Rainbow Islands - The Story of Bubble Bobble 2

39 Years old Arcade Video game Taito Corp. [Japan]

Rainbow Islands - The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 © 1987 Taito.

In this sequel to the legendary Bubble Bobble - released a year earlier - one or two players (who, unlike 'Bubble Bobble', no longer play simultaneously) take on the role of Bub and Bob, who have now been returned to their original human form after their success in Bubble Bobble. The returning heroes have been asked to rescue the Rainbow Islands from the clutches of the various enemies who have overrun the islands in their absence.

Bob and Bob are each armed with the ability to create solid rainbows. This ingenious game-play device acts as both a weapon (to either kill an enemy instantly, or trap it then collapse the rainbow onto it, the latter essential for collecting bonus gems - as detailed in 'Tips and Tricks') and as a temporary platform that allows the players to reach previously inaccessible parts of the level, as they race to reach the top of the island before the game's tight time limit expires.

A number of power-ups are available to the players; these include multiple rainbows (up to a maximum of three), faster generating rainbows, speed-up shoes and temporary invulnerability. Rainbow Islands is famous for its multitude of hidden secrets, see 'Tips and Tricks' for details.

Rainbow Islands consists of seven levels, each consisting of four rounds. Holding down the jump button will allow the player to jump onto rainbows without crushing them.

TECHNICAL

Board number : K1100277A
Prom stickers : B22

Main CPU : Motorola 68000, Zilog Z80
Sound Chips : Yamaha YM2151

Control per player: 2-way joystick
Buttons per player: 2

TRIVIA

Rainbow Islands was released in October 1987.

The main characters are Bub and Bob, the protagonists of Bubble Bobble. However, in this game they appear in human forms, as opposed to the dinosaurs of the first game. In single-player mode, only Bub is present.

The fifth island, DOH Island, is a homage to the game Arkanoid, also by Taito. This level plays as any other, but the enemies are the same as encountered in Arkanoid, and the platforms are designed from colored blocks. Also, the music is absent and the player's jumping sound resembles the sound of the ball hitting the bat in Arkanoid. Losing the final life in this island also results in the Game Over music from Arkanoid instead of the usual Rainbow Islands music. The boss on DOH Island is DOH himself, the boss of Arkanoid.

If you know how to access the hidden worlds, secret doors and ultimately how to kill the final boss in one hit, the game mocks Street Fighter 1's infamous victory quote

The game soundtrack features a brief excerpt from 'Somewhere over the Rainbow', which has meant that later ports of the game have different music, as the license expired some time ago.

A bootleg of this game called Jumping was released in 1989.

Pony Canyon / Scitron released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (The Ninja Warriors : G.S.M. Taito 1 - D28B0001) on June 21, 1988.

TIPS AND TRICKS

* One of Rainbow Island's most infamous and difficult-to-achieve bonuses is that of collecting one of each of the colored gems (red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, dark blue and mauve). Gems are awarded when a player collapses a rainbow onto certain enemies and the color of the gem awarded is dictated by WHERE on the screen the enemy is when it's killed. The screen is split into several invisible vertical 'bands' of color; when a gem falls, its color is determined by the 'color' of the area into which it fell. Now all you have to do is gauge carefully where the dead enemy will fall to create the gem color of your choice.

* Title Screen Cheats:
These codes can be typed in at the title screen (while the rainbow is cycling through its colors). They are given to you in the secret rooms and give you the effect of the item in that room if you use them. When you put your coin in, an item should appear in the bottom left corner, depending on which cheat you used. This not only awards you the life and Bonus Gem, it also grants you access to a magical secret room. When you reach the end of the level, a silver door appears. You DON'T have to fight the Boss.

Permanent fast running - Rainbow, Left, Right, Rainbow, Jump, Start, Rainbow, Jump
Permanent double rainbows - Right, Jump, Start, Rainbow, Jump, Start, Rainbow, Right
Permanent fast rainbows - Start(x3), Left(x2), Right(x2), Start
Hint A, The riddle of the silver door - Rainbow, Jump, Rainbow, Jump, Rainbow, Jump, Right, Start
Hint B, The secret of the big diamonds - Left, Jump, Left, Start, Left, Rainbow, Left, Start
Hint C, The riddle of the 3 mirrors - Start, Jump, Rainbow, Left, Right, Jump, Start, Right
Continue after fifth Island - Left, Rainbow, Start, Jump, Right, Left, Jump, Left
All hidden items are money bags (10000 pts) - Right(x2), Left(x2), Rainbow(x2), Jump, Start
Both above two - Right(x4), Start, Rainbow, Start, Jump
10m points - Start, Right, Rainbow, Jump, Start, Left, Start, Rainbow

* Better Bonus:
Make sure the second to last 2 digits of your score are the same when you reach 'goal in', this will make the chest contain a better bonus item (eg. : reach goal in with a score of xxxx11x).

SERIES

📜

1. Bubble Bobble (1986, Arcade)
2. Rainbow Islands - The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 (1987, Arcade)
3. Parasol Stars - The Story of Bubble Bobble III [Model TP03017] (1991, PC-Engine)
4. Bubble Bobble Part 2 (1993, Famicom)
5. Bubble Bobble II (1994, Arcade)
6. Bubble Memories - The Story of Bubble Bobble III (1996, Arcade)
7. Rainbow Islands - Putty's Party (2000, Wonderswan)
8. Bubble Bobble Revolution (2005, DS)
9. New Rainbow Islands (2005, DS)
10. Bubble Bobble Evolution (2006, PSP)
11. Bubble Bobble Double Shot (2007, DS)
12. Rainbow Islands Towering Adventure! (2009, WiiWare)
13. Bubble Bobble Plus! (2009, WiiWare)
14. Bubble Bobble Neo! (2009, XBLA)

STAFF

👥

Software : Ichiro Fujisue (I.F), Kouju Miki (K.M), Tatsuji Okuno (T.O)
Hardware : Takashi Ohara (OHR)
Character designers : Fukio Mitsuji (MTJ), Taira Sanuki (T.S)
Sound : Hisayoshi Ogura (OGR)
Instraction : Naoko Yoshida (N.Y)
Story and game designer : Fukio Mitsuji (MTJ)

PORTS

CONSOLES

Nintendo Famicom (jul.26, 1988) Rainbow Islands - The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 [Model DTF-RL]

Nintendo NES (june.1991) "Rainbow Islands - The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 [Model NES-RL]"

Sega Master System (1993) Rainbow Islands - The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 [Model 7117]

NEC PC-Engine CD (june.30, 1993) Rainbow Islands - The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 [Model NAPR-1012]

Sega Saturn (1996) Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands [Model T-8131H]

Sega Saturn (1996) "Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Island [Model T-8131H-50]"

Sony PlayStation (1996) Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands [Model SLES-00448]