 |
| OVERALL RATING |
3.0 |
| Presentation |
 |
3.0 |
| Control |
|
3.0 |
| Gameplay |
|
3.0 |
| Fun factor |
|
3.0 |
| User Rating |
 |
3.0 |
 |
Posted: March 29, 2007
Few people, and perhaps only arcade freaks, may remember Rainbow Islands, the sequel to Taito’s best-selling Bubble Bobble. In this follow-up title, Bub is now a small boy attempting to rid the Islands of monsters using the power to magically cast rainbows. (Rainbows?)
The game is a true blue platformer where the objective is to make it all the way to the top of the level while destroying cutesy enemies along the way. Casting rainbows, these are used as weapons against the enemies or can be walked on to function as steps for ascending the stage. In some instances, they also reveal invisible fruits for points or power-ups like speed and extra firepower.
Bub has to ascend the four levels in each island and then face its Boss. It’s a tougher job than it looks because as you climb higher, the water level begins to rise so as to make you pay in case you happen to miss a platform and fall. Couple that with fairly aggressive enemies and a one-touch death and this cutesy game begins to feel more maniacal than anything else.
Each island has its own unique theme with bright and playful colors that make the game almost an exact duplicate of the original version. Animation and audio are also very close but the controls tend to suffer a bit in performance. This is because of single-button input that allows for only one action at a time thereby not allowing you to move and fire at the same time. This can’t be averted so you’re left with making the best of it, and that sometimes leaves you with hitting the continue button.
Rainbow Islands is a tough little platformer that didn’t make any waves at the arcade and might not make any waves here on mobile, but I can’t deny that it’s a game that keeps giving you the feeling of just trying it one more time. If you’re crazy about the classic platform experience, you might want to give this game a look.
