Bubble Ghost

Bubble Ghost is an action video game created by Christophe Andréani for the Atari ST in 1987. The player controls a ghost who by blowing guides a floating bubble throughout a number of halls in a haunted house, while avoiding obstacles that can make the bubble pop.

Gameplay
The objective is to guide a bubble throughout a number of halls in a haunted house. If the bubble hits any walls or obstacles, then it will pop and the player loses a life. Obstacles include lit candles, electricity and fans. These can be all controlled by the ghost, who can wander around the level freely and blow at things - such as the bubble to add speed, the candle to put out the flame, or switches to turn them on or off.

The ghost is controlled using the mouse. A press on the left button of the mouse makes the ghost rotate to the left. A press on the right button of the mouse makes the ghost rotate to the right. A press on a keyboard key (Shift) makes the ghost blow.

The game is made of 35 halls (levels). Each time the player makes the bubble exit a hall, he wins 1000 points + left bonus. Action on animation may add 5000 points to the player. The bonus is re-initialized at every new hall. A new bubble is added to the player account each time the bubble exits towards the top of the hall.

Ports
The original Bubble Ghost was created by Christophe Andréani (design, programming) on an Atari ST computer. The game has been adapted for other computers throughout the world.

Some years later, ERE Informatique was bought by Infogrames. Infogrames published a new version of Bubble Ghost with updated graphics, Bubble + (Bubble Plus).

A Game Boy version was published in 1990. It was the first French game adapted for the Game Boy, and one of the earliest games whose music was written by Hitoshi Sakimoto.

Development
The game was programmed in C (editor and compiler: Megamax C) and 68000 assembly language on an Atari 1040 ST computer. The graphics were made with the Degas Elite drawing software. The digital sound of the introductory page of the game ("Welcome to Bubble Ghost") was built using ST Replay. This is the author's voice. The other sound effects use the synthesizer inside the Atari ST.

Here are some notes from the author when creating the game:

Reception
The following French magazines have published Bubble Ghost reviews:
 * SVM Science et Vie Micro #45, December 1987 (Atari ST version) Download magazine
 * ST Magazine #14, November/December 1987 (Atari ST version) Download magazine
 * Micro News #6, November/December 1987 (Atari ST version)
 * Le Tatou #10, December 1987 (Atari ST version)
 * 1ST (FirST) #4, December 1987 (Atari ST version) Download magazine
 * Jeux et Stratégie #48, December 1987 (Atari ST version)
 * Génération 4 #2, December 1987 (Atari ST version) Download magazine
 * Amstrad Cent Pour Cent #1, February 1988 (Amstrad CPC version) Download magazine
 * Génération 4 Hors série #2, oct/nov/dec 1990 (Game Boy version) Download magazine
 * Génération 4 #31, March 1991 (Game Boy version) Download magazine
 * Player One #18, March 1992 (Game Boy version) Download magazine
 * Joypad #7, April 1992 (Game Boy version) Download magazine
 * Consoles + #7, March 1992 (Game Boy version) Download magazine

The following US magazines has published Bubble Ghost reviews:
 * VideoGames and Computer Entertainment, USA, April 1991 (Game Boy version)
 * Antic Vol.7 #7, November 1988 (Atari ST version) See review
 * ST-Log Issue 24, October 1988 (Atari ST version) See review
 * ST-Log Issue 26, December 1988 (Atari ST version) See review

The following French magazines have published Bubble + (Bubble Plus) reviews:
 * Génération 4 #22, May 1990 (Atari ST and Amiga version) Download magazine
 * Micro News #35, May 1990 (Atari ST version) Download magazine

Posterity

 * Book - Corey Sandler, Tom Badgett, Ultimate Unauthorized Nintendo Game Boy Strategies, Bantam Books, 1991, ISBN 0553354833. The Game Boy version of the Bubble Ghost game is cited on page 49.
 * Book - Anna Anthropy, Naomi Clark, A Game Design Vocabulary, Exploring the Foundational Principles Behind Good Game Design, Pearson Education, february 2014, ISBN 9780133155211. The Atari ST version of the Bubble Ghost game is cited on page 28.
 * Book - Julien Mailland, Kevin Driscoll, Minitel, Welcome to the Internet, MIT Press, june 2017, ISBN 9780262537759. The Atari ST version of the Bubble Ghost game is cited on page 145.
 * Book - Brett Weiss, Classic Home Video Games, 1989-1990, McFarland Incorporated Publishers, july 2018, ISBN 9780786492312. The Game Boy version of the Bubble Ghost game is cited on page 300.
 * Book - Florent Gorges, L'Histoire de Nintendo, Omaké books, coll. « Volume 4, 1989-1999 L'incroyable histoire de la Game Boy», march 2019, ISBN 978-2-919603-66-4. The Game Boy version of the Bubble Ghost game is cited on page 199.
 * Book - Jamie Lendino, Faster Than Light, The Atari ST and the 16-Bit Revolution, Steel Gear Press, june 2019, ISBN 9781732355217. The Atari ST version of the Bubble Ghost game is cited on page 171.
 * Video - Rétro Découverte, novembre 2021, with the interview with Christophe Andréani.
 * Book - Jamie Lendino, Starflight, How the PC and DOS Exploded Computer Gaming 1987-1994, Steel Gear Press, 2022, ISBN 9781957932019. The Atari ST version of the Bubble Ghost game is cited on page 112.