THE PUZZLE BOBBLE 4 FAQ V0.8 by Carl Chavez (carl@bubandbob.com) Last updated 25 March 2000. The latest version is always available at http://www.bubandbob.com/puzzlebobble4 1. WHEN WAS THE GAME RELEASED? 2. WHAT REMAINED IN THE GAME? 3. WHAT ARE THE NEW FEATURES? 4. WHAT IS A PULLEY? HOW CAN IT BE DEFEATED? 5. WHAT IS AN ANTI-GRAVITY BLOCK? 6. HOW DOES EACH VS. MODE GAME END? 7. WHO ARE THE PLAYABLE CHARACTERS? 8. WHO IS THE MAIN BOSS IN VS. MODE? 9. HOW DOES THE GAME END IN STORY MODE? 10. CREDITS ------------------------------------------ 1. WHEN WAS THE GAME RELEASED? The arcade board I own has this information on the Setup menu: "19 December 1997, v2.04D". I first saw it listed for sale in February 1998. The Playstation version was released in Japan shortly afterward in early spring 1998. The North American and European versions appeared in early 1999. The PC version was released in October 1999 in Europe and January 2000 in North America. The PC version supports Internet play, so it is highly recommended. A Dreamcast version will be released in the spring or summer of 2000. 2. WHAT REMAINED IN THE GAME? * All of the colored bubbles. * The anchor blocks from Puzzle Bobble 3, which must have no bubbles attached to them in order for them to disappear. The level cannot end until all anchor blocks are destroyed. * Rainbow bubbles from Puzzle Bobble 2. Rainbow bubbles become the color of the bubbles last popped next to them. * Star bubbles from Puzzle Bobble 2. Star bubbles pop all bubbles of the same color as the bubble which touched it. * Trouble blocks from Puzzle Bobble 2. These blocks must be dropped to get rid of them. They don't pop. 3. WHAT ARE THE NEW FEATURES? There are 10 playable characters to use in puzzle or versus mode. There are pulleys in the single-player game, and chain reactions in the versus game. There is a new block called the anti-gravity block, which causes all bubbles attached to it to drift upwards if the bubble cluster is not attached to anything. 4. WHAT IS A PULLEY? HOW CAN IT BE DEFEATED? A pulley consists of two anchor blocks attached to a rope. If each anchor has an equivalent number of bubbles attached to it, the pulley is balanced. If you add bubbles to one side, it pulls that bubble cluster down and moves the other up. *All* bubbles attached to the bubble cluster will be dropped if the anchor bubble is dropped, even if they're touching other bubbles. The pulley will stop moving if the anchor's bubble cluster is connected to either another pulley anchor's bubble cluster, its own pulley anchor's bubble cluster, or to a stationary anchor. 5. WHAT IS AN ANTI-GRAVITY BLOCK? An anti-gravity block acts like a trouble block. You can't pop it. When you end up in a situation where a group of bubbles would drop, the anti-gravity block pulls that group of bubbles up the board until it sticks to one or more other bubbles. Once the anti-gravity block reaches the top of the board, it becomes an anchor block. 6. HOW DOES EACH VS. MODE GAME END? Each ending starts out like this: "When he collected all the rainbow bubbles. Gmorning returned to ???." Each character has a second, unique screen. The text of each second screen is in section 7, "Who are the Playable Characters?". 7. WHO ARE THE PLAYABLE CHARACTERS? ------------------------------- Bubblen/Bobblen - Bubble Dragons No description should be necessary... :-) ------------------------------- Kurol - Frog Boy Kurol is a baby wearing a frog suit. He attacks with musical notes and a pillow. ------------------------------- Devillun - Dark Bubble Dragon Devillun resembles the Super Dark Great Dragon of Bubble Memories. END SCREEN: "Now I am Master of the Universe!" ------------------------------- Giganto - The Mechanical Knight Giganto is a huge robot. He looks like a knight. His helm has a plume of fire. When he attacks, a huge wave of fire and electricity strikes the opponent. VERSUS QUOTES: vs. Bubblen/Bobblen: "Give. Me. Your. Rainbow. Bubbles." vs. Alkamet: "I. Will. Get. Something. Shiny. And. Round." vs. Marina: "Give. Me. Your. Rainbow. Bubbles." vs. Kurol: "Are. You. A. Frog. How. I. Will. Defeat. You." "I will make an effort. (croak, croak)" vs. Ramadan: "My. Sensors. Detect. Bubbles. I. Shall. Destroy. You." "You should know the anger earth and wind." vs. Kurion: "Tell. Me. Where. The. Bubbles. Are." "I have forgotten. I'm so sorry (heh heh heh)." vs. G: "My. Sensors. Detect. Creatures. Have. Bubbles." "Leave me alone." vs Bramb: "Give. Me. Your. Bubbles! Give. Me. Your. Bubbles.!" "Bubbles, bubbles -- please give me power." vs. Devillun: "Devil. Energy. Very. Dangerous, I. Will. Destroy. You." "I'll show you my power." vs. Giganto: "Hey. People. Make. A. Way. For. Me." "Move. Away. Quickly." vs. Madame Luna: "I. Will. Destroy. You." "Show me how to defeat me." END SCREEN: "These are all mine, how beautiful." ------------------------------- Alkanet - The Ice Princess ------------------------------- Tam Tam - The Shaman ------------------------------- Marina - The Mermaid ------------------------------- G - The Old Man He likes solving puzzles. VERSUS QUOTES: vs. G: "Nice day, isn't it?" "Ye, it is." END SCREEN: "Since the sun has returned to the sky, the laundry dries well, doesn't it, sweetheart?" ------------------------------- Bramb - alien who looks like Greedo (from Star Wars) ------------------------------- Kurion (arcade), Cleon (PSX) - Pixie END SCREEN: "But... 'Now I'm the Greatest in the Universe!'" ------------------------------- Woolen (PSX only) - horned girl (from Pop'n'Pop?) Woolen resembles one of the horned girls from Pop'n'Pop. She whines like a little baby and can be a very annoying character to play with or against. She is a hidden character on the Playstation version and is unlocked when she appears in the Challenge mode after 12 or so wins. She cannot be used in Story vs. mode. ------------------------------- Maita/Mighta (PSX only) - a Bubble Bobble monster The classic Mighta. It is a hidden character on the Playstation version and is unlocked when it appears in the Challenge mode. It cannot be used in Story vs. mode. ------------------------------- Monsta (PSX only) - a Bubble Bobble monster The classic Monsta. It is a hidden character on the Playstation version and is unlocked when it appears in the Challenge mode. It cannot be used in Story vs. mode. ------------------------------- Packy (PSX only) - clockwork cat Packy is a Taito character who appears in some of Taito's games. It has its own redemption arcade game, "Packy's Treasure Slot". It is a hidden character on the Playstation version and is unlocked when it appears in the Challenge mode. It cannot be used in Story vs. mode. ------------------------------- 8. WHO IS THE MAIN BOSS IN VS. MODE? Madame Luna - a metal sphere with big lips Madame Luna is the main boss behind the theft of the Rainbow Bubbles. Madame Luna collected them for evil purposes. However, when she is defeated, a familiar enemy emerges... Hyper Drunk - comes out from inside Madame Luna! Hyper Drunk is still pestering Bub and the others. He's the true mastermind behind the dastardly deeds! Hyper Drunk and Madame Luna are also hidden characters and can be unlocked (how?). They cannot be used in VS. mode. ------------------------------- 9. HOW DOES THE GAME END IN STORY MODE? When you beat the game, what's-her-name returns and says, "Your love and courage made the time flow properly. Someday this adventure will be gone from your memory by the self-cleansing action (missed the next screen) but I will never forget you. Thank you very much. I will foretell your future in return. The flow of time that leads to the future is going to branch off according to your behavior. Please remember that it is you who decides your future. I hope your future will be bright." At this point you get to have a tarot reading. This tarot reading is available for play from the Options screen once you finish it and save the current game state to your memory card. ------------------------------- 10. CREDITS Written by Carl Chavez (carl@bubandbob.com). Additional help from Anthony Greulich. Copyright (C) 1998, 2000 Carl Chavez. This FAQ may freely distributed through non-commercial methods. Therefore, it may not be distributed through Web sites (or other electronic distribution) which have advertising, with the exception of gamefaqs.com. It may not be printed in a publication which accepts advertising.