Nostalgic Game Design Focus - Rainbow Islands

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Excellent platforming, a cuteness level cranked up to eleven 'and' a really interesting story in game design! This is the sequel to 'Bubble Bobble' and I am really looking forward to sinking my teeth into it.

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Welcome. This is 'Nostalgic Game Design Focus' a series where I get to think back and comment upon games that I had played when I was much younger - mostly from a game-design perspective.

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Title: Rainbow Islands

Publishers: Taito

Game Design: Fukio Mitsuji

Music/ SFX: Hisayoshi Ogura

Released: 1987 (Atari Port 1990)

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This game didn't have any particular history with me - other than being one of the more awesome games that I got to play on the Atari ST.

'Rainbow Islands' was one of those games with the right kind of atmosphere to uplift a dampened spirit.

From the easy-going island-ey rendition of 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' playing in the background to all the colours to the non-threatening feel of the first levels and the increasing challenge of the latter levels, this game never quite left my radar as an important reference point on games done right.

My younger self would have agreed were he still around today, I am sure.

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Story and Objective

'Rainbow Islands' is the unlikely sequel of 'Bubble Bobble'.

So unlikely that I only very recently realized that they were related at all. They are just so different as games!

Well - after 'Bub' and 'Bob' prevail in the previous game they regain their human forms.

The brothers resolve to track down and defeat 'The Prince of Darkness' - the main villain behind the events of the previous game.

To do so they need to partake in a perilous journey across the Rainbow Islands, gathering the power needed to take down the big bad.

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Game Objective and Controls

The aim of the game is to guide 'Bub' (and 'Bob) through at least 7 islands of stages, defeating bosses and collecting the master crystals as you go and beating the Prince of Darkness.

This is far from a simple affair. You no longer have bubble dragon powers from the previous game. Instead, you have the ability to shoot rainbows using a magic star.

I personally love how some games embrace the possibilities of the medium and do 'not' get into details as to why or how you got your awesome rainbow powers.

And you know what? This is fine!

Character abilities:

• Moving left and right

• Jumping

• Shooting Rainbows

• Collecting Bonuses and Powerups

• There are also hidden abilities that can be unlocked

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Shooting Rainbows?!

This game series is the fruit of a rich game designer's mind.

The courage and the creative force needed to let go of perfectly good mechanics in one game to produce an entirely different game is inspiring.

In this game, instead of brothers turned into bubble-blowing dragons, you get to control rainbow-shooting brothers.

The rainbow-shooting mechanic is as core to this game as bubble-blowing was to the previous game - and while that game's mechanics were very well done - 'Rainbow Islands' takes things to a whole new level.

The basic mechanic involves shooting a rainbow arch in front of the character. This can have various uses.

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As a weapon

Any regular enemies hit by a rainbow are defeated - and are normally turned into various points items.

Once fired, a rainbow crystallizes and remains suspended for a number of seconds.

Since rainbows have an arch-like shape - it is perfectly possible to 'trap' enemies under them

Jumping upon a rainbow causes it and other attached rainbows to collapse.

Collapsing rainbows upon enemies not only causes more damage to boss creatures, regular enemies are more likely to turn into more valuable items.

As a Platform

A crystallized rainbow can be walked upon without problem.

This quickly becomes increasingly important as one would find many places where one couldn't proceed without them.

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Collecting Stuff

When shooting directly or when collapsing rainbows, all items that come into contact with them are considered yours.

Thus, rainbows increase your reach, which can be convenient as well as allowing you to collect things otherwise out of reach.

Power Ups

Rather than going through a laundry list of all the different power ups that one can collect in this deceptively cutesy game, I will again plug Strategy Wiki as it really is that awesome of a source!

Caution. There will be spoilers.

That being said, lets talk about the common power-ups (which makes for a far from a comprehensive list but gives a proper feel for the most important things).

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Crystals - This is not so much a power-up as it is an important plot device.

In the Rainbow Islands you get to collect small crystals in the 7 colours of the rainbow.

If one collects all seven crystals, and the order is important (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet and indigo), then one will get a larger crystal at the end of the level. Collect all 7 larger crystals and you'll be able to progress beyond the regular islands to the secret islands.

Yes, the game 'is' that deep beneath the surface.

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Star Bursts - Collecting yellow and red stars will produce a fanning out of stars to destroy enemies. The yellow sends 7 stars fanning upwards while the red star sends 16 stars fanning out in all directions.

