Taito, the creators of Bubble Bobble, announced in 1996 that they had actually lost the source code for the arcade version of Bubble Bobble. All of the various ports were reverse engineered from the arcade ROM and earlier computer and console conversions.

In arcade game's code are a number of slot machine icons, possibly intended for use in a bonus round that was never made.

According to Fukio Mitsuji, the characters of Bub and Bob were made to get more female gamers into the arcade, which was very rare to see before then.

In an interview with the game's designer, Fukio Mitsuji, found within BEEP! magazine, he was asked about how he began making Bubble Bobble. He responded that after creating a racing game and a shooting game, he wanted to make something more comical. He believes Bubble Bobble was a game that he put the most thought into, losing sleep whilst thinking of how to improve it. He considers it a deep and memorable game within his life.

"Well, I’d done a racing game now, and a shooting game, so now I thought I’d try my hand at a comical game! And that game was Bubble Bobble."

"How could I, practically speaking, improve and iterate on this new design philosophy of mine? I was always thinking about that question. On Bubble Bobble I worked hard to really push my ideas to the limits. In that sense, Bubble Bobble was probably one of the games I put the most thought into—I honestly lost sleep thinking about how to make it better, better, better. For me personally, it’s a very deep, memorable game."