The original Bubble Ghost, first released for the Atari ST in 1987 and later adapted for the Game Boy in 1990, is a precision-based action-puzzle game. You control a ghost that can blow air to guide a fragile bubble through 35 increasingly difficult castle hall levels, avoiding hazards like candles and fans. The ghost moves in a similar way to the paddles in Pong on the Fairchild Channel F, being moved around the screen with the mouse and rotated using the left and right buttons. Each time your bubble is popped, it is replaced by another until you run out.
Rather than directly replicating the arcade-style challenge of the original, the Spain-based Nakama Game Studio has expanded upon some of its core ideas, shifting the game toward a more puzzle-oriented, level-based structure. This makes the player focus much more on the mechanics of the game, which build on each other as you progress through the worlds.
The first world introduces static hazards, as well as dynamic ones such as rats and bats. The second introduces controllable electricity which can power lightbulbs, which cause rats to scurry away but provoke bats to attack. Then, a few levels later, you are introduced to a movable light fixture, which you can use to guide a rat to eat an insect blocking your path. It’s genius level design and, more importantly, makes sense within the context of the game’s world, enriching the atmosphere and never feeling shoehorned in.
Another standout improvement over the original is in the fluid controls. Unlike the Game Boy’s stiff D-pad controls, the remake supports analogue movement, allowing for much smoother and more precise diagonal control. You can press Y to instantly flip 180 degrees, helpful in fast-paced scenarios like boss battles. And the physics for blowing the bubble are excellent – I always felt that it was exactly responding to my inputs. While they take some getting used to, the controls are extremely fun to play with.
That said, I do have some criticisms. This game is subject to one of the most intense difficulty spikes I have ever experienced in the form of the world 2 boss level. You must guide the bubble in a moving elevator through a long and twisted shaft, all while a monkey launches large and fast-moving electric projectiles at you. You have to break three electric cables to shock the monkey, and just as with every other stage, one hit and you’re toast.
Unless you have cat-like reflexes, you will have to memorise large sections of the stage, and any game that forces you to memorise enemy placements to succeed isn’t fun. I beat every preceding stage in the game in around an hour and 30 minutes. It took me over two hours to beat this one boss. While it’s hard in a classic NES way that I slightly enjoy, it really should’ve been a bonus level rather than a roadblock you have to beat to progress – although I will say I was immensely satisfied after I took it down. In general, the boss levels (besides world 1) are big spikes in difficulty, and I would’ve liked to see some kind of health system instead of one hit death.
The presentation of the game is quite good. The story of Heinrich the ghost chasing his wife Sofia is told in comic strips with rhyming couplets in between levels, with extra context given in optional collectibles. It’s not overbearing but a nice addition to the game, as any puzzle game’s story should be. The graphics are presented in a more serious and realistic way than the cutesy original, and they’re quite decent if a little generic in places.
The music is quite nondescript and is probably the only aspect where I prefer the original, although it doesn’t detract from the game. The game mostly makes up for it with its smart use of other sounds, such as the blasts of a horn to scare a bunny in a top hat or the first world boss shooting music notes at you. Amusingly, if you let the ghost idle for a while, he starts whistling various songs, including ‘Take On Me’ and Ray Parker Jr.’s theme to ‘Ghostbusters’.
There’s a decent amount of optional content, including an online competitive speedrun mode where you can run through each world or even the entire game if you feel masochistic. There’s many optional sub-levels and items to collect if you want to beat the game 100%. And, if you feel nostalgic, the entire original game is playable with updated graphics in the new edition’s style.
It’s definitely a strong remake, but is it a good game? I think so. It’s polished, well-presented, enjoyable to play and (with a few exceptions) just hard enough to keep you hooked the whole way through until you finally beat all the five worlds. I would recommend Bubble Ghost Remake to any puzzle game fan, or any fan looking for a solid precision-based challenge.
Bubble Ghost Remake is available on Steam and for Nintendo Switch.
