Rainbow Island

STORY / GAMEPLAY
The story follows the events of the Bubble Bobble game where the two heroes Bub and Bob finally saved their girlfriends and regained their human nature. Now the two boys are on an island called Insect Island, setting off to free their girls once more from a nasty swarm of (what else)...insects! The basic premise of Rainbow Islands is that each level (are) of the island is slowly sinking into the sea. So the main purpose is to reach the top by jumping on platforms and making use of the game's most distinctive feature: the ability to fire solid rainbows that are used both as platforms (bridges) to walk on and as a weapon against the nice enemies (pretty much like the chewing gum bubbles if the first game). While it appears to be a quite simple game, Rainbow Islands actually has a vast number of secrets for the player to discover, including extra levels, power-ups and more. Because of these elements, completing the game properly requires a lot of dedication though the game gets quite hard at times. Via power-ups you can shoot up to three simultaneous rainbows which can kill enemies from a distance and also build a wider "bridge" for you to climb. Insect Island is divided into different, smaller islands and at the end of each island there's a gigantic insect waiting (those guys are pretty tough to kill). The enemy sprites vary from small insects to even bigger or flying creatures, so you must always be aware. Also, the gameplay is timed, so you must hurry up and get to the top quickly, before the island sinks into the sea, dragging you along!

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The CPC version features appealing cartoon style visuals, with lots of colors and a wide variety of sprites. Most of the original (arcade) details are present, which makes the game really pleasant to watch and play. Although its kinda funny sprites, it is hard to control your little hero as a result of probably bad programming in this aspect of the game. The sprites do not move as smooth as they should (in contrast to the Commodore 64 version that features smooth sprite animation). More on that, the upwards screen scrolling is not that flawless. But it's acceptable. The sound on the CPC is great, including the superb original in-game soundtrack along with a few catchy, arcade style sound effects.

GAMEPLAY SAMPLE VIDEO
On our video below you may watch a variety of Rainbow Islands versions. The Amstrad CPC version is at 04:52.