Hey everyone.  Our final contest of block 6, and last challenge from Tom Votava, is going to be Bubble Bobble.  This will also be our last regular contest of the year.  In the coming weeks, we will begin our tournament and our 12 contestants will go head-to-head to see who is the champion of the 2012 contests.  Here are the rules for Bubble Bobble:

• 1 life only
• Play on "Super Bubble Bobble" mode
• Enter the password "BBAJI" and then start a new game
• Most progress wins
• Lowest score breaks ties
• Progress is ranked as follows:
  • Best ending/Bad ending for not playing with a friend (may optionally use the cheat code to bring in Player 2)
  • Final boss after Stage B2 (requries additional photo of Stage B2 as proof that it's not the other final boss)
  • Stages B2, B1, ..., down to Stage A0
  • Bad ending for not finding crystal ball/secret road
  • Final boss after Stage 99
  • Stages 99, 98, etc.
• GENRE: Arcade

Just like the Klax contest, you want to get as far in the game as possible while keeping your score low.  The contest ends Sunday, 10/28/12 at 10 PM NA time.  Your user name must be in the picture for your score to be valid.  The entire TV screen, or computer monitor if you are playing on an emulator, MUST be in the picture for the score to be valid.  No partial screenshots will be considered or accepted.  Good luck everyone and have fun.

Gonna have to sit this one out. Don't have the game and can't play it with keyboard on emulator. Ah, I would've won anyway.

Hopefully though this'll be a fun one to watch.

yeah right ^^^^ I like this game but too many rules for me.. I will sit it out with Miss Clawful..

Not really that many rules. Just use the password and get as far as you can with a low score? Hopefully I can find time to participate.

^You are correct. Just use the password and get as far as you can while keeping your score low.

What is Super Bubble Bobble mode? And what does the password do?

I prefer to read posts about people that are excited to play in the contest, not to sit out of it. And as far as rules go, it is not that complicated. It looks complicated cause the guy who worked his ass to make a contest out of it has been nice enough to take care of every details before validating it. (Thanks Tom!)

Otherwise, just enter the password and play. Keeping your score low is the absolute last step once you know you can kick this game's butt all the way through every times you play.

Is there a thread where I can find the complete rules of these contests?

Such as if ROMs are allowed? Are videos required? or only screenshots? etc.

Thanks.

Yup, this was the long one.   Sorry to those that think I made this one too complicated, but it didn't start out that way.

As has been mentioned, all I wanted to do was have people try and beat the game with a low score, or at least get as far as possible.  I could have stopped there, but this game has a lot of endgame scenarios that required me to be more specific. However, most of these scenarios won't come into play unless you can reach level 99, so unless you get that far, the rules are very simple.

Long story short: Just get as far as you can.  Points are just a tiebreaker, so focus on distance.

Why the low score challenge?  Because having set the world record for points on this game, I've come to learn that this game is more fun when you're NOT playing for points.  I can score over 6 million on this game using the tricks I know, but quite honestly, I'd rather not play that way because my secret to big points takes a long time to pull off and is kinda boring for me.  Bubble Bobble is more fun when played "straight".

Why 1 life only?  Because the level disappears when you lose your last life.  This rule is mostly to ensure that you can take your photo and show your progress.  I had to draw the line before the game was over.  It was either this or "play until you have zero lives remaining".  The game plays fast, so I figured a 1 life challenge would be fun.

Why Super Bubble Bobble mode?  Because I'm willing to bet that most people have never played it!    Yet it's an integral part of the game. Beating normal mode gives you an ending, but that ending is short and gives you the BBAJI password at the end.  Beating Super Mode gives you the true ending, which is worth seeing at least once.

As always, let me know if anyone has any questions on the rules.  I'm always here to help!


Here's the main contest thread:

http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/...

To answer questions you've mentioned: Yes, you can use ROMs, and only screenshots are needed.

I'm never a fan of doing the exact opposite of what a game is made for (in this case, low score). Switching up the rules is fine, but this gives a major advantage to those who excel at this game (or other games with a low score challenge) over anyone who isn't that great at it/mediocre. Just my $0.02.

This is the only game from the current block that I own, so hopefully I can give it a go this week.

I will admit I was disappointed to see that the rules changed so drastically from lastyear but I just played my first session and it's a blast. It's way more action packed if you want a low score since you have to trap and destroy each enemy one by one instead of letting them cluster for the easy kill. Give this a chance, Tom knows what he's doing.

From my experience,  people that excel at a game have a major advantage on other players regardless of the rules applied.

That's pretty much my thought about it too. When someone take the time to set up a contest, he normally tries to do it in a way it will be enjoyed by others. I suggest to simply follow the leader here.

Since I broke my PC controller (damn buttons stuck and lagged anyway, piece o' crap) during the Spelunker contest, all I have is a keyboard, I tried to play but seriously I'm severely handicapped, I'm pretty good at this game and died within a few rounds, and I tried this on the rounds I already know well, not the Super mode. Maybe I'll try for a bit more sometime this week just for the spirit of the contest. I'm all for low score contests just as much as high score ones, both offer a great challenge, with one giving you the power to kill all and collect as much treasure as you can get your greedy hands on, the other a game of avoiding as much as possible, and minimum gameplaying like this is actually in some way even more challenging.

Okay, just to get things started, gave the game 4 tries a little while ago, here's my best so far was 43,020 round 10 (if anything, if I keep trying I might just become a keyboard warrior).

I'd say I did alright for my first attempt. My score was higher than I wanted it to be, but I prioritized survival and progression over score minimalization. A few times I had to bulldoze through a ton of point-giving items in order to better position myself. 

I made it to Round 21 with a score of 105,770.

Gave it a couple more tries, getting better, still mess up occasionally due to pressing the wrong key, but doing better than I expected.

88,220 round 15

I cant wait to play too tired atm to get a score. I hear the sounds of the game in my head right now

Ok here we go. I just had to play
Level 8
30860

Does getting letters score points or no?

Nope.  Just the 10 points for popping each bubble.  Getting all 6 letters gives you an extra life and immediately ends the current level.

Wow wish I would of know that. I think I could of got farther int he game

Perfect low score up to round 10 (half of baddies killed here before my bubble was burst), only baddies were killed one at a time, no excess bubbles popped, no bonuses collected. First 9 rounds in this game, simple, easy to find a spot, wait and kill as they come to you (I kill everything close up to avoid them floating away and possibly gathering together into bubble clusters), but from 10 onward, much more challenging. I kinda got 10 figured out but having trouble executing, next time will have to watch enemy patterns more closely on this round, and then be able to get them before they get a chance to move around too much.

I had gotten them on accident, lol.

WIsh you had a new controller to show us what you can really do.  I always love seeing your high score.  Also you said your very disabled? Is it arthritis or am I just getting the wrong idea.  I felt very sad when you said that.  I have a friend who has played for years but cant really do anything now that he gots carpoltunnel .  Was telling me the other day how he used to dominate silver surfer but now he can hardly do anything.  Anyways hope to see ya get a new controller soon.  I am sure to be the winner of this block I hope