Any enemies that are touched and defeated by stars - 'or' which are crushed beneath collapsing rainbows - will turn into a diamond.

One thing that I never was aware of before I started researching this game for this (way overdue) post was that the color of crystal that enemies drop is not as random an event as I once thought. This continues the tradition of 'Bubble Bobble' where subsequent hacking of the code revealed that absolutely 'nothing' in the game was random, including what items and power-ups appeared, where and when.

It is a very clever approach to pseudo-random generation.

Well, in this game the television screen is invisibly portioned into the 7 bands of the rainbow - and depending on where an enemy lands on-screen, a crystal of the corresponding colour will be generated - meaning that players have a limited amount of control over what colour crystal they shall require.

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Red Pots - Collecting a red pot increases the number of rainbows generated - up to a maximum of three. The moment the first rainbow is completed, it repeats and continues forward until (at general maximum) the third one is complete.

Yellow Pots - Collecting a yellow pot increases the speed with which rainbows are generated. Being able to lay them down faster has a number of advantages, both in terms of fire power as well as in terms of how fast a character can move around.

Running Shoes - Collecting some running shoes increases the running sped of the character.

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Level Design

This is one of the more interesting features of 'Rainbow Islands'. In truth the levels are pretty simple but the designer takes the traditional concept of a platformer and flips it on its side.

Rather than travelling sideways through a level, this game has your character moving up the level. Often enough you can also fall or travel down parts of the level also, but the primary direction is up.

There are seven regular Islands in the game and three secret islands. Each one has its own unique theme with its own monsters, tileset and background. Some even have their own background music.

• 1 - Insect Island

• 2 - Combat Island

• 3 - Monster Island

• 4 - Toy Island

• 5 - Doh's Island (Arkanoid)

• 6 - Robot Island

• 7 - Dragon Island

• S - 8 - Magical Island (The Fairyland Story)

• S - 9 - Darius Island (Darius)

• S - 10 - Bubble Island (Bubble Bobble)

To get a preview of all these Islands (Warning: Spoilers) and their bad inhabitants you can visit Strategy Wiki's Excellent Wiki Pages to take a look!

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Well, these islands' designs are deceptively simple and the enemies may be pre-placed throughout with relatively simple behaviors - but all this comes together to form a pretty challenging game - especially after the first few stages.

I do think that I never made it past the boss of the 4th island... but I was a kid - and needed to "git good".

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A Simple Story - Or is it?

In the same spirit as the first game, in this game 'Bub' and 'Bob' fin that the residents of the Rainbow Islands have been captured and turned into Bubble Dragons to serve the bidding of 'The Prince of Darkness'.

Its up to the brothers again to seek out and save them.

But its not quite so simple.

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You see - this is a game that has three endings (besides the typical 'Game Over' screen).

I won't delve into the endings as they would spoil things a little too badly - but those colourful rainbow crystals are actually instrumental.

And this was done at a time when multiple endings weren't really a thing. Or rather there were early attempts at such.

It also adds to the re-playability - although I do feel that it would have been even better had the game been easier to beat in the event that one does not pay attention to the crystals.

Not to much easier however - as this game's challenge in spite of its cutesyness is a part of its charm.

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Of Atmosphere and Conclusion

If it wasn't already evident, 'Rainbow Islands' can be considered a celebration of colour and uplifting music. It is atmosphere and an absolute joy to play.

Every Island has its own theme.

Its own background.

Its own tileset.

Its own crew of enemies.

And you get to enjoy all of this with a plethora of different power-ups and point bonuses. You actually get to 'feel' your progress - and your score creeping into ever higher numbers is but a cherry upon the cake. The compelling if simple story seems optional - but it adds to everything nicely.

Yes, the timer can be annoying as you will often want to dwell for any of a variety of reasons, and watching that water rising up the screen can be nerve-wracking, but it all just manages to come together with the beauty and complexity of a well-made sushi roll. Yum!

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One doesn't have to be a masterful player to give a good idea of how a game plays - and 'The Joy of Sticks' delivers. :c)

Hence this choice of video this time around. ^_^

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Let the nostalgia flow from the screen and into your fingertips. Its been a while since I last posted - and I will post about that - hopefully today - I've catching up to do! :cP In the meantime I do hope that you enjoyed this installment.

Do you have any comments or feedback? I look forward to hearing any comments that you have in the discussion down below!

Also, if you found this post interesting and would like to share this with your followers and friends then a resteem is always appreciated.

Sincerely,

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