The Mega Drive version was the 9th best game of all time, according to Mega magazine's "Mega Top 100 Carts". The Amiga version of Rainbow Islands was the first game to make #1 on Amiga Power's annual All Time Top 100 list, and held the spot for years until losing to Sensible Soccer, which retained the title for the rest of the magazine's run. He added that the gameplay still felt fresh and unique despite the passage of years, and was good enough to make the collection a must-have by itself. The readers of Crash voted Rainbow Islands the #1 game of all time in December 1991.ĭespite these accomplishments, in his review of the Bubble Bobble Featuring Rainbow Islands pack, Rich Leadbetter of Sega Saturn Magazine said Rainbow Islands was "vastly underrated and over-looked". In issue 93 of the same magazine, the readers voted it the 2nd best game of all time. It was awarded 94% in the April 1990 issue of Your Sinclair and was placed at number 8 in the "Your Sinclair official top 100". It was re-released at a budget price, and was number 1 again from October 1992 to March 1993. The Spectrum version of the game was number 1 in the UK sales chart from May to June 1990 at the time of release. UK magazine C&VG gave the ST version a score of 93%, praising the graphics and calling the game addictive and "tremendous fun". The scoring system also has secrets, which allow vastly higher scores to be achieved than normal. The color of the small diamonds depends on where the fallen enemies land, so the player can somewhat determine which diamond colors will drop. If the small diamonds are collected in the correct order, the player will get to a secret room at the end of each island, which contains a permanent power up. After collecting the small diamonds, a word "NICE" appears. The small diamonds are found by destroying enemies by dropping a rainbow on them from above or destroying them with various special items. To get a big diamond, the player must collect seven different-colored small diamonds on the island and finish the round. These islands are not visible until all 7 big diamonds are collected. To get the "True and Happy" ending the player must find and complete the three secret islands (although most consumer versions of the game completely lack the secret islands). Like Bubble Bobble before it, the game has multiple endings. If players take too long in a level, water will start to rise up from the bottom of the stage, and will kill the player character if it rises above his head. Collecting power-ups increases the player's speed, the speed of the rainbows and how many are spawned. When jumped upon, they fall down, beating any enemies below them, and releasing a damage field above them. Slinging rainbows damages any enemies and acquires any items that the rainbows come in contact with. Players can release rainbows that act as weapons, makeshift platforms, and item collectors. These are depicted on a map screen before the start of each island. The islands get progressively more difficult, with enemies moving much faster on the later ones. In each round the player must get to the top before the sea level rises and kills them. Each island provides four rounds of game-play, and once these are complete the player moves to the next island in the chain. The game is set on a chain of ten islands, each one with a different theme. The Prince of Darkness is the entity responsible for the events in Bubble Bobble.
![rainbow island forces rainbow island forces](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MLZB1UI4y7U/maxresdefault.jpg)
Also unlike the first game, players must now "alternate" (i.e., take turns), with player one as Bubby (green shirt), and player 2 as Bobby (blue shirt) (the same color scheme as in the first game).įollowing the events of Bubble Bobble, Bubby and Bobby set out to defeat "The Prince of Darkness" and rescue the Rainbow Islands. However, in this game they appear in their human forms as "Bubby" and "Bobby", as opposed to the "bubble dragons" of the first game (following on from the first game's true ending). The main characters are Bubblun and Bobblun, the protagonists of Bubble Bobble (known as "Bub and Bob" in the western releases).
![rainbow island forces rainbow island forces](https://images.theconversation.com/files/422420/original/file-20210921-21-1a5hasy.jpg)
The game was ported for numerous home computers and game consoles.
#Rainbow island forces series#
It is the second of four arcade games in the Bubble Bobble series (followed by Bubble Symphony and Bubble Memories, but itself has two direct sequels: Parasol Stars and Bubble Bobble Part 2). The game is subtitled "The Story of Bubble Bobble 2" and is the sequel to Taito's hit game Bubble Bobble from the previous year. The arcade version was licensed to Romstar for North American manufacturing and distribution. Photo src: Rainbow Islands ( ?) is a 1987 arcade game developed and published by Taito.