So, you always wanted them since Melee back when you were a wee lad, huh?
New Nintendo-Connected Third-Party Fighter - Bub and Bob (Bubble Bobble)
- Company: Taito Corporation (Square Enix; a subsidiary of the company, similarly to how Atlus and Rare/Mojang are for SEGA and Microsoft respectively)
- Debut System/Year: Arcade (1986)
- Nintendo Console Appearances: (a list's damn big, I ain't even exaggerating)
- NES/Famicom - Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands, Parasol Stars, Bubble Bobble Part 2
- SNES/Super Famicom - Puzzle Bobble/Bust-a-Move (to avoid confusion, I'll call some games by a latter title)
- Game Boy/Game Boy Color - Bubble Bobble (with a classic color variant in 1999), Rainbow Islands, Bubble Bobble Part 2, Bust-a-Move 3, Bust-a-Move 4, Bust-a-Move Millennium, Pop'n Pop
- Game Boy Advance - Bubble Bobble Old & New, Super Bust-a-Move
- N64 - Bust-a-Move 2, Bust-a-Move 3 DX
- GameCube - Super Bust-a-Move
- NDS - Bubble Bobble Revolution, Rainbow Islands Revolution, Bust-a-Move DS, Space Bust-a-Move
- Nintendo 3DS - Virtual Console, Bust-a-Move Universe
- Wii - Virtual Console, Bust-a-Move Bash!
- Wii U - Virtual Console
- Nintendo Switch - Bubble Bobble 4 Friends (originally a exclusive before the PlayStation 4 port was released; even includes the original arcade game)
- Color Theory: Green (assuming that Bub is the default character)
Who are Bub & Bob and What is Bubble Bobble?
Bubble Bobble is a multi-player platformer arcade game which was developed by Taito Corporation and released for arcades in 1986, which focuses on the twin brothers
Bubblun and
Bobblun (just think of them as
and
turned into two
's), who were originally human boys before they were turned into
Bubble Dragons (palette potential with existing characters) by the evil
Super Drunk (or Grumple Grommit, depending on how you call him), who kidnapped their girlfriends
Betty and
Patty (who also turned into Bubble Dragons,
Peb and
Pab in sequels, who may work as alternate costumes) into the
Cave of Monsters (a stage similar to
Honest Slug
's
submission, minus brothers as hazards
) alongside
Baron von Blubba (or Skel-Monsta) under the orders of the
Boss of Shadow (true antagonist who appeared in Rainbow Islands and Bubble Memories as
Super Dark Great Dragon), attempting to rescue them by defeating enemies via blowing them by breathing bubbles and then popping them, thus turning them into food.
Later on, the game is followed by a long list of sequels and spin-offs such as
Rainbow Islands,
Parasol Stars (in which brothers appear in their human forms as
Bubby and
Bobby) and the most famous example:
Puzzle Bobble (also known as Bust-a-Move), which became successful in its own right and spawned it's own line of sequels.
Why These Two Deserve to be in Smash?
Taito Corporation, as we all know, is the original king of not only Japanese arcades, but the whole video game industry thanks to Space Invaders' world-wide release in 1978, with several of their games having been recognized as important and revolutionary (like starting the golden age of arcade games) before they were purchased by Square Enix in 2005, even maintaining a chain of arcade centers known as "Game Taito Stations" across Japan with iconic aliens showing up as their mascots, who we have as an Assist Trophy and spirits in the base game. Taito deserves to be represented even further thanks to their large impact on gaming history, and some recent games they made alongside Nintendo such as
a milestone collection,
Space Invaders Invincible Collection, etc.
Besides, much like Pac-Man and Terry Bogard with content from other Bandai-Namco/SNK classics respectively (fun fact: Puzzle Bobble was originally released on the Neo-Geo), Bub and Bob would also represent a company in whole with some moves (as
demonstrated here), various music tracks and spirits such as
Arkanoid,
Elevator Action,
Sonic Blast Man (
is obviously going to be a host),
Darius,
KiKi KaiKai/
Pocky & Rocky (now that we have Reimu),
The New Zealand Story,
Psychic Force (fellow fighting game chads like
Mr. Robotto
, rise up!),
The Ninja Warriors,
Chack'n Pop (which is related with Bubble Bobble as it's predecessor with shared characters and a similar game structure),
The Legend of Kage,
Time Gal (Reika Kirishima was one of the original video game heroines before
), etc.
As a list above pointed it all out, the franchise has lots of games on many Nintendo consoles/systems, which makes it one of the most familiar series to a broad audience of gamers. The original arcade game itself has been ported to practically every single platform of it's time, viewed as a Nintendo Entertainment System cult classic and well-received by reviewers/critics, all thanks to it's cutesy aesthetics, charming premise, memorable soundtrack (just imagine potential remixes,
tracks and choices as seen below), gameplay and multiple endings depending on how many secrets are discovered and a second player joining in, making the two-player/co-operative mode necessary to achieve the true ending, which became a tradition in following sequel installments (maybe they would be a Ice Climbers-like duo fighter to reference this?).
How They Will Work in a Fight?
As they're Bubble Dragons, Bub/Bob are quite small and light, yet nimble "keep-away" fighters who rely on a big diversity of projectiles and stage control, being able to perform tail swipes, claw slashes and headbutts to attack their opponents for melee moves, which is quite simple to tell out. Their natural ability to breath bubbles can be used for slightly damaging opponents, trapping them inside when
charged up into bigger bubbles like in Bubble Memories and bouncing on top of them as temporary floating platforms before popping them far away with their spikes by jumping from below. They can also shoot three different Elemental Bubbles in a set order akin to Sora's Neutral Special such as Water (
a stream that drags opponents in like Piplup's attack when released from a Poke Ball), Fire (a small fireball that drops
a burning flame trail on the ground) and Lightning (
a small thunder bolt that paralyzes opponents).
Bub can make use of a bubble catapult/cannon from the Puzzle Bobble/Bust-a-Move series for his recovery/Up Special move by encasing himself inside a bubble as it shoots them into the air, able to adjust the firing angle by turning the control stick before releasing the button. Obviously, it would also be used for his Final Smash in which he jumps into the foreground of a stage (in other words, bottom of the screen) as a catapult/cannon (with Bob placing bubbles) and a few columns of colored bubbles appear, allowing Bub to fire bubbles which traps opponents inside as they fly into the top, even ricocheting off "walls" and blow them up with huge damage when clearing a column, basically working like in the games themselves.
In spin-off games where the twin brothers appeared as humans (even though they also
play identically with bubble flutes in Bubble Symphony, maybe as costumes if we're creative enough), they are capable of
summoning rainbow bridges (up to three by holding the button) forward as platforms that they can walk on or jump to drop it down while leaving a glittering powder and use
their parasols/umbrellas to grab enemies before throwing them forward by swinging it, as shown in Rainbow Islands and Parasol Stars respectively. These would easily work as their Side Special and unique strong grab move, which can also make them
float in the air when holding a parasol upwards.
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