Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 | |
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Arcade flyer
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Developer(s) | Taito |
Publisher(s) | Taito |
Designer(s) | Fukio Mitsuji |
Composer(s) | Hisayoshi Ogura |
Series | Bubble Bobble |
Platform(s) | Arcade, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Amiga, Nintendo Entertainment System, Master System, TurboGrafx-16, FM Towns, WonderSwan, Game Boy Color, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Mega Drive, Mobile |
Release date(s) | 1987 |
Genre(s) | Platform |
Mode(s) | Up to 2 players, alternating turns |
Cabinet | Upright |
Arcade system | Main CPUs: 68000, Z80 |
Sound | YM2151 |
Display | Raster, 320 x 224 (horizontal), 60 Hz, Palette Colors 8192 |
Review scores | |
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Publication | Score |
CVG | Atari ST: 93% Amiga: 96% |
Crash | Spectrum: 94% |
Sinclair User | Spectrum: 94 |
Your Sinclair | Spectrum: 94° |
ACE | Atari ST: 934 |
Zzap!64 | C64: 96% |
MicroHobby (ES) | Spectrum: 89% |
The Games Machine | Amiga: 93% C64: 92% |
MegaTech | Mega Drive: 86% |
Mean Machines | Mega Drive: 92% |
Sega Master Force | 91% |
Awards | |
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Publication | Award |
Zzap!64 | Gold Medal |
Crash | Crash Smash |
Sinclair User | SU Classic |
Rainbow Islands (レインボーアイランド?) is a 1987 arcade game developed and published by Taito. The arcade version was licensed to Romstar for North American manufacturing and distribution. 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. 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 was ported for numerous home computers and game consoles.
The main characters are Bubblun and Bobblun, the protagonists of Bubble Bobble (known as "Bub and Bob" in the western releases). 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). 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).
Following the events of Bubble Bobble, Bubby and Bobby set out to defeat the "Dark Shadow" and rescuing the Rainbow Islands. The Dark Shadow is the entity responsible for the events in Bubble Bobble. The game is set on a chain of ten islands, each one with a different theme. Each island provides four rounds of game-play, and once these are complete the player moves to the next island in the chain. In each round the player must get to the top before the sea level rises and kills them. The islands get progressively more difficult, with enemies moving much faster on the later ones. These are depicted on a map screen before the start of each island.