This week's game is Bubble Ghost, the game about a ghost who just really wants to blow a (possibly sentient?) bubble outside. It's a simple formula, but one that's perfectly paced with challenging levels and spooky visuals:
Bubble Ghost is a game with a simple concept that successfully pushes it exactly as far as it needs to go. As a friendly ghost, you need to blow a bubble through 35 rooms successfully. Simple, right? It's not so different from something like Kuru Kuru Kururin in that you have to navigate tiny spaces without touching the walls, but the player character being separate from the object you have to protect gives it a different and equally interesting dynamic. Moving the bubble around requires moderation and confidence in equal measure alongside mastery of the game's mouse controls. You need to trust the physics to be reliable (they are) so each time you make a move, you get the expected result, but you also can't hesitate when the time comes because of how many obstacles flash in and out intermittently. It's challenging, but fair, especially for a computer game of this vintage, and I think it's one that people who grew up with consoles could get into since its design philosophies feel closer to games of the NES and Master System at times. It's straightforward, but very neat!
It's one of those games that received a million ports as well, some of which are very interesting. There was a semi-remake called Bubble+ that makes some odd visual choices, and there was even a Game Boy port that makes the graphics cuter while implementing music from the legendary Hitoshi Sakimoto. As of last month, a full on remake was announced that looks to be changing things up quite a bit, so that should be interesting. This little ghost has a pretty decent legacy, all things considered!

