Review 
Podgamer Essential
Once you pop, you can’t stop
by Craig Grannell (November 5th, 2010 at 1:00 pm)
Game: Bubble Pets. Publisher: miiifan games. Price: 59p/€0,79/99¢. Buy the game
Despite offering no tactile controls, iThings are fab for Whac-a-Mole games. The ability to frantically tap the screen, rather than using some kind of analogue ‘stick’ or ‘rodent’ to move a ‘hand’ shows that, yes, iOS works far better than other systems for some types of games. This is one of them.
In fact, Bubble Pets is the best of ‘them’ and by ‘them’, we mean ‘Whac-a-Mole games’. (Weren’t you paying attention? We’re only on the intro.) This is largely because instead of aping a fairground game or having you beat to death cartoon moles with a shovel, Bubble Pets instead tasks you with rapidly tapping on pixelated cartoon animals of all kinds, living in vibrant pixelated cartoon worlds.
No dogs allowed in Pixel Park. Monkeys are fine, though. And stars MUST BE ON A LEAD.
While the simplicity of Bubble Pets acts in its favour—Whac-a-Mole games don’t benefit from complexity—it nonetheless chucks a couple of extra gameplay components into the mix, forcing you to pay more attention and react faster. Each level has a ‘bad pet’. Tap it and you lose a heart (you also lose one for a standard ‘miss’); lose all five and it’s game over. Also, the environments (and the places where animals appear) vary dramatically, keeping you on your toes.
Bubble Pets recommends against shoving rabbits up a giant monkey's butt.
An added complication comes in the form of bosses that lumber around and obscure your view. You must dispatch them quickly (via insanely frantic tapping) or animals will pop up and vanish in the background, resulting in your hearts disappearing with alarming speed. Luckily, the game’s not entirely brutal, since every few levels you’re transported into space, and spend a happy 30 seconds or so in a charming minigame that has animals floating past in bubbles. Burst them for points, and burst the bubble containing a heart for an extra life.
I hope my legs don't get EATEN BY A DINOSAUR, walking on the moon
(© Sting the Policeman)
There’s almost nothing to dislike about this game. Every now and again, environments briefly obscure animals (most notably clouds in the plane level), but that merely adds to the challenge. And while the touch recognition is occasionally slightly suspect, it works fine when you’re disciplined enough to prod with an extended finger, rather than accidentally straying into multitouch.
Of course, if you’re a suave and sophisticated Podgamer reader, you already know about Bubble Pets and downloaded it for free on October 24. But even if you’re a latecomer to our village of joy, the 59p/€0,79/99¢ you’ll spend on Bubble Pets is a small price to pay for the ability to frantically prod a giant monkey’s bottom.
Great game!!!! I like the retro 8 bit style
This is a fantastic little game, and probably the last place I’d expect to find a reference to Canadian electro-industrial outfit Skinny Puppy.
Somebody got the Skinny Puppy reference! :D
v1.2 will be out any day now, and 1.3 is almost ready to be submitted (with universal/iPad support).
Ah, now here’s a problem with iOS reviewing: an update has not only made this review now factually inaccurate, it’s also fucked the game. You now get – without choice – twice as many lives, turning a quick-blast game into a can’t-be-arsed slog. There’s a de facto Hard mode, but that’s more like a Stupid Extreme mode that’s nigh on unplayably fast.
Ho hum, eh?
I’ve only had one half go on the new version, so can’t comment yet. It’s a pity the original wasn’t just left alone and a new ‘wimps’ level added with twice as many lives but no other changes.
Yea, it was stupid. To explain: the #1 complaint I got about the game from people was that it was too difficult, so I tried to accomodate. As soon as I submitted it though, it felt wrong and took away a lot of the essence of the game.
A 1.2.1 update going back to 5 hearts has been submitted. Again, it was stupid, but lesson learned – I’ll stick with my gut instincts from now on instead of trying to please everybody.
On the bright side, the extra lives don’t seem to have affected the leaderboard as the high scores are all still from the pre-easy update. So hopefully no permanent damage done.
Also, a 1.3 release is ready to be submitted next that will include universal/iPad support, and some new eye candy and music.
That update sounds great. I think when it comes to THE GENERAL PUBLIC, you’ve got to stand your ground as a dev, unless your game is ludicrously tough. Bubble Pets never was; sure, it was challenging, but it was no v1 Squareball or Be2. I guess some people get all angry when they can’t blaze through an entire game on their first go.
When’s the universal build likely to hit?
I’m hoping first week of end of November or first week of December. Apple’s review process has been taking longer than usual lately though, so it may be a little later.