• Platform: Gameboy
• Developer: FCI
• Genre: Puzzle
• Year: 1990

Bubble Ghost is a fun, 35-hall puzzle game where you play as a ghost who is attempting to manuever a very fragile bubble through a dangerous, haunted mansion. The goal is to blow the bubble to the exit of the hall. I have yet to experience all that this game has to offer (only making it to hall 18 so far), so I'm not aware of any twists that may happen later in the game.

Everything but the player is a hazard to the bubble. It can be popped by touching walls, touching hazards, or by being exposed to heat. The player, being a ghost, can go through all objects and walls in order to get the best angle on the bubble. The player can blow the bubble in 8 directions. The bubble will continue to drift for a bit after being moved, so it's important for the player to keep an eye on it so that it doesn't float into a hazard.

The player isn't the only thing that can move the bubble. Some halls have fans that blow the bubble towards obstacles. Many hazards can be disabled by the player, including this fan. In one hall there is a snake blocking a path, but blowing into a nearby trumpet will put the snake to sleep, allowing the bubble to pass. In some halls there are candles which, if it isn't blown out by the player, will pop the bubble with the heat that it emits. The game has many environmental objects like this, all of which are pretty intuitive to disable.

The halls get trickier as the game progresses; with sharper angles, tighter corridors, and more time-based obstacles. Bubble Ghost evolves into a fast-paced precision game pretty early on after the beginning levels teach you how to play.

I picked this game up at a local game store. I didn't know much about it before buying it, I think I just gravitated towards the title and the artwork on the cartridge. I was definitely not disappointed. It looks fantastic on the Super Gameboy (which is the source of the screenshots above), and I would have loved to have this game in my pocket on a recent trip that I took. Bubble Ghost is a great game to pick up and start playing for a quick challenge. Although I haven't taken it on the go anywhere just yet, I'm sure that it will be one of my go-to games on my next vacation.

[June 2, 2021]