Let's make a journey to the cave of obsessive-compulsive video game collectors and take a look at my Bubble Bobble collection!

Over the last few months I have been gradually trying to accumulate all manner of goodies related to the original Bubble Bobble, my favourite game of all time. Not only am I attempting to get hold of every release of the original game but also any spin-offs that feature the classic 'trap them in a bubble and pop it' gameplay (so no Rainbow Islands, Parasol Stars or Puzzle Bobble!)

I've also picked up a few collectibles related to the series, as the following selection of images shows.

First, here's all of my stuff together...

BB Collection

And now for some close-ups of the more interesting items in the collection...

Sharp X68000
Bubble Bobble for the Sharp X68000 system - I love that Japanese artwork! This is one of several BB variants that I can't even actually play as I don't have the system.

Gameboy versions
Nintendo Handheld versions - Classic Bubble Bobble for the Gameboy Colour, the original BB for the Gameboy and BB Old & New for the Gameboy Advance. I also have Bubble Bobble Part 2 for the Gameboy, unboxed.

4-in-1
Bootleg Famicom 4-in-1 cartridge featuring the very rare Bubble Bobble 2 - not Rainbow Islands, but a revamped version of the original game. This cart also features Street Fighter II, which is a clever ROM hack because SFII was never released on the Famicom/NES!

Game Gear
The Sega Game Gear version - this is fairly hard to come by as I believe it was only released in the US.

Dot Pin
BB Dot Pin puzzle - yes, I found one after mentioning it in my article a few months back!

FDS
Famicom Disk System version of BB - this is essentially the same as the NES version.

Computer ports
A selection of home computer ports - C64, Amstrad, Spectrum and Amiga.

Bubble Symphony
Sega Saturn version of Bubble Symphony, the first arcade sequel to bring back the classic BB gameplay.

C64 disk
The US Taito disk version of BB for the Commodore 64. This appears to be the same as the UK Firebird version but has a different title screen and runs slightly slower on my C64 - could this be because the code was optimised for a 60Hz NTSC system but is running at 50Hz on mine?

LCD
A brand new boxed Bubble Bobble LCD game, released in 2005. I've only ever seen this once on Ebay (and bought it!) and can't find any other info about it online, so I'm assuming it's pretty rare.

Bub
And finally, a big cuddly Bub. He looks like he's from the GBA 'Old & New' era, but has no tags or markings on the label so I'm not even sure if it is a genuine piece of merchandise. Can anyone shed any more light on this?

I'm still looking for more items to add to my collection, including ports of the original game for the Atari ST and MSX, the two Nintendo DS remakes, the official NES version of Bubble Bobble 2 and the promotional inflatable Bub that I have seen just once on Ebay in the last 8 years (and was outbid on! )