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Some games just exude a cuteness that is almost too irresistible, as is the case with the fourth entry of the classic Bubble Bobble series. If you’re not familiar, Bubble Bobble was a game made for arcades from arcade gaming company Taito. You control a dragon and complete levels that have you blowing bubbles at small enemies before popping them for points. Bubble Bobble 4 Friends follows a similar formula, but includes up to four players to team up and complete 100 levels with platforming challenges and boss battles. Whether you’re playing alone or with friends, you’ll get caught up in the colorful visuals and fun gameplay with these cute dragons.

The story of Bubble Bobble 4 Friends is as silly as the characters look, taking place in a child’s bedroom at night. A whimsical light brings a bunch of toys to life, including the child’s favorite toy a dragon named Bub. At the same time, a magician named Bonner becomes jealous of this and begins to start trouble for the dragon, casting spells wildly. There’s a few cutscenes that show the events of the story as you progress through each grouping of stages, but they aren’t long lasting except for the beginning and very end. This isn’t a deep story, but a simple enough one to lightly compliment the gameplay at the focus of Bubble Bobble 4 Friends.

Speaking of which, Bubble Bobble 4 Friends feels great to control and can be very fun alone or with friends. You and your friends will be blowing bubbles at all kinds of cute enemies moving about, and even jumping atop the bubbles you blow to reach new platforms to gather fruit for more points. The traditional way is to have another player with you for co-op games, but this entry allows for up to four players locally on one system. You can detach the Nintendo Switch joycons for another player to enter the game, as well as sync up other controls to gather a full group, which can be done easily and quickly. Most of the stages don’t feel as if they’re designed with a full group of players in mind, so they can lean towards the easy side of difficulty. Unfortunately, there is no online mode to play with other people over the internet, so you’re limited to multiplayer games being local on the system. An online mode would’ve been perfect for Bubble Bobble 4 Friends, since multiplayer is a big focal point. There’s also no competitive multiplayer modes or anything to have you competing against friends, which could be intentional given the themes of the main story.

There are over 100 stages with different layouts and challenges for you and your dragon. Some range from the incredibly easy rooms that require you to clear enemies, while others mix things up by placing them in higher or clever ways. You’ll also be tasked with gathering letters that spell out EXTEND in each group, which unlock bonus items that give you small abilities with your bubbles, as well as music in the Memory Album gallery. The items you unlock are helpful, but you might not always find a need to use them. Things like electrical bubbles, explosive bubbles, and the like are great when attacking enemies from a distance. You’re limited to the amount of times you can use them within a stage, so whether they are impactful on a playthrough will depend on how much you’re willing to experiment with each as you unlock them.

The boss battles you run into at the end of each group of stages can be mildly challenging, but not to a very difficult point that you can’t handle them all on your own. Playing solo in boss battles will just require you to be loose with the bubbles you blow, otherwise they’re no different than if you played with any number of friends. After finishing the first run of stages, you unlock a more difficult series of levels that increase the challenge, requiring you to really test your knowledge of the game’s mechanics. If you have enough patience, then you can eventually get through these levels with enough finesse, but they will take a lot longer to complete than the previous stages.

At the side of the main levels, the original arcade Bubble Bobble is fully accessible and playable from beginning to end. This is a good alternative if you want to see the series origins, but doesn’t offer much from playing through it other than nostalgia. You can play with another player, not the aforementioned four-players like in the main game. It would’ve been nice to have other unlockable versions of Bubble Bobble, or variations of the main game and other modes to experiment with in some way. What you get here is basic, even though it’s not entirely disappointing.

Bubble Bobble 4 Friends is a cute and lighthearted game that will make anyone smile. It’s lacking additional extras and bonus items that would’ve given more value, but there’s still a fun and sometimes challenging game you can play with friends. The visuals are colorful and cutesy, the controls are great with the easy to understand gameplay, and the multiplayer can be great to play with up to three other people. Online multiplayer would’ve been the best thing to have in this and take the bubble busting online with others around the world. Regardless, Bubble Bobble hasn’t lost its touch and still has some fun times to be had.

This review was based on a digital review code for Bubble Bobble 4 Friends on Nintendo Switch, provided by ININ Games.