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NOT ONLINE Sholly73

Sholly73 has been a member since 11/9/05 and was last logged in on 10/2/18

SHOLLY'S TIP SHEETS, CHAPTER III: Jungle Bubble 8/8/07 6:06 PM

This next Tip Sheet goes back a ways, to one of King's older games. Jungle Bubble is an offshoot of Taito's arcade hit Bust-A-Move, and is played pretty much the same way. You have to use the shooter to fire bubbles up into the playfield, trying to form groups of three or more of the same color to eliminate them.

That just about sums up all you need to know about how Jungle Bubble is played. All that's left are a few specifics, the scoring, and how to score really well.

You start the game with a playfield full of bubbles of several different colors. I want to say 20 rows and 7 colors, but that's at Warrior King level, and apparently it varies with your skill level. You have a shooter at the bottom of the screen, with a bubble loaded and ready to fire and the next one standing by in the statue's mouth. You aim the shooter with the mouse and click to fire.

A fired bubble will move upward in a straight line, bouncing off the side walls if it hits them, until it hits the top of the playfield or sticks to another bubble. If it sticks to a bubble of the same color and forms a group of at least three of that color, all the bubbles in that group will pop and disappear. If the popping of that group leaves any other bubbles unconnected to the top of the playfield, they will fall and also be eliminated. Bubbles isolated in this way are worth extra points.

The game continues until you either run out of time or clear the entire field. Because all bubbles are supported by the top line, this means knocking out the top line of bubbles.

Let's talk about scoring:

You get points for popping and dropping (snicker) bubbles. You get a base score of 10 points for popping a group of bubbles, REGARDLESS OF THE SIZE OF THE GROUP. It doesn't matter if it's 3 bubbles or 30, you only get 10 for the lot. If you pop bubbles with consecutive shots, a bonus is added for each successive shot, but it never gets very large, and I really don't feel like typing out the whole chart.

I also don't feel like typing out the chart for dropping bubbles, except to say that unlike pops, drops are worth more the more bubbles you drop. It starts at 5 points for one bubble, and goes up to a whopping 200 for 15 or more. (NOTE: This is the only time - dropping 15 or more bubbles in one shot - that you receive more points for your shot than the amount of shot bonus you lose. More on that in a bit.)

If you complete the game before time runs out, you'll also get a small time bonus.

All of these scores pale in comparison to the Shot Bonus, which starts at a fixed number (which varies by skill level, but is at least 20,000) and decreases by 200 for each shot you fire. You also receive this upon completion of the game.

The Shot Bonus is, by far, the most important component of your score, which means that the best way to score big is to complete the game with as few shots as possible. Don't bother trying to "set up" big scoring shots, because you still lose more in Shot Bonus than you'd get for most shots anyway.

Let's talk about some ways to cut down on your ammo usage:

If you've ever played PopCap's Dynomite, you know how unforgiving those eggs can be. If you miss your target by even a little bit, the egg won't go where you want it. Well, bubbles are more elastic than eggs, and you can squeeze them into areas that an egg couldn't go. How do you know if it'll fit? If you place the target at the center of the spot you want the bubble to land, and the firing line doesn't pass through any other bubbles, it'll fit, even if it looks like it won't. This assumes a direct shot--if you're bouncing off a wall, you're on your own.

Speaking of ricochets: It's always difficult to judge the angle when you're making a wall shot, but for better results, place the target a half bubble width away from the wall, rather than right on the wall. The target and firing line indicate where the CENTER of the bubble will be on its travels.

Plan your shots before you take them, and be sure to take the next bubble into account. For instance, if you have just one group of two red bubbles open and your current and next bubble are both red, DON'T hit the group with the first shot. Place the first red bubble one spot away from the group, then if the following bubble isn't red, connect them with the second red one. If the following bubble IS red, stick it to the one you just shot before connecting them with the third one. You get the idea, which is to not leave stray bubbles when you don't have to.

The exception to the stray bubble rule is when a group of stray bubbles is being held up by a reachable group of just one color. It's ok to load up bubbles then, because you'll drop them when the color holding them up comes up.

The other important point is toward the end of the game, when you're near the top. A color will not appear again once it's been eliminated from the playfield, but be aware that the next bubble is chosen before the one you've just shot hits its target, so you might end up removing the last blue bubbles only to find a blue one coming up next. It's annoying as hell, but if you're aware of it, you can better plan for it. If it does happen, I recommend you put it underneath a group being held up by just one color, in order to better get rid of it and get more points when you do.

That's all I can think of for now. If something more comes to mind, I'll pull this down and update it. As always, feel free to leave comments, questions or feedback. Take care and good luck!

Comments

  • gimapita

    Excellent comments! Hope i remember them when playing! Thanks Sholly..

  • kristine68

    Hey Sholly, thanks for the tips by golly!, I'm a new gold member and tryin' to find my way through this...again, thanks, I'll check back in, always......kp