Which Version of Rainbow Islands Did I Rank No.1?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ม.ค. 2025
- In this video, I will be ranking 17 various ports of the 1987 Taito arcade classic - Rainbow Islands - The Story of Bubble Bobble 2, This ranges from home micro computers as well as consoles and portables. This ranking also includes several spin-offs and updated versions.
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TGCD is the best IMO with Spectrum after it for how it plays. The Speccy Rainbow Islands, SpyHunter & Space Invaders are the my three earliest gaming memories when my Dad introduced me to the system.
Just got to #1 and you agreed with my choice when i went through all the Rainbow Islands ❤
You missed the WonderSwan game in mentions. Its actually pretty good too. English version available.
It's not everyday for ZX Spectrum and Armstrad CPC ports to be above NES AND SMS. Fantastic job from them honestly
Also I didn't expect the Nintendo DS version to be here because like you said, it's just too different. This another great video though!
Fantastic game from Taito, currently I play this via Arcade Archives on the PS5 Pro. However I originally owned this on the Amiga, Sega Saturn, PS1 and Xbox. I loved the version with the updated graphics too.
Are these reviews conducted on hardware? Looks like emulation to me. Performance issues could be emulation related
The issue with main theme music, completely changed in many ports, is that is copyrighted as it is strongly based in "Over the rainbow" song from 1939 film "Wizard of Oz". Taito blatantly managed to slip it in arcades worldwide, probably until a letter of C&D from copyright holder arrived. Those were other times, I guess. Besides that, what irritated me most about Rainbow Island ports is that many of them lack the extra islands (8th to 10th), which is a shame in powerful and capable systems like Playstation or Saturn.
I think I read the people handling the ports weren't given the source code by Taito and didn't know about the extra levels until they were too late in development to implement them.
One of my favourite platform games - I grew up playing the CPC version a lot BITD.
Neat bit of trivia - of the home computer conversions, only the CPC version’s rainbows had all 7 colours. Even the Amiga and the ST versions which are more than capable, just had 6 colour rainbows.
I always appreciate how you judge each system on it's own merits rather than just always comparing each system to whatever the best was at the time.
I never had a spectrum, and my best mate had a CPC 464, so I never knew how much faster the Speccy games were.
I have a real passion for everything and always have done. I don't have much time for those who either don't talk about the importance of the computing era of the 80s/90s who tend to think consoles only ever existed.
I had the Amiga version of this game and loved it to pieces. So playable, great colours, great music and sound FX and just a lovely cute game but tough game to play.
I'm pleasantly surprised at how good the Amstrad, C64 and Speccy versions looked as well. Just goes to show how a little care and time and produce great results.
Thanks for another great video.
You’re knocking it out of the park with these comparisons :-)
Thankyou!
No idea what to recommend you try next, I’m sure I’ll
Love it!
Had the Saturn version. On a different note, I'ms surprised that the speccy coversions look as good as they do. Props to the coders for making conversions look as good as they do. Seriously - respect.
@@leonkent1365 I’ve always been a spicy fan but these videos have made me appreciate it more, performance is always there and that’s what counts
@@jerrylondon3126 agreed!
Gotta love Rainbow Islands! I grew up playing the Amiga version and had no idea the C64 version was this good. I still think it's funny that on C64, the caterpillars on Insect Island look as if they have black goatees, though! 😀
All the home micro ports were originally supposed to be released by Firebird (who had previously released Bubble Bobble) but they were bought out by Microprose. This is what upset Taito and the game was delayed by a year. Luckily Ocean stepped in as publisher (they had done many Taito home conversions before).
Keep up the good work mate, love these videos , watching them has become part of my daily routine, they are always on point and I think you get it spot on most days.
This "ports ranked" series has lately become my hidden gems recommendation for my MAME playlist. The arcade originals look great, thanks for sharing these games.
I had greenbow islands on my little monochrome CPC back in the day and thoroughly enjoyed it 😆
Greenbow islands lol
Always loved the Amiga version growing up. It was massively lauded when it released, and for good reason.
Rainbow Islands came with my Amiga when I bought it in 1990 and I played it so much more than anything else I ever bought for the computer.
This and Parasol Stars (Which was never a arcade game but should receive a honourable mention) are two of my favourite games ever and I enjoy every version of them quirks and all.
Honestly, one of my favourite games. I can play the master system version for hours. It really is great
Same here, Master System version it’s so great to me…
Oh wow!
I started off with the ZX Spectrum version of Rainbow Islands and at the time I thought it was a really hard game, after some time I also managed to get the same game for the Amiga and found it a little easier (could be due to the improved framerate and colours).
Solid little gem of a game.
Would you be able to do a comparison of The Chaos Engine between it's Amiga releases (EGA and AGA) and also other systems?
I grew up with the Speccy version, and was impressed on how playable it was, defiantly one of my favourite Spectrum games, and I did have the privilege in playing Rainbow on my mate PC Engine back in the day, that was impressive.
never was a fan of this game, but i do wonder if it is possible that one day you make a video of SNOW BROS, but i am not sure if it was ported to many platform, even less, a game called DON DOKO DON, those were 2 of my fave games as a kid.
