Editing Bubble Bobble (video game) (section)

==Development and release==
''Bubble Bobble'' was designed by [[Fukio Mitsuji]], a Japanese game designer at [[Taito]]. A fan of arcade games by [[Namco]], specifically ''[[Xevious]]'', Mitsuji felt that Taito's output by comparison were lackluster and of poor quality, hoping that he could help push the company to produce higher-quality arcade titles.<ref name="BEEP!">{{cite news |title=Fukio "MTJ" Mitsuji - 1988 Developer Interview |url=http://shmuplations.com/bubblebobble/ |access-date=8 November 2019 |agency=BEEP! |date=1988 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191008222008/http://shmuplations.com/bubblebobble/ |archive-date=8 October 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> His first game was the four-screen racer ''Super Dead Heat'' in 1985, followed by the shoot'em up ''[[Halley's Comet (video game)|Halley's Comet]]'' the same year.<ref name="BEEP!"/> After work on these two games was completed, Mitsuji set out to make his next project a platform game, featuring cute characters and a more comical setting compared to his previous works.<ref name="BEEP!"/><ref name="CVG Interview"/>

Mitsuji wanted the game to be exhilarating and to appeal towards a female audience.<ref name="BEEP!"/> Thinking about what kind of things women like to draw or sketch, Mitsuji created an extensive list of over 100 ideas, and after a process of elimination selected bubbles as the core game mechanic.<ref name="BEEP!"/> He liked the idea of the screen being filled with bubbles, and thought that popping them all at once would provide a thrilling sensation to the player.<ref name="CVG Interview"/><ref name="BEEP!"/><ref name="Youtube interview">{{cite web | title=Fukio Mitsuji Interview | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwbhgITgrmE | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211123/LwbhgITgrmE | archive-date=2021-11-23 | url-status=live | website=Youtube | date=30 August 2017 | access-date=11 June 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> His initial idea was to have the player control a robot with a spike on its head to pop bubbles—Mitsuji disliked it for not being "cool", instead preferring dinosaurs with ridges along their back.<ref name="BEEP!"/> He liked to write down ideas on paper as soon as he thought of them, often flooding his office with stacks of paper filled with potential ideas for game mechanics.<ref name="BEEP!"/>

Mitsuji constantly tried to think of new ways to make the game better than it was before, saying to have lost sleep while trying to figure out how he could improve it.<ref name="BEEP!"/> He often worked on holidays and late at night to come up with new ideas for the game and to perfect it.<ref name="Taito Memories"/> Several of the enemies were taken from ''[[Chack'n Pop]]'' (1984), an older Taito game that is often considered a precursor to ''Bubble Bobble''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chack 'N Pop - Videogame by Taito |url=https://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7302 |website=[[Killer List of Videogames]] |access-date=18 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925224549/https://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7302 |archive-date=25 September 2019}}</ref> Mitsuji intended the game to be played by couples, leading to the creation of the multiple endings, which differ based on player performance.<ref name="Taito Memories">Mitsuji, Fukio (28 July 2005). ''Taito Memories Jōkan — Fukio Mitsuji Interview''. [[Taito]]. Retrieved 25 August 2019.</ref><ref name="CVG Interview">{{cite web |author1=CVG Staff |title=Bubble Bobble creator speaks! |url=http://www.computerandvideogames.com/124210/interviews/bubble-bobble-creator-speaks/ |website=Computer + Video Games |access-date=25 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026010643/http://www.computerandvideogames.com/124210/interviews/bubble-bobble-creator-speaks/ |archive-date=26 October 2012 |date=26 August 2005}}</ref>

''Bubble Bobble'' was first published in Japan on June 16, 1986,<ref>{{cite web |title=Bubble Bobble (Registration Number PA0000310708) |url=https://cocatalog.loc.gov |website=[[United States Copyright Office]] |access-date=3 September 2021}}</ref> followed by a wide release in Japan in September and internationally in October of the same year.<ref name="ATVGL:JaO1971-2005">{{cite book|last=Akagi|first=Masumi|url=https://archive.org/stream/ArcadeGameList1971-2005#page/n44/mode/1up|title=タイトー (Taito); Romstar; B|work=アーケードTVゲームリスト 国内•海外編 (1971-2005)|edition=1st|publisher=Amusement News Agency|date=13 October 2006|pages=43, 130, 148|isbn=978-4990251215|language=ja}}</ref><ref name="CVG"/> Alongside ''[[Arkanoid]]'', Taito licensed the game to [[Romstar]] for distribution in the United States,<ref name="KLOV">{{cite web |title=Bubble Bobble - Videogame by Taito |url=https://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7222 |website=[[Killer List of Videogames]] |access-date=18 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190807142719/https://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7222 |archive-date=7 August 2019}}</ref> and to Electrocoin Automatics for Europe.<ref name="BEEP!"/>