As Paul said, Rainbow Islands is a pretty difficult find...and it was kinda
overlooked by many when it was released back in 1993 due to higher profile
releases...like Akumajo Dracula X. However, I was one of the ones who bought
it back then, and it's still one of my most played PC Engine games, even
eight years later. Sure, there are some minor technical problems with the
game (none that affect gameplay); however, the control is spot-on and the
game plays infinitely better than the ports which went to the Saturn and
PlayStation. I almost opted for one of those...until my ex-wife brought them
home for me to try out from her game store part-timer. Maybe it's just the
fact that I was "raised" on the PC Engine rev, but I really couldn't get into
them at all (it was the control that sunk it for me). Although there is
nothing wrong with Macross 2036 (it's a somewhat solid, average shooter),
Rainbow, in my opinion, has the most play value...unless you don't like
perceived "kiddie" games, which, in that case, you may wish to opt for
Macross. Like many Nintendo titles, though, you cannot judge a game on its
look (the wonderful Earthbound for SNES is a classic example); I think this
is something that many folks can't get through their thick heads. I don't
know if anyone else has noticed, but people always tend to whine about
Nintendo consoles having too many supposedly juvenile games; however, nobody
ever raises the same points about the various GameBoy libraries...which have
the same sort of first-party games. Eh...maybe it's a portable thing. But
the point is that sometimes those "kiddie" games have infinitely more play
value and technique over the more adult, better looking titles. Rainbow
Islands is a great example of this.