Changed Stages

This is a sub-page of Proto:Bubble Symphony (Arcade)/Stages.

Legend

Stages with Changed Layouts#

Stage 006: Fly Away / Large Hall
Prototype
Stage Data
072,120
Enemies (Prototype)
056,060
Enemies (Final Game)
056,060
Special Bubbles
8.33% 0%

Layout

• The final game adds currents in the middle of the stage to keep bubbles and captured enemies in one place.

Stage Data

• The player has less time to both finish the stage and to pop enemies in the final game, but the enemies' speed was slowed down.
• The rare-but-mostly-useless Fire Bubbles no longer spawn.

Enemies

• The three original Pulpuls were replaced by Ti Ta Mas, and the two Dorabos were replaced by two new Pulpuls. Good thing too, because the Dorabos interact with the pits at the bottom like they were platforms; they'll just stop diving and fly back up.

Stage 013: Three Countries Story / Third Room
Prototype
Stage Data
112,184
Enemies (Prototype)
184,164
Enemies (Final Game)
184,164
Special Bubbles
—

Layout

• The platform in the upper-right corner was reshaped and moved more to the left to accommodate a new enemy.

Stage Data

• Stage difficulty was ramped up by reducing the amount of time it takes to complete the stage, for the Skel-monsta to appear, and for bubbles to pop. Enemies were also sped up a stage.
• Water bubbles were lowered from a 1/4 spawn chance to a 1/6 chance.

Enemies

• The two Zen-chan were replaced by a Chu-chu Man and a Catch-maru. The aforementioned new enemy is an Invader.

Stage 016: Pan / Saucepan
Prototype
Stage Data
120,168
Enemies (Prototype)
152,084
Enemies (Final Game)
152,068
Special Bubbles
25.00%

Layout

• The air currents inside the saucepan were changed to keep bubbles and capture enemies trapped inside the pan. The platform inside the pan was raised up two blocks.

Stage Data

• While the amount of time was reduced and the enemies were sped up, the time it takes for bubbles to pop was doubled.

Enemies

• The two Mightas were moved up along with the platform.

Stage 019: Rest Room / Breeze Room
Prototype
Stage Data
088,096 088,104
Enemies (Prototype)
056,124
Enemies (Final Game)
072,044
Special Bubbles
—

Layout

• Major alterations were made to the stage to make traversing it easier. Two platforms were added to 1P spawn, and one more was added to 2P spawn to make getting to the main stage quicker, and the three blocks of land at the bottom were all lowered by one block. There's a new opening above the 1P spawn that the player can use to dodge enemies. The air currents had to be redone after Wind Bubbles were introduced to this stage.

Stage Data

• The point and special bonus items had to be moved down 8 pixels to match the new heights of their respective platforms. The music note was moved away from the left wall of the second upper chamber, placing it closer to the opening in the roof.
• The completion and bubble popping times were both reduced, and enemies were sped up three stages.
• As previously mentioned, the final game adds a high chance for Wind Bubbles to spawn here. Wind Bubbles aren't part of the prototype's game design; this is the first of only two instances of them being added to already existing stages.

Enemies

• The two Drankos were replaced by more stage-appropriate Kabukkies, which were then moved further apart. The Mighta by the first pit on the left and the Dorabo above 2P's spawn were both removed; in their place are four Catch-marus that each spawn on one of the three blocks on the bottom.

Stage 026: Last Treasure Hunter
Prototype
Stage Data
080,048
Enemies (Prototype)
120,052
Enemies (Final Game)
120,052
Special Bubbles
—

Layout

• The prototype has two ways for 1P to get to the top: Either by riding a bubble up the left wall, or jumping through the small gap in the middle of the large wall. Riding up the left wall is fine, but risky, since enemies can come in from the right side and collide with the player. Jumping through the gap is also fine, as they'll normally pass through the wall and land on the narrow opening below. However, if the player is too fast, they'll end up inside the hole and be sitting bubbleducks for the Invaders. The final game made the following changes:

1. Deleted the upward currents in the left opening.
2. Added a dip in the upper-left corner for the player to hide in.
3. Widened the gap near the top to give the player some space to move and blow bubbles.

