Bub And Bob — pick one of six languages first Runs here
1997 · unknown · Mac OS 8 · SheepShaver (Power Macintosh 9500) · 800×600 at 8-bit colour
Guide updated September 2026
The first screen is a grid of six flags — British and American, Swedish, German, Italian, Spanish and French — each with a button beside it. Somebody wrote a shareware arcade game for the Macintosh and then localised it into six languages, which is an unusual amount of effort.
The game itself is an obvious homage to Taito's Bubble Bobble. That is the author's borrowing rather than this site's, and the notice for this title says so plainly.
Boots Mac OS 8.6 and opens the language chooser. Click English and the game starts.
Controls
| Language buttons | Six choices at startup |
| Arrow keys | Move and jump |
| Space | Act |
| Cmd-Q | Quit to the Finder |
Independently written Macintosh shareware, unregistered and unmodified. Its name and premise are borrowed from Taito's Bubble Bobble, which is actively licensed — that is set out in the notice, and this comes down on request from Taito or a licensee.
Archives
- Internet Archive — the Tucows Macintosh archive copy this was built from.
How it works & what to expect
| Machine | Power Macintosh 9500, 800×600 in colour |
|---|---|
| System | Mac OS 8.6, shared with every other title of this era |
| Emulator | SheepShaver, compiled to WebAssembly |
| Version | 1.7.3 |
| Saves | Scores persist inside the emulated Mac |
Pick a language at the chooser; all six are complete and the choice only affects the interface text.
It does not carry its own operating system; Mac OS 8.6 comes from the shared image, so it starts faster if you have already opened another Mac OS 8 title.
Why it is here
Six languages, from a shareware author. Localising a free game into six languages is a remarkable amount of unpaid work, and it says something about how international the Macintosh shareware audience was.
Homage was normal. A great deal of shareware in this period was an unlicensed take on an arcade game — Pac-Man, Breakout, Bubble Bobble, Frogger. That is stated openly rather than pretended away, and the rights position is set out in the notice.
It ran everywhere. A PowerPC Macintosh game with this reach, distributed through the same archives that carried everything else, is a fair sample of what the platform's shareware actually was.
Getting started
Click English — or any of the other five — and the game begins.
It is a platform arcade game and plays like one. Learn the jump before you learn anything else.
If you want the licensed article, buy Bubble Bobble; it is still sold and this is not it.
Questions people ask
Is this Bubble Bobble?
No. It is an independently written Macintosh shareware game that borrows the name and premise. Taito's Bubble Bobble is a separate, actively sold product.
What languages does it have?
English, Swedish, German, Italian, Spanish and French, chosen at startup.
Is it free?
It is shareware — freely distributed and playable, unregistered and unmodified here.
Do scores persist?
Yes, inside the emulated Macintosh in your browser.
Is it in colour?
Yes, 800×600 on an emulated Power Macintosh.
Why does it take a while to start?
It boots Mac OS 8.6 first, from the image shared with the other Mac OS 8 titles here.
