hoovygoblin
Member
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2022
- Messages
- 27
So a couple of years ago I discovered there is a sequel to the arcade game smash hit from 1986 Bubble Bobble called Rainbow islands that was released the following year in 1987 and I became aware of this game after it was mentioned in a facts video about the sonic franchise that the idea behind the chaos emeralds originated from this game.
This is how the game looks.
I have been practicing this game on and off for a couple of years now and it's seriously a really good game for it's age and I prefer the arcade version of the game because it has the song Somewhere over the rainbow not used in later ports because of copyright issues and that it has the missing last 3 hidden stages only accessible if a certain condition is met which is insanely hard to pull off and requires tons of practice to even do it and I have yet to beat it properly but I hope to do so one day when I am good enough at it.
This is a platform game just like the game that came before it and here are some things you should know in case you have ever played it's more popular predecessor Bubble Bobble. It does share some similarities to Bubble Bobble in many ways it's also a very different game because instead of shooting bubble projectiles to trap enemies and pop the bubbles to kill them in this game your weapon consists of a rainbow that can be used in a variety of different ways and it becomes a crucial part of beating the game to learn how to use them correctly because not only does this game become insanely hard later in the game there are also several different ways to kill enemies with the rainbow because besides firing it directly at them which gives no items one can also drop the rainbow on them and receive one of several different items and the same effect can be achieved by placing a rainbow under them and breaking it and the rainbows can also be jumped on like a trampoline or used as a platform to traverse across the stage which is also essential to both avoid enemies but also to cross large gaps between platforms.
The goal of each level is to reach the goal at the top of the level where there is a chest containing a variety of goodies that can be collected and at the end of every third level there is a bossfight before moving on to the next of the 10 islands and there is also a time limit at each level where water will start to rise if the player takes too long to complete the level and it kills instantly if the player touches it but will disappear once the player gets to the goal.
The story of the game takes places directly after Bubble Bobble and in that game two young boys Bub and Bob were transformed into bubble dragons by dark magic and they have to find a way to become humans again and as a result in this game you play in their human forms.
The story of the game is that all the human villagers besides Bub and Bob are still imprisoned and suffering from the same dark magic inflicted upon the boys in the first game and it's up to them to not only free all the villagers and defeat the villain behind the scenes pulling the strings not seen in the first game responsible for the events in Bubble Bobble and the other goal is also to break the spell permanently to return the villagers into humans again.
The thing that makes this game so amazing besides it's gorgeous retro style graphics and catchy music + excellent gameplay are it's large amount of secrets which is a mainstay of the Bubble Bobble series and like many of the games in the series it features several different endings depending on choices by the player and by how well the player did.
This game is also very special because it's one of very few if any arcade games to even have cheat codes as well as being one of the very earliest video games to even have the feature in the first place and the best part is that to figure out how to use them it requires the use of another secret found in this game yes I know the internet exists nowadays to look it up but it doesn't mean this isn't a clever feature because it still is especially for it's time.
Be warned though the game is also hair pullingly challenging in more ways than one and it will take a true gaming master and champion to properly beat this game with the best unlockable ending because the requirements to even get it are truly a master class challenge in terms of difficulty second to none not just because of the enemies and other factors but because you only get a single chance on each island to do it correctly and should you fail you don't get a second chance and have to restart the game all over again which might not seem that bad given that it should only take about an hour to beat that is if you are actually really good at it which seems incredibly short by todays standards but what it lacks in length it more than makes up for in challenge because you will have to play the levels many times and truly master all 40 of them until the game is beaten and taking advantage of the games many secret items is also a key part of being able to beat the game as well.
If you are looking for an excellent classic arcade game that truly rivals and in many ways surpasses even modern games in terms of difficulty this is for sure my top recommendation and it is easily one of my avourite arcade games besides The punisher .the Turtles 1989 arcade game ,Mappy, Ms Pacman and the original Pacman game and probably several others like Galaga and Sunset riders and many others from the 80's and 90's.