Stage Data

• The bubble popping timer was tripled.

Enemies

• The second Invader was replaced by a Warurin in the same spot, reducing the amount of lasers that players have to dodge.

Stage 031: Eat / Eat It
Prototype
Stage Data
072,176
Enemies (Prototype)
136,188
Enemies (Final Game)
136,188
Special Bubbles
—

Layout

• In the prototype, the player can dodge enemy projectiles by sitting on one of the blocks in either corner of the stage and jumping occasionally. These blocks were turned into walls in the final game, but a newly-added opening in the middle of the stage provides some room for evasion.

Stage Data

• 5 seconds was added to the timer, making it a little easier to eat. Beat.

Enemies

• The two Zen-chans were replaced by Cerberorins, the Magician transformed into an Ankororin, and the two Drankos were gender-swapped into Drunks. Due to an error in this stage's enemy data field, only the first five enemies are loaded: Look here for a MAME cheat that will fix this glitch.

Stage 032: Barbecue
Prototype
Stage Data
104,136
Special Bubbles
25.00%

Layout

• Both sets of 2x3 blocks in the middle of the stage fused together. It's a beautiful thing.

Stage Data

• The bubble popping speed was reduced from an already low 5 seconds to just 3 seconds. They really wanted the player to use Fire Bubbles.

Stage 034: Knights Chamber / Silk Hat
Prototype
Stage Data
072,160 088,168
Enemies (Prototype)
048,084
Enemies (Final Game)
048,092
Special Bubbles
—

Layout

• The hat was moved one block down, and one of the blocks inside of the hat was removed. There were also some minor changes in the air currents near the top of the hat.

Stage Data

• The point item spawn was moved a bit to the right, away from the left edge of the hat's brim.
• Standard difficulty changes: Stage and bubble popping timers lowered, monsters sped up.

Enemies

• All enemies had to be moved down by 8 pixels to match the hat's lower height.

Stage 043: Monster Laboratory
Prototype
Stage Data
080,048
Enemies (Prototype)
064,156
Enemies (Final Game)
064,156
Special Bubbles
—

Layout

• Two blocks were added to bridge the gap between the two sets of testing chambers, and the air flow was reversed in the same area. The air currents in all four chambers were changed to accommodate the Wind Bubbles.

Stage Data

• The music note was originally in the third testing chamber; going for the note would likely either trap and/or kill the player. The final game thankfully moves the note to the long open area on the left.
• The amount of time to clear the stage more than doubled (This stage is part of Round A in the final game), but the bubble popping timer was lowered to encourage special bubble use.

The special bubbles in this stage were changed from Thunder Bubbles to the new Wind Bubbles, and the chance of them spawning was halved.

Enemies

• In what will become a clear trend, the final game adds a single Warurin to the mix in the far right part of the stage.

Stage 047: Trap Ceiling / Wine Glass
Prototype
Stage Data
096,096 048,176
Enemies (Prototype)
064,140
Enemies (Final Game)
128,076
Special Bubbles
—

Layout

• There are large changes to the air currents in each section of this stage. Notably, in the prototype, the currents try to push bubbles away from the stem of the wine glass, and the path that bubbles have to take to reach the bowl is much longer and stops at the bottom of the glass. At some point, the developers realized that:

1. It took too long for the bubbles to get into the glass.
2. Bubbles don't sink, they float.

Stage Data

• This stage uses placeholder data (See the deleted stages section) so comparisons are a bit pointless.

Enemies

• The placeholder enemies were replaced by more stage-appropriate foes: Five Drunks and two Mya-tas.