My mate had this on the Amiga. Loved it back in the day, now play it on a PS2 compilation. I like it.
I've played the arcade version on MAME a ton. Went back to some of the 8 bit ports recently out of curiosity and was shocked how well the Spectrum version stands up. I'd honestly rate it above the C64 version in terms of gameplay accuracy, it matches the arcade amazingly well in its feel and even some of the tricks and exploits you can do. The C64 version feels like a slightly different game tbh. Haven't tried the CPC version yet.
There certainly are many ports of Rainbow Islands. Seeing this video has got me feeling like playing it!
Graftgold did fantastic job on allowed home micro ports
Amstrad version was great for the hardware , lovely and colourful
Amiga version for me was the best and most accurate to the arcade version
Absolutely
Another of my favorites😍
Just finished the Mega Drive version for the first time, although didn’t access the last island yet.
Another one i first played on the Amiga500
Got this with my amiga in a pack of one sort. Absolutely love it
Played the c64 version alot. Great game , great box art, great video. Never knew there was so many versions 👌
My favorite arcade platformer ever. Long live the one and only Atari ST version (love all the other versions too).
The Amiga version of Rainbow Islands has three key differences compared to the arcade version, missing levels: It includes only 7 of the original 10 islands, omitting the final ones due storage and time limitations.Frame rate: Runs at 25 FPS compared to the arcade's 60 FPS, resulting in reduced smoothness.
Single button control: Jumping and rainbow shooting are combined into a single button, making controls more challenging compared to the arcade, which had separate buttons for each action.
Despite these limitations, it remains one of the best conversions of the game.
16:26 "Zero sprite flicker" on the PC Engine version? And yet a little after those words are said, we can see considerable flickering on the rainbows when three of them are chained together. Unfortunate and distracting - that definitely knocks it down in the ranks for me. The other 16-bit versions do not have any flickering on the rainbows.
Thanks for your feedback.
@@JustJamie1983 Sorry to be so nit-picky! This is a great series of videos - thank you!
It's just that rainbows are absolutely central to Rainbow Islands. Chaining rainbows together is a thing of beauty - and is a key part of the enjoyment for me. Chaining flickering, half-disappearing rainbows together, as seen in the PC Engine version? Um, not so much!
The pc engine wasn't actually 16 bit , it used two 8 bit chips or something like that.
@saturnman9129 Ah, good catch - thanks!
Surprised with the rankings tbh. Version I played as a kid was the CPC version and I absolutely loved it. Just tried it out again and it still stands up. Although technology has made it better. Some helpful people on the internet have converted it to the GX4000 format which means you can use 2 buttons. 1 for rainbows and 1 for jumping. Makes all the difference I feel, was always a pain to press up to jump in these conversions and one of the reasons why I would have ranked a console version ahead of the Amiga.
Hi!. Another great video! For me Rainbow Island is an iconic one, at that time i had a Amiga 500 and was amazing to be able to play it at home. Greetings Jamie! 🤩👋
Hey, thanks very much 😀
This is definitely in my top 10 of all time, played it to death on the amiga along with bubble bobble and parasol stars.
First time I saw this game was on a friend's ST. I owned a Speccy 48K at the time so the step up in graphics and sound was just insane to me. When I got my Amiga I got the game and I think it is a superb version. Again the Speccy punches above its weight but yeah, when you are looking for closest to the original it falls short but still a damn good port in its own right (definitely aided by the AY music as the game just with the Beeper sounds on the 48K do make it feel lacking).
I'm really surprised by how nice that CPC version is. I never had one but, to me, this shows that much of the reason CPC conversions were ropey comes down to either or both of a lack of developer skill or deep knowledge of the machine and its capabilities, and/or laziness. Really cool seeing that.
Every single version is great
Those washed out colors on GBC are an emulator setting. The idea is to simulate the lack of backlighting without affecting visibility, not sure on the overall accuracy - not that accuracy would improve matters.
That said, on displays where backlighting is present, GBC games are really intense primaries. It's really a case of pick your poison.
Anyways, agreed on the praise for Ocean. I wish the Ocean that ported Rainbow Islands was capable of reaching those highs with their original console games.
Thanks
The robot sprites look out of place because they came straight from the Darius series, they were originally mobs exclusive to the 9th island which was Darius-themed
I loved the ST version. Played it a lot, just to get that little step further. Was one of the 25 or so original titles I had for it. There is a version for the Switch. I don't have many games for the Switch and rarely play it but if I ever need it, I have this and Bubble Bobble on there. Oh yeah, the one thing I don't like about the Switch version is that it has an alternative music that also seems to be on the Master System? Apparently it had to do with licensing of "Somewhere over the rainbow."
The reason why the Mega Drive extra has a black background on the first stage is because the Japanese arcade Rainbow Island extra had a black background.
