Puzzle Bobble 2X

Puzzle Bobble 2X
Developer: NJK Techno Publisher: Taito Platform: Arcade (Taito F3 Hardware) Released in JP: December 1995 This game has unused playable characters. This game has hidden development-related text. This game has unused graphics. This game has debugging material.

A holiday themed version of Puzzle Bobble 2 with MORE* and HARDER levels.

*Only in the X mode.

Character Select

Much like Puzzle Bobble 2, you can select the playable character in both Puzzle and VS CPU modes when holding specific button combinations at the map screen. You can even select the characters left over from Bust a Move Again, since the ROM is always the same for every region!

The button combinations are different between 2 and 2X, but in the latter the list of available characters is much more complete.

VS CPU Stage	Character	Code
Practice 1	Gaago	1P + A + Down
Practice 2	Kajaku	1P + A + Left + Down
Normal 1	Monsta	1P + Up
Normal 2	Packy	1P + Up + Right
Normal 3	Woolen	1P + Right
Normal 4	Picard	1P + Right + Down
Normal 5	Garaniyo	1P + Down
Normal 6	Chun-Chun	1P + Left + Down
Normal 7	Kligan	Nothing
Normal 8	Maita	1P + Up + Left
Normal 9	Dorabo	1P + A + Up
Normal 10	Chokkinta	1P + A + Up + Right
Normal 11	Mecha Bubblen	Nothing
Normal 12	Drunk	1P + A + Right + Down

These characters are unused in this game. Two of them are used, however, in Bust-a-Move Again.

	Character	Code	Notes
Bust-a-Move Again Player	Hands	1P + A + Left	This character uses a cannon.
Bust-a-Move Again CPU	Computer	1P + A + Up + Left	This character uses a cannon. Sound effects are different compared to Bust-a-Move Again.
Unused	Sketch Bubblun	1P + A	It uses Bub/Bob's sound effects and palette depending on player. Character ID invalid in Puzzle Bobble 2.

Unused Character

Even with the Character Select button combinations, there is one unused character that is unavailable through normal means. It's a pink rabbit with a striking similarity to Sonic.

Put the following code in MAME's pbobble2x.xml cheat file and activate it to play as this character.

<cheat desc="Play as Pink Rabbit (1P)">
    <script state="run">
      <action>:maincpu.ppb@41ECCA=FF</action>
      <action>:maincpu.ppb@41ECCB=FC</action>
    </script>
</cheat>

Notably, he actually appears in Puzzle Bobble 2's title screen and in the VS CPU Hard Ending, but in that game there is no valid character ID for the character.

Error Handler

Much like the other Puzzle Bobble games on the Taito F3, this screen appears whenever the game crashes.

Unused Region Settings

Since the game was never released outside Japan, these region settings are unused.

Bust-a-Move Again Mode

When the game region is set to US, the game behaves like Bust-a-Move Again, a leftover from Puzzle Bobble 2.

Other than the missing US-specific music, this mode clearly wasn't updated as:

• The title screen hasn't been updated.
• There are some palette errors, like with the pointer machinery.
• Puzzle Bobble characters can still be seen in some screens.
• After the Merry Christmas/Happy New Year demo ends the game crashes.
• Test Mode settings are slightly broken. Play Price can't be selected: the cursor goes over an invisible option instead.

World Setting

In this mode the game plays normally, except it has English text.

Developer Text

A list of internal sound names can be found fragmented on various ROM chips.

RIM          CLAP         CAB*S        TIMB         KICK         SNARE*1      SNARE*2      CLOSE       
OPEN         CRUSH        RIDE         TOM*MID      WHITE NOISE  CASTANET     QUIK         BONGO       
AGOGO        SYNTH BD     SYNTH SD     TB*TYPE-A    TB*TYPE-B    KICK         SNARE        CHUN*HI     
CHUN*LOW     TOM*MID      FINKPLOYD    SCRACH       STEEL        SQUARE       BANG         OBOE        
ORGAN        SOLO 08      HI*BRASS     FEED*BACK    ANKLUN       ROUND*BASS   MOOG         ENGLISH HORN
SCRACH       STEEL        HUMAN        HARP         PIZZ2        WOODY        SAW          SQUARE      
PULSE        RHORDS*B     SQ1 CLARINET SYNTH BELL   MARIMBA      OBOE         FULL*ST      BANG        
DOSUN        HYPER DOSUN  SAYO 1       SAYO 2       SNAKE 1      SNAKE 2      DORA 1       DORA 2      
ICE          MAITA 1      MAITA 2      BLUE   LASER DARIUS       COOL         DRK 1        DRK  2      
GAGO         QI QI        PAO          BUN          CHA          DOKAAN       POPPIN       SYNTH HORN  
SYNTH BELL 2 HAMOND*A4    TAITO*ROGO1  TAITO*ROGO4  CHORD PIANO  1980 BRASS   VOYAGER      LEAD 01     
BRASS LOWSEC SY STR       12-E-GUIT    REAL FLUTE   P5-LEAD      MONO*LEAD    100M*BRASS-1 FK*GUIT-1   
BELL PF      READY        GO           KOKEE        OUT          DON          BAB*OCHI     TIME        
SNAKE*01     POKO         MAWARU       KAITEN       DANCE*RESO   QUAKE        DENKI*1      WB*01       
RUNNING      JUMP         ASHI         HASAMI       KANI         BAB          BOX*OPEN     BIYOYON     
SUGOROKU     MONSTA       POINT*1      POINT*2      RIGHT*UP     EYE          SESSHOKU     COIN        
SHOOT        BOUND        AWA*HAKI     CHAKUCHI     RAM*CHAN     BALL*UP      KIERU        OCHIRU      
FURUE        KYU          ASHI*OTO     MARIO*JUMP   MARIO*BREAK  KINOKO*OCHI  MONSTA*SHOUT NEZUMI*STOP 
DR WARN      COM 1        COM 2        COM 3        STAR         BOW          HAKKEI       JANRU       
BOWAWA 2     HODAI*IDO S  EXPLO        URURU 2      GAGO 1       GAGO 2       YAN 1        YAN 2       
BONYOON 2    HODAI*STOP   BUB 1        BUB 2        BUB 3        BUB 4        VOICE*4      VOICE*5     
VOICE*6      VOICE*7      BONYOON      S BANG       KUBI         JAKIIN       CHUN 1       CHUN 2      
SPARK        MABUSI       NEKO 1       NFKO 2       CHOKI 1      YAN 1        CHOKI 2      YAN 2      
URURU 1