Stage 055: Break the Car / Car Shop
Prototype
Stage Data
088,168
Enemies (Prototype)
168,076
Enemies (Final Game)
168,076
Special Bubbles
25.00%

Layout

• In the prototype, the air currents are set up so that the Fire Bubbles that spawn get stuck in the top part of the stage. The final game modifies the currents so they'll go further out.

Stage Data

• Players get ten more seconds with the car in the final game.

Enemies

• The earthbound Knightron was replaced by a flying RoboJ.

Stage 059: Treasure Box
Prototype
Stage Data
072,072
Enemies (Prototype)
056,164
Enemies (Final Game)
056,156
Special Bubbles
—

Layout

• The left part of the treasure box was extended to the left by one block, a block was taken out of the right side, and the entire chest was raised a block. This makes getting in and out of the treasure box less of a chore.

Stage Data

• Ten seconds were taken off of the clock, but five seconds were added to the Skel-monsta's clock. Enemies were sped up by three stages.

Enemies

• The first Dranko was moved up to the chest's new position. The fifth Dranko was originally incorrectly placed above the floor, but the chest's new height actually properly places her on the floor.

Stage 063: Kaleidoscope
Prototype
Stage Data
160,104
Special Bubbles
—

Layout

• While it looks like the player can fit through that two-wide gap at the top, the way the game handles the player's movement makes falling in such a gap that's between platforms impossible. To conceal this, the gap was decreased to just one block.

Stage Data

• Players have 10 less seconds to complete the stage.

Stage 072: Challenge Hitter
Prototype
Stage Data
024,104
Enemies (Prototype)
032,108
Enemies (Final Game)
032,108
Special Bubbles
—

Layout

• The baseball diamond dips down to the floor in the prototype. The final game removes the bottom row of tiles, allowing both players to meet up and maybe give each other a little pep talk.

Stage Data

• Bubbles last longer and monsters move slower in the final game.

Enemies

• A Warurin was added to the pitcher's mound. Play ball!

Stage 077: Jungle Tree / Smart Room
Prototype
Stage Data
104,120
Enemies (Prototype)
112,060
Enemies (Final Game)
120,068
Special Bubbles
—

Layout

• Two blocks were added to the bottom of the stages. Those are supposed to be eyes, maybe? The air currents at the top of the stage were altered to keep bubbles from being stuck at the top of the stage. With the alterations, they now always move around in a counterclockwise path.

Stage Data

• The music note was placed directly on the largest branch of the right "tree" in the prototype, but in the final game it's placed 8 pixels lower, inside the branch. See, if it was in the original position, it would land on the upper branch, but at its new position it lands on the lower branch. Good change?
• The bubble popping timer was halved.

Enemies

• Since the final stage takes place in KiKi KaiKai world, the four Banebous were replaced by five Puka Pukas.

Stage 085: All Cast / Bubble Bobble
Prototype
Stage Data
072,208
Enemies (Prototype)
056,044
104,044
Enemies (Final Game)
056,044
104,044
Special Bubbles
6.25%

Layout

• There's a nasty trap in the prototype: If the player falls into the "U", they'll be trapped until either an enemy or a Skel-monsta kills them. This normally isn't possible since it's a two block-wide gap, but a popped Water Bubble can push the player in there. The final version fixes this by adding a hole at the bottom and making it wider, which ended up moving all of the letters a block to the right except for the "E", which shrunk. Small changes were done to the air currents to improve bubble flow.

Stage Data

• Ten more second were put on the clock, and the unusually short 1 second Skel-monsta timer was changed to 3 seconds.

Enemies

• "All Cast" is certainly an appropriate name for the prototype stage: Every single functional enemy that the prototype has makes an appearance here. The final enemy set keeps the Pulpul, Magician, and Knightron (albeit in a different spot), but changes everything else. There are some minute changes in spawn positions related to layout changes.

Stage 086: Castle Warriors
Prototype
Stage Data
136,104
Enemies (Prototype)
072,084
Enemies (Final Game)
072,084
160,084
Special Bubbles
—

Layout

• All chambers were extended further to the wall to cover the gaps.