Honestly I could probably keep on going why this game is amazing but I can't because I would be writing this for several hours before I finish it so I encourage you to play it and find out the rest.
This is how the game looks.
I have been practicing this game on and off for a couple of years now and it's seriously a really good game for it's age and I prefer the arcade version of the game because it has the song Somewhere over the rainbow not used in later ports because of copyright issues and that it has the missing last 3 hidden stages only accessible if a certain condition is met which is insanely hard to pull off and requires tons of practice to even do it and I have yet to beat it properly but I hope to do so one day when I am good enough at it.
This is a platform game just like the game that came before it and here are some things you should know in case you have ever played it's more popular predecessor Bubble Bobble. It does share some similarities to Bubble Bobble in many ways it's also a very different game because instead of shooting bubble projectiles to trap enemies and pop the bubbles to kill them in this game your weapon consists of a rainbow that can be used in a variety of different ways and it becomes a crucial part of beating the game to learn how to use them correctly because not only does this game become insanely hard later in the game there are also several different ways to kill enemies with the rainbow because besides firing it directly at them which gives no items one can also drop the rainbow on them and receive one of several different items and the same effect can be achieved by placing a rainbow under them and breaking it and the rainbows can also be jumped on like a trampoline or used as a platform to traverse across the stage which is also essential to both avoid enemies but also to cross large gaps between platforms.
The goal of each level is to reach the goal at the top of the level where there is a chest containing a variety of goodies that can be collected and at the end of every third level there is a bossfight before moving on to the next of the 10 islands and there is also a time limit at each level where water will start to rise if the player takes too long to complete the level and it kills instantly if the player touches it but will disappear once the player gets to the goal.
The story of the game takes places directly after Bubble Bobble and in that game two young boys Bub and Bob were transformed into bubble dragons by dark magic and they have to find a way to become humans again and as a result in this game you play in their human forms.
The story of the game is that all the human villagers besides Bub and Bob are still imprisoned and suffering from the same dark magic inflicted upon the boys in the first game and it's up to them to not only free all the villagers and defeat the villain behind the scenes pulling the strings not seen in the first game responsible for the events in Bubble Bobble and the other goal is also to break the spell permanently to return the villagers into humans again.
The thing that makes this game so amazing besides it's gorgeous retro style graphics and catchy music + excellent gameplay are it's large amount of secrets which is a mainstay of the Bubble Bobble series and like many of the games in the series it features several different endings depending on choices by the player and by how well the player did.
This game is also very special because it's one of very few if any arcade games to even have cheat codes as well as being one of the very earliest video games to even have the feature in the first place and the best part is that to figure out how to use them it requires the use of another secret found in this game yes I know the internet exists nowadays to look it up but it doesn't mean this isn't a clever feature because it still is especially for it's time.
Be warned though the game is also hair pullingly challenging in more ways than one and it will take a true gaming master and champion to properly beat this game with the best unlockable ending because the requirements to even get it are truly a master class challenge in terms of difficulty second to none not just because of the enemies and other factors but because you only get a single chance on each island to do it correctly and should you fail you don't get a second chance and have to restart the game all over again which might not seem that bad given that it should only take about an hour to beat that is if you are actually really good at it which seems incredibly short by todays standards but what it lacks in length it more than makes up for in challenge because you will have to play the levels many times and truly master all 40 of them until the game is beaten and taking advantage of the games many secret items is also a key part of being able to beat the game as well.
If you are looking for an excellent classic arcade game that truly rivals and in many ways surpasses even modern games in terms of difficulty this is for sure my top recommendation and it is easily one of my avourite arcade games besides The punisher .the Turtles 1989 arcade game ,Mappy, Ms Pacman and the original Pacman game and probably several others like Galaga and Sunset riders and many others from the 80's and 90's.
Honestly I could probably keep on going why this game is amazing but I can't because I would be writing this for several hours before I finish it so I encourage you to play it and find out the rest.