Rainbow Islands Revolution

Nintendo DS · 2006 · EU

Also known as: New Rainbow Islands (JP)

Atari Dreams

Publisher: Atari · Developer: Dreams

Bubby and Bobby return in this Nintendo DS update to the popular arcade game, Rainbow Islands. The game takes place several years after Bubble Bobble, and the brothers now have the ability to create rainbows to destroy their enemies. However, they'll need this ability, as the residents of the seven Rainbow Islands have been imprisoned, and need to be rescued! The DS version of Rainbow Islands functions differently from the original. Your character is now floating inside a bubble on the touch screen, and the levels can be seen both on the top and touch screens. You can drag your character around the screen by touching them with the stylus, or you can drag the stylus elsewhere on-screen to create a rainbow. If you tap a drawn rainbow, it will fall down vertically, killing any enemies underneath. Finally, there are two special rainbows that can be drawn if you hold the L or R buttons, each with their own special function. Drawing a circle will create a large bubble which you can drag around the screen and hit other enemies with; while drawing a triangle will create a kind of black hole that will suck in enemies, allowing you to take them out in one go. Lastly, there is a special rainbow that can only be drawn when your 'Star Gauge' is full: when it is, this gauge can be tapped, and the player is given a short time to draw a five-pointed star (similar to the 'Healing Touch' in Trauma Center). If successful, all enemies on both screens will be destroyed. In addition to this new style of play, there is also a 'Score Mode'. In this mode, you only have one life, and must earn as many points as possible as a barrage of enemies continues to attack you. The game also has two secret characters to unlock, as well as a Versus Mode where players compete to reach the top of the level first. The special rainbows are not available in either of these modes.