Good call.
This actually is an interesting point when looking at arcade ports. Japanese and world/us versions could contain big differences. For example the New Zealand Story had several different stage layouts depending on region/version. I prefer the Japanese layout as most of the home ports were based on it. The world version at the arcades wasn't as good.
One thing you missed out on this is whether each port contained the hidden worlds that you needed to beat on the original arcade version in order to get the real ending, as a lot of the ports just missed them out entirely which is a shame as that was a part of the depth of the game.
Megadrive version was blue on the background of level 3. They swapped the 1st and 3rd background colours around.
For some inexplicable reason, my mind always links The New Zealand Story and Rainbow Islands together.
After yesterday's NZ Story vid, i thought, "Wonder when Rainbow Islands will be covered?".... Didn't have to wait long, lol.
I’m sure they’re related, and Rodland.
@owenjnelson-fb9mg Blinking heck, that's a game I haven't thought about in decades. You're right!
Amiga Rainbow islands is a pretty fantasic port fair play, agree with the pc engine port being the best and once you complete it you get the extra version almost like 2 games in 1.
Rainbow Islands on Amstrad was a great showcase for colourful Mode 0 graphics. Plenty more quality arcade conversions which you haven't looked at yet like Mr Heli and P47. Others have been shown like Chase HQ and Bomb Jack. So the Amstrad was just as good as anything else
The Extra version is just the final stages of the original game. Bubble Bobble has a version where the enemies flip, the ones that shoot fireballs and the boomerangs are in the first 40 stages and the slow enemies from the beginning of the game are near the end
I still have my hit sqad C64 cassette version of this game. The C64 version is really good. The game has a predictable pattern for what powerups and gems the baddies will drop when you kill them, so if you learn it then you know exactly what you will get as you kill one. The pattern continues accoss levels. Every third baddie killed will get you a powerup, 1st one is the red fast shoes.
I had the Amiga version back in 1990, I always thought Bub was having a slash when he died.
Thanks Just Jamie. I played it on my son's NES.
Hey, no worries. Thanks for watching 👀
This game is wonderful with lovely music.
You should make a video about the legendary "Xain'd Sleena" too from 1985. Releasing on Switch in April 2025.
It's also called "Soldier of Light" and "Solar Warrior" USA. It's the same game. 3 different titles, but Xain'd Sleena is the original title (Japan / Europe).
Thank you.
@ Your welcome. It's believed that Xain'd Sleena were the first game with mid jumping and fancy boss fights among other things.
Played this a fair bit on a mates Amiga, but we had it on our C64 and it was a very decent version.
I imagine some of the bigger companies like Nintendo had to change up the music for fear of being sued by MGM who owned the rights of the music from the Wizard of Oz.
About time you done a decent game ;) Speccy and Amiga for me.
Played Rainbow Islands to death on the old Spectrum as a kid in the early 1990 and when I saw a screenshot of the Mega Drive version in Mean Machines I was very excited and hoping I would see it in John Menzies, Woolworths or any game shop but I never did but I did eventually pick up the master system which was a ok port.
Yup. Some games were advertised like that but barely seen them. Double Dragon for the Mega Drive was like that too.
The PC Engine CD version is the definitive one. It has everything you need:
Longer diamond on-sceen duration.
Island selection. Very useful if you missed a diamond.
J-Pop ending music after good ending.
It's also the last PC Engine CD game to be released under the CD-ROM format. Later games were released under the Super CD-ROM format.
Btw, would be cool to see a Star Force (1984) version comparsion. It has 6 ports to be ranked:
1.SG-1000
2.Famicom (JP)
Hudson Soft ported the arcade game to the Famicom which is heavily different to the NES version.
3.MSX
Hudson Soft also ported Star Force to the MSX and they made a very decent job.
4.NES (US)
The NES version was made properly by Tehkan (better known now as Tecmo). Although it's acutally based on the Famicom version, this version has numerous differences:
-Redone Graphics (imo, they look much better)
-Beefed Up Music (it also uses an unused track from the Arcade original as the game over theme)
-Worthy Bonus (destroying Cleopatra mask in zone I (Iota), you'll be reward with a million points)
-Ramped Up Difficilty (typical US standards. The Famicom version were made easier, while the NES version has the difficulty closer to the arcade one)
-Ending screen, before going to the infinity area which is a Super Star Force announcement. Shamefully, that game was only released in Japan.
Also the European version has the bonuses that the American version doesn't:
-Animated Stellar Title Screen
-Same (but eased) difficulty.
-Three continues opposed to none.
5.Super Famicom/SNES (Caravan Shooting Collection)
Basically the same as the Famicom version, but with better use of colors.
6.Sharp X68000 (Arcade Anthology Vol.3)
A pretty arcade-perfect port made by Dempa.
Curiously in some versions when an enemy dies, it transforms in bubble bobble enemies
I may be "misremembering" but from what i recall there was copyright issues over the music being too close to Somewhere over the Rainbow from the