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**Carlos Rodrigues** @carlosefr · Feb 28 *

I love "Bubble Bobble" (1986) and "Puzzle Bobble" (1994), but "Rainbow Islands" (1987) and "Parasol Stars" (1991) feel a bit childish to me, and I find that interesting...

They all have cartoony graphics – almost the norm before games went all dark and gritty like everything else – and look designed for children at first glance.

So, what's the difference? I'm not really sure.

The enemies in Bubble Bobble have a creepy vibe to them. Maybe that's it?

Bubble Bobble for the arcades. The cute dinosaurs blow bubbles out of their mouths and use them to trap (and dispose of) enemies.

The enemies here are wind-up toys, and the level walls are so candy-like colored that one can almost taste the diabetes.

In Puzzle Bobble (arcade, also known as Bust-a-Move) the dinosaurs from Bubble Bobble are back, shooting bubbles from an arrow contraption. They are accompanied by a very sticky music with cute-sounding voice effects. The level background is a bit technical-looking though.

The levels in Rainbow Islands (arcade) look like they were designed by the creators of "My Little Pony". Cute caterpillars as enemies, shooting rainbows to kill them and progress... a line was crossed somewhere.

Also, I miss the dinosaurs. It should've had the dinosaurs.

Parasol Stars (for the PC Engine, unlike the other three) is sort of like Bubble Bobble, but with a graphical style closer to Rainbow Islands. It's fun, but still feels like it was designed for kids, somehow.

#retrogaming #arcade #pcengine

**Carlos Rodrigues** @carlosefr · Feb 28 *

Feb 28 *

Carlos Rodrigues @carlosefr

And what about these?

"Kirby's Adventure" (1993) is unquestionably kid-friendly; "Commander Keen 4" (1991) features an actual kid; "Lemmings" (1991) is so cute; and "Magical Chase" (1991) is the very embodiment of a cute'em-up.

None of these feel childish to me. In the sense of "for kids only, adults need not apply" or "videogames are kids' stuff".

Why is that?

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Kirby's Adventure for the NES. Kirby is almost designed to be sold as a stuffed toy. The world is all cute-like.

But Kirby swallows enemies, and shoots them out as projectiles. Kind of disturbing if you think of it.

Lemmings for the Amiga. Lemmings are cute. But Lemmings also die en-masse if you don't do your job.

Magical Chase for the PC Engine. A fairy in pink flying on a broomstick, shooting magic at cutesy animals and stuff. Yet, it doesn't feel like it was made for kids...

Commander Keen (MS-DOS, EGA) is a kid that goes on adventures in space. Is there a kid that doesn't dream of doing that? And look at the cute jumping mushroom.

Well...the mushroom looks to be on drugs... Hmmm.

#retrogaming #nes #msdos

Carlos Rodrigues @carlosefr@mastodon.social

Here's another example of narrowing down a game to a younger audience: "Mega Man" (1987), "Mega Man X3" (1995), "Mega Man ZX Advent" (2007).

Each of these improves on the visuals and complicates the mechanics, but none of that makes much of a difference in audience.

What does make a difference are the intro sequences and text boxes. As more of these are added, the harder it is to ignore that the backstory is (has always been) inherently juvenile.