Stage Data

• Enemies were sped up by two stages.

Enemies

• Yet again, a Warurin was plopped right in the middle of the stage.

Stage 090: Cavalry Prison / Double River
Prototype
Stage Data
160,144
Enemies (Prototype)
064,100
Enemies (Final Game)
036,100
Special Bubbles
—

Layout

• The prototype layout has nine lanes for seven Pulpuls. The final layout reduces this to seven lanes and makes the borders one block shorter. Some of the downward air currents in the upper-left and upper-right corners were changed to left or right-facing currents.

Stage Data

• The special item and music note spawns were modified due to the previously mentioned layout changes.
• The player has less time to defeat the now-faster enemies in the final game, but the addition of Thunder Bubbles offset this difficulty increase a bit.

Enemies

• Spawn locations were changed to match the reduced number of lanes.

Stage 095: Common Chamber / Splash Water
Prototype
Stage Data
096,096 064,168
Enemies (Prototype)
064,168
Enemies (Final Game)
032,052
Special Bubbles
—

Layout

• Four of the air currents in the upper-left corner flipped right side up. That's all.

Stage Data

• Like Wine Glass, this stage uses placeholder data, so there's no point in comparing them.

Enemies

• This stage takes place in a KiKi KaiKai world in the final game, so the revised enemy set is an appropriately Japanese set of enemies: Kasabes, Bake Chouchins, and Komsos.

Stage 096: Remember / Entrance Room
Prototype

The prototype layout is close to the original stage 1 of Bubble Bobble, while the final game adds a new set of shorter platforms near the top, extends the platforms on the wall, and shortens the platforms in the middle. The air currents at the top were changed to keep bubbles from moving around as much.

Stage 099: Cutie Dranko / River Gleaming
Prototype
Stage Data
064,048
Special Bubbles
—

Layout

• The currents in the upper-left and upper-right corners were changed to upward current, allowing players to loop around to the bottom of the stage more easily.

Stage Data

• The Drankos' speed was jacked up by four stages. Must be mad at the name change.

Stage 101: Jailer Chamber / Secret Key Room
Prototype
Stage Data
064,104 056,128
Enemies (Prototype)
032,060
Enemies (Final Game)
240,084
Special Bubbles
10.00% 0%

Layout

• In the prototype, there are four floors, two sets of ladders, and holes in the floor and ceiling. In the final game, there are five floors -- four of which are no longer level on the left and right sides -- three sets of stairs, and no holes in the floor or ceiling. The air currents were greatly simplified in the final layout.

Stage Data

• The positions of the point items, special items, and music notes were changed to match the new layout.
• Enemies were made four stages quicker.
• The Fire Bubbles that had a small chance of spawning from the holes in the floor obviously had to be removed when the gaps were filled in.

Enemies

• The six Knightrons were replaced by four soldiers of a different sort.

Stage 107: Sauvage / Water Slider
Prototype
Stage Data
088,120
Special Bubbles
—

Layout

• Two-wide gaps between platforms are a no-go, so they were both partially filled in.

Stage Data

• Less time to complete the stage, but at least foes aren't as fast in the final.

Stage 109: Jailer Chamber / Tightrope Dancing
Prototype
Stage Data
136,176 128,200
Enemies (Prototype)
296,044
Enemies (Final Game)
296,036
Special Bubbles
—

Layout

• There are a number of design failures in the prototype stage that make it near-impossible to clear:

1. The air currents that allow for the titular "tightrope dancing" aren't connected well enough, so bubbles will frequently get caught in the down currents.
2. The ceiling above the tightrope section is too low; players end up getting caught in the ceiling and falling behind whatever bubble they're bouncing on, so they can't actually make it all the way from right to left.
3. Even if the player had rapid-firing and set up multiple bubbles to bounce on, they'd end up colliding with the Uni Bos in the upper section and die.

