai Aizawa as Ayano Minegishi
- Kaoru Mizuhara as Misao Kusakabe
- Shizuka Hasegawa as Yutaka Kobayakawa
- Minori Chihara as Minami Iwasaki
- Nozomi Sasaki as Patricia Martin
- Kaori Shimizu as Hiyori Tamura
English
- Wendee Lee as Konata Izumi
- Kari Wahlgren as Kagami Hiiragi
- Michelle Ruff as Tsukasa Hiiragi and Minami Iwasaki
- Karen Strassman as Miyuki Takara
- Peggy O'Neal as Ayano Minegishi
- Lara Jill Miller as Misao Kusakabe
- Hynden Walch as Yutaka Kobayakawa
- Patricia Ja Lee as Patricia Martin
- Philece Sampler as Hiyori Tamura
Box Art
