Long before Bubble Bobble 4 Friends and Puzzle Bobble Everybubble, Taito released a unique pair of Bubble Bobble sequels that did not involve blowing bubbles: Rainbow Islands and Parasol Stars. After its inclusion on the Turbografx-16 Mini a few years ago, Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble III is finally getting its own new release. The adorable platformer will be coming to Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch later this year courtesy of ININ Games.

Few spin-off series have been as successful as Taito’s Puzzle Bobble. The 1994 arcade game successfully used characters from the Bubble Bobble series of platformers in a brand-new puzzle game. It would go on to spawn dozens of sequels and ports (not to mention clones), most recently with Puzzle Bobble 3D for PlayStation and Oculus/Meta Quest....

Taito's Bubble Bobble series started out in 1986 and remains popular to this day. Bubble Bobble 4 didn't get the world on first (though I like it), but there will be plenty more adventures for Bub and Bob in the future, including the upcoming Puzzle Bobble Everybubble. Merchandise for this series doesn't come to international markets very often, but Strictly Limited Games currently has a bundle of Bub and Bob plushies available to order. Quantities are already shipping and super limited, so don't delay!

Single-screen platformers like Bubble Bobble and Snow Bros. aren't very common nowadays. 2Awesome Studio aims to fix that with their upcoming game, Smoothcade. The colorful "clear the screen" platformer will support 4-player local co-op in multiple game modes, and it's coming to all major platforms sometime this year.

We've been excited for the Taito Egret II Mini arcade cabinet since it was announced last year. The cabinet will include 40 classic arcade games from Taito, with several cool accessories adding to the arcade experience. Until now, the Egret II was only announced for the Japanese market. Now, United Games Entertainment (parent company of ININ and Strictly Limited) has revealed that it will distribute the Egret II Mini in the West in 2022!

Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day famously sang a plea to wake him when September ends. What's so good about the end of September, though? As it turns out, the last day of September will be very good for Bubble Bobble fans this year. That's when Bubble Bobble 4: The Baron's Workshop launches on Steam, complete with the first level editor in the series' history, 200 built-in levels, and 4-player local co-op.

Bubble Bobble 4 Friends, the latest game in Taito's classic co-op arcade platformer series, released on PlayStation and Switch a while back and later received extra levels with 'The Baron is Back' update. The next logical step for Taito and publisher ININ would seem to be the release of Xbox and PC versions. Sadly, Taito continues to avoid showing Xbox any love, but a Steam version is finally happening. It will be called Bubble Bobble 4 Friends: The Baron's Workshop, and it will feature a brand-new level editor.

In December 2021, Sega and a company called Zuiki released the Astro City Mini, a miniature arcade cabinet featuring 37 classic Sega arcade games. Now to be outdone, Taito recently announced its own mini arcade cabinet: the Egret II Mini. Scheduled for release in March 2022, the Egret II Mini will include 40 classic arcade games, 10 of which feature 2-player local co-op. Even better, the optional Paddle & Trackball Game Expansion Set adds 10 more games and a very special controller. That’s a lot of classic co-op goodness!