Rainbow Islands

Add this to the list of "Why is this game on CD?" Rainbow Islands is the PC Engine/TG-16 port of Bubble Bobble 2. Instead of playing the part of the baby dragon as in the original Bubble Bobble, you now play the part of a young child who uses rainbows as a weapon instead of bubbles. Otherwise gameplay is the same. Some enemies are familiar, most are new. Levels are bigger but that's where the fun ends. Graphics are poor for a TG game, not to mention a CD game that was released in 1993. There is only one musical tune that plays during every single level in the game (did they really need a CD for that?). Sound FX are standard fare. There is quite a lot of flicker where there shouldn't be. The bad Engrish is hard to ignore ("GOALIN!"). This game's saving grace is the set of levels that parody Taito's other arcade series, Arkanoid-- the way these are set up are cool indeed. That's why this game gets a 2.5 instead of a 1. If you want Bubble Bobble on the TG, go get Parasol Stars (Bubble Bobble 3).