#409 – Mermaids of Atlantis: The Riddle of the Magic Bubble

Bubble Bath Babes sans the guilt.

PLAYERS: 1-2 simultaneous

PUBLISHER: American Video Entertainment

DEVELOPER: Panesian

GENRE: Puzzle

RELEASE DATE: 1991

Who doesn’t remember Bubble Bath Babes, the extremely rare, unlicensed nudie puzzle game? My review for it is one of the most read on my site – which means readers are extremely curious about it or they’re hoping (in vain) to see some 8-bit body parts. Regardless of my readers’ intentions (I don’t judge, I’m just glad you’re here), Bubble Bath Babes was an interesting take on the puzzle genre. So much so, that Panesian decided to release the game again in the form of Mermaids of Atlantis. Yes, Mermaids in Atlantis is exactly the same game as Bubble Bath Babes, just sans nudity. Now you can play this upside-down combination of Tetris, Puyo Puyo, and Puzzle Bobble, relatively guilt-free!

For those who haven’t read my review of Bubble Bath Babes, Mermaids in Atlantis is a solid puzzle game. Each level is comprised of a mermaid (instead of a nude woman bathing) that sits at the bottom of the screen and stirs up bubbles with her tail. Multi-colored bubble tetrads – four bubbles joined together in a variety of strange shapes – will then float up to the top of the screen. Your goal is to pop four bubbles of like colors two hundred times (!) to progress to the next stage. If it sounds like a lot, that’s because it is. I don’t remember it taking that long in Bubble Bath Babes, but that was awhile ago. Should you have space in between the bubble and the top of the screen, transparent bubbles will fill in the space. Certain bubbles will pop up throughout the stage with letters that spell out MAGIC. If you pop these bubbles, the transparent bubbles will disappear, and will change colors of other bubbles to allow for maximum poppage. And that’s it. Keep popping bubbles and you’ll progress to higher levels, where the bubbles will come at you more rapidly. The fun does start to wear off after awhile, though unlike Bubble Bath Babes where you’re playing for nudity, Mermaids gives you a story, complete with cut-scenes. If nothing else, Panesian tries – and partially succeeds – to offer up a unique puzzler. Mermaids in Atlantis isn’t perfect, but it’s different.

B-