The final layout fixes these issues by connecting the air currents better and raising the ceiling that the Uni Bos sit upon. An extra platform was added to the middle-left to give the player a place to rest, and holes were put in the ceiling to give players an opportunity to go back to the lower section and defeat any remaining enemies. Stage Data

• The point item was originally in the middle of the bottom section, and the special item was placed on top of the platform on the right. They were moved to the left and right posts at the bottom of the stage.

The music note was at first put in the middle of the large air currents going to the left. This meant that the player had to hop back down to the bottom of the stage to get it. The note was later moved to the right end of the uppermost platform.

• The final game adds 10 seconds to the clock to give the player a better idea of how the stage works, and the double bubble speed lets the player clear the stage faster once they know how.
• For some reason, the prototype stage has a 25% chance for Rainbow Bubbles to spawn, even though there aren't any gaps in the floor or ceiling.

Enemies

• The Kon-chan enemy makes its only appearance in the game here, replacing the two Pulpuls. All of the Uni Bos were moved down 8 pixels along with the stage.

Stage 110: Jailer Chamber / Small Labyrinth
Prototype
Stage Data
136,192 144,192
Enemies (Prototype)
048,108
Enemies (Final Game)
048,108
Special Bubbles
—

Layout

• Two-block wide gaps between platforms?! Get outta here.

Stage Data

• The point item was moved away from the left edge of the lowest platform. Just a little, but still.
• The stage and bubble popping timer were both reduced by 5 seconds, and all enemies got a +3 speed increase.
• Water bubbles are slightly less common in the final version.

Enemies

• One of the Mightas and all Invaders on the right side of the stage were moved 4 pixels to the left.

Stage 111: Jailer Chamber / Lithograph
Prototype
Stage Data
048,128
Enemies (Prototype)
032,052
Enemies (Final Game)
056,052
Special Bubbles
—

Layout

• The upper tier of platforms that house the Invaders were originally split down the middle, but in the final game the gap has been eliminated. To allow the player to go back to the lower part of the stage, upward air currents were added to the left and right sides. The middle and lower tiers were reshaped as well, and two small platforms were added to the very bottom of the stage.

Stage Data

• There are some odd adjustments to the stage data here: The stage and Skel-monsta timers were reduced by 8 and 3 seconds respectively, neither a multiple of 5; the bubble popping timer was reduced to just 2 seconds, so bubbles will turn clear as soon as they start moving; and bubble speed was changed from 16 to 17, which barely effects anything and isn't a multiple of 8 like every other stage's in the game. At least the enemy speed modifier makes sense.

Enemies

• There are six Invaders in the prototype: Two each spawn in the upper tier of platforms, one spawns on the tier below that, and another spawns on the lowest tier. The fourth Invader's spawn location is actually too far to the right, and it ends up clipping out of the platform and falling into the lowest tier with the other Invader. The final game removes one Invader each from the top tier of platforms, changes the two Invaders on the lower tiers of platforms into Drankos, and fixes the second Dranko's spawn so she doesn't phase through the wall.

Stage 115: Big Bang / Downhill
Prototype
Stage Data
112,168
Special Bubbles
—

Layout

• The two long platforms at the bottom of the stage were reduced in size and no longer touch the walls.

Stage Data

• The music note was moved from the very top of the screen to the middle of the two slopes.

Stage 116: Decorated Cake / Fake Jailer
Prototype
Stage Data
104,064
Special Bubbles
—

Layout

• The left and right currents in the bottom-middle of the stage originally had an equal amount of left and right currents; the final game changes twenty of the left-facing current blocks to face right.

Stage Data

• The speed modifier for enemies was negated.

Data Changes Only#

Only the most significant changes will be noted in this section.

Stage Data

• The incredibly low 1 second bubble timer was doubled to 2 seconds. Doesn't seem like much, but it lowers the difficulty quite a bit.

Stage Data

• The point item was originally placed on top of the pyramid in the center and the special item was placed underneath the pyramid; they were moved to the right and left edges of the upper platforms respectively.

