Angus Kidman – anguskidman.show

I’m a huge fan of classic 1980s dinosaur-bubble-popping-with-surprise-beer platform game Bubble Bobble. The dinosaurs in the lead image are a craft project of mine, My brother is an even bigger fan and the reason I got hooked on it back in the day.

Recently, I’ve gone back to playing the handheld version which was released by My Arcade a few years ago.

This uses what’s known in Bubble Bobble circles as the NES version, though the code has shown up on a bunch of other platforms. This doesn’t fully replicate the arcade experience (you can do that via MAME easily enough).

The NES version sports slightly simpler graphics (bubbles rather than rivers, a simpler EXTEND screen), changes the entire design of a few levels, and doesn’t include the Treasure Rooms. Most of this is due to memory issues.

It’s also slightly less challenging, which is fine by me. Indeed, I liked it enough to purchase the mini-upright version from My Arcade as well.

One handy feature of the NES code is that there are passwords to access all 99 levels. Given that level 57 is nigh-on impossible (it’s one of the replacement levels and not well-designed), this is very handy. I’ve popped the full list at the bottom of this guide.

The passwords are 5-letter sequences which use a random combination of letters from A to J. Me being me, I decided it was worth analysing these to find out if there were any obvious patterns. I was also curious about how many buttons you have to press to enter each password (since you have to select the letters using the up and down buttons). I’ve listed the totals in the table.

Here’s what I discovered on digging into the full list:

• There are no passwords which use D or H. Feels like a troll.
• B is the most common letter, popping up 56 times.
• E only occurs 21 times.
• The last letter of every password is always B, G, I or J.
• The most useful password, for level 58, takes 42 key presses. That’s high, but not the highest (level 71 needs 44).
• The median number of key presses to enter a password is 28.
• Most passwords (56 of 99) contain 3 different lettters.
• Only one password (level 89) contains 5 different letters.

For more retro gaming indulgence, check out the definitive guide to Muppet Race Mania and the complete map of Cauldron II on the Amstrad CPC6128.

Full list of Bubble Bobble passwords for My Arcade/NES

Level	Password	# presses to enter
1	BBAAB	7
2	BAAAB	6
3	BABBI	15
4	BIIIB	30
5	BIFFB	24
6	BFFFB	21
7	BFIIG	32
8	BJJJB	33
9	BJCCB	19
10	BCCCB	12
11	BCJJI	33
12	BGGGB	24
13	BGEEB	20
14	BEEEB	18
15	BEJJJ	36
16	AAAAB	5
17	AABBI	14
18	ABBBI	15
19	ABAAI	13
20	AFFFB	20
21	AFIIG	31
22	AIIIG	34
23	AIFFG	28
24	ACCCB	11
25	ACJJI	32
26	AJJJI	39
27	AJCCI	25
28	AEEEB	17
29	AEJJJ	35
30	AGJJJ	37
31	AGCCJ	23
32	IIIIB	37
33	IIFFB	31
34	IFFFB	28
35	IFIIG	39
36	IBBBJ	24
37	IBAAJ	22
38	IAAAJ	21
39	IABBG	20
40	IGGGB	31
41	IGEEB	27
42	IEEEB	25
43	IEJJJ	43
44	IJGGG	39
45	IJEEG	35
46	ICEEG	28
47	ICGGJ	35
48	FFFFB	25
49	FFIIG	36
50	FFIFG	33
51	FIIIG	39
52	FAAAJ	18
53	FABBG	17
54	FBBBG	18
55	FBAAG	16
56	FEEEB	22
57	FEJJJ	40
58	FGJJJ	42
59	FGCCJ	28
60	FCEEG	25
61	FCGGJ	32
62	FJGGJ	39
63	FJEEJ	35
64	JJJJB	41
65	JJCCB	27
66	JCCCB	20
67	JCJJI	41
68	JGGGB	32
69	JGEEB	28
70	JEEEB	26
71	JEJJJ	44
72	JBIII	38
73	JBFFI	32
74	JAFFI	31
75	JAIIB	30
76	JIBBI	31
77	JIAAI	29
78	JFAAI	26
79	JFBBJ	29
80	CCCCB	13
81	CCJJI	34
82	CJJJI	41
83	CJCCI	27
84	CEEEB	19
85	CEJJJ	37
86	CGJJJ	39
87	CGCCJ	25
88	CAFFI	24
89	CAJFI	28
90	CBIIB	24
91	CBFFB	18
92	CFAAI	19
93	CJBBJ	26
94	CIBBJ	25
95	CIAAJ	23
96	GGJBI	34
97	GGEEB	25
98	GEEEB	23
99	GEJJJ	41