Rainbow Islands

Rainbow Islands

Game No.	23
Voting	8.42 points, 45 votes
Developer	Gary J. Foreman
Company	Graftgold
Publisher	Ocean
Musician	Jason Page
HVSC-File	MUSICIANS/P/Page_Jason/Rainbow_Islands.sid
Release	1989
Platform	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Arcade, Atari ST, C64, Gameboy Color, Mobile, NES, PC Engine/TurboGrafx 16, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega Saturn, Windows, WonderSwan, XBox, ZX Spectrum
Genre	Arcade, Platformer (Scrolling Screen)
Gamemode	Single player 2 players (in turns)
Operation
Media
Language

Description[edit | edit source]

Rainbow Island is the sequel of Bubble Bobble, but it has not much to do with it. Our hero is sent on exploration tour through the rainbow country. The task that awaits him here is: Up to the sky! To make it not too easy, there are many funnily drawn enemies that give you a hard time. Fortunately, our hero is equipped with an umbrella, which can cast rainbows. With these rainbows you can trap and elimintate your enemies. Furthermore, the rainbows can be used to walk on and reach higher spots by using them as stairs or bridges. But you should not niggle for too long, as when the text "hurry" appears, the water level rises and your hero should take a flight and rescue himself as fast as possible on the uppermost platform. The whole plot spans over seven islands, of which each one surprises the player with new funny graphics. Each of the islands is divided into four sections with an ultralarge end monster.

Design[edit | edit source]

Although the C64 version was shortened (only 7 islands instead of 10), it´s a well done remake of the original arcade version. Many finesses and surprises await the player, so that the game fascinates time and again. Magnificent sounds and graphics give the game its own spirit. All colors of the C64 were used for sprites and backgrounds. The screen is 2D and scrolls softly up- and downwards, also the controls are well-done.

... a short animation from the game ...

... another animation from the game ...

Hints[edit | edit source]

Keyboard:

F7 = throw in coin (max. 5 Credits available, used for continuing the game and 2-player mode)
F1 = one player
F3 = two players (one after another with joystick in port 1)
RUN/STOP = pause on/off
CLR/HOME = end game (in pause mode)

Joystick

= raise credits in title screen
= start in one-player mode
= throw rainbow
= move left/right
= jump up

Three important items

Magic shoes: higher speed
Red magic potion: raises the number of rainbows that can be thrown (up to three)
Yellow magic potion: speed of the thrown rainbows is raised

Solution[edit | edit source]

By throwing down rainbows on your enemies from above, they transform into diamonds of different colors instead of the usual bonus items or extras. If you collect all seven of them, you get a big diamond after defeating the islands final boss. Furthermore, if you collect all big diamonds on every island, you get to see the true ending of the game: the islands citizens are rescued, turned back to humans and thank you very much. (see "Videos" - "the last two islands")

If you collect all seven small diamonds in a particular order, you get a big diamond for defeating the islands final boss and on top of that, a door appears to the island's secret room. If you touch it, you get a permanent ability, e.g. wings on island number 4. If you image the screen divided vertically into seven equal areas you know where approximately a hit enemy has to land to produce a diamond of the required colour.

Stars explode when being touched and destroy all hostile characters. Enemies touched by stars count as if they had a rainbow dropped upon them.

Items can not only be picked up by walking over them, but also by throwing a rainbow at them. Additionally can a thrown rainbow reveal hidden items.

Cheats[edit | edit source]

Cartridge: POKE 29535,189 for eternal life

Voting[edit | edit source]

Voting of the C64-Wiki users (10=the best vote):
8.42 points at 45 votes (rank 33). You need to be logged in to cast a vote.
64er	6	Issue 8/90
C64Games	10	(8th Septermber 2006 - "Highlight" 5580 downs)
Lemon64	8,29	6th October 2006 - 92 votes
GameBase64	10	1998 - Classic!
Kultboy.com	8,20	27th November 2009 - 29 votes
ASM	11/12	Edition 5/90
ZZap64	92%	Edition 89/09

Reviews[edit | edit source]

Sledgie: "To reach a high score in the game Rainbow Islands, you need to be a fan of arcade games of this type and bring the necessary skill. Playing the first levels was fun. Therefore my description does not refer to the whole game story. Maybe somebody of you can provide me with that. Everything is down very well, that's why I give the full 10 points."

Jodigi: "The game still well ties my to the screen and has a high addiction potential. Especially the simple game principle with the attractive graphics, the funny music and the slowly raising difficulty level has been realized rather interestingly and hanging behind is avoided through the indirect corresponding time pressure. From me 10 points as well."

TheRyk: "The only thing which made hardly any sense at all was explicitly calling it 'The Story of Bubble Bobble 2'. It only leads to disappointment that you do not play the cute dragons anymore, no matter how cute the new player character is. And by the way, what 'story'? Of course, the game principle is in a way similar, but there is so much really great stuff that is different like up-/down-scrolling instead of single screen, the rainbow as a weapon etc. etc. Anyway, one of the last top games released commercially for the C64, big fun also in 2 player mode, 9 points."

Miscellaneous[edit | edit source]

The arcade hit "Bubble Bobble" was a burner on the C64. Also the sequel "Rainbow Islands" became a popular game and Ocean finally wanted to captivate the players in front of the screen with "Parasol Stars (Rainbow Islands II)". But as somebody broke into the lead programmer's flat for the C64-version and stole the computer including the source code, the game was "only" released for Atari ST/E, NEC PC Engine/TG-16/PCE GT/TurboExpress, Nintendo Game Boy and Nintendo NES (Famicom)/Sharp Twin Famicom, whereby the PC-Version is the most successful. More info in the text Under the light of a Parasol Star.

Cover