The music note, which was originally placed in the left wall of the second higher tier of platforms, was moved to the special item's original position.

Enemies

• The four Uni Bos were changed to two Rappapas and two Kabu-chans.

Enemies

• Two Denkyu-kuns were added after the stage was transplanted from a wooded round to an electronic one.

Enemies

• The lone Magician was swapped out with a Kabu-chan.

Stage Data

• The music note was originally placed in the upper-right corner of the screen. The final game places it in a more appropriate place: inside the flag.

Enemies

• To match the stage's new slot in a KiKi KaiKai world, the Banebous were changed to Komsos.

Enemies

• The trend of dropping Warurins in an already-packed stage continues.

Enemies

• Two Zen-chan were transformed into No-nos. Those are the snails, by the way.

Stage Data

• In the prototype, the point item is on the third floor of the building and the special item is on the first floor. The final game makes both items much easier to get to by placing them on the roof of the building.
• Water bubbles spawn less frequently in the final version.

Enemies

• All of the Zen-chans don helmets in the final game.

Stage Data

• With Water Bubbles going from 50% to a 25%, this stage isn't as rainy as it once was.

Enemies

• The two Drankos were changed into Cerberorins.

Stage Data

• The final game cranked up the bubble speed even further but made them pop much faster.

Stage Data

• In the prototype, the point and special items are in the rooms directly above the 1P and 2P spawns. The final version moves them up to the open rooms in the upper part of the screen, making both items accessible to both players.

Enemies

• Warurins go great with any stage, apparently.

Enemies

• Both Mightas turned into Jiji Poppos.

Stage Data

• The special item spawn is slightly off-center in the prototype, as is the music note. The note is also slightly above the highest platform in the prototype, so the player has to jump for it, while in the final game it's directly on the platform.

Enemies

• Further Magician erasure: This time they were converted to Mya-tas.

Enemies

• All of the Hidegons and two of the Magicians were replaced by Jiji Poppos. The other Magician was changed into everyone's favorite, Warurin.

Stage Data

• The big +4 speed boost was eliminated entirely.

Enemies

• All of the Mightas took off their robes and got real into hula hoops.

Stage Data

• The music note was lowered slightly to rest directly on the left eyebrow instead of hovering above it. The new position is low enough for the player to hit it from below.

Enemies

• Mightas were replaced by Mya-tas (Don't confuse them), and that Warurin is back again.

Enemies

• Two Denkyu-kuns surround the Dranko's original spawn location.

Stage Data

• In the final game, this is the only boss stage that has a bubble popping timer lower than 15 seconds.

Enemies

• The Super Mighta was moved away from the center of the stage.

Stage Data

• Bubbles last much longer in the final game.
• The chance of Water Bubbles spawning changed from 1/2 to 1/4.

Enemies

• The Magicians were replaced by Mummies after the stage was placed in a desert world.

Enemies

• One of the stage's tenants was evicted before the final version.

Enemies

• There are only two Invaders in the prototype section, which is an unusually low enemy count for Bubble Symphony or even Bubble Bobble. The final game adds two more Invaders and moves the Invaders on the right 4 pixels to the left.

Stage Data

• The music note is in a difficult place in the prototype: At the top of the long opening on the left. Bubbles pop quickly in this stage, so the player has to do a short jump and blow a bubble close to the wall to even get close to the top of that chamber. The final game removes all difficulty by placing in obtaining this note by placing it in the middle of the stage.

Enemies

• Desert = Mummies. Everyone knows that.

Stage Data

• The speed modifier was removed.
• There's a lower chance for Thunder Bubbles to spawn in the final game.

Enemies

• The final game adds more monster diversity by changing six Hidegons to pairs of Warurins, Puka Pukas, and Ti Ta Mas.

Stage Data

• The chance of a Thunder Bubble spawning was cut from 1/4 to just 1/12.

Enemies

• All enemies turned into Flhoops.