Saturday, September 20, 2025

Rainbow Islands for PCE CD


Image: MobyGames

Rainbow Islands

The Story of Bubble Bobble 2?


Genre: arcade - n/a

Publisher: NEC

Year: 1993

System: PCE CD


Gameplay Score: 2

Gameplay Notes:

Significant slowdown. Weird movement mechanics. The jump is fine but you float back down. Up is fast and has normal momentum but then falling is slow and with about half the momentum and little ability to steer. It feels really weird. The only alternative is to make a rainbow, but this also feels really weird. You can walk up the bow but sometimes fall off the other side, like any rounded platform in a platformer. You fall off sooner than expected, so it's better to quickly chain multiple bows to move upward and not rush falling off. The bow kills enemies but the hit detection is awful, so it's best to avoid them if at all possible. The whole experience is novel but off-putting. Also, one hit kills.


Level Design Score: 2

Level Design Notes:

It's a climbing game, like Ice Climbers. The level ends when you reach the top, regardless of how many enemies you kill or fruit you gather. Most stages you can just avoid the enemies and climb up in a few seconds. Pretty uninspired, annoying stuff.


Theme Score: 3

Theme Notes:

The colorful characters are begging to be admired but the Japanese text takes it down a notch.


Art Style Score: 2

Art Style Notes:

Simple 8 bit quality artwork with flat, single color backgrounds and sprites. Looks like a Master System game.


Audio Score: 2

Audio Notes:

The music is not catchy at all. It got on my nerves quickly. And the sound effects are too loud and play a lot.


Overall Score: 41

Review ID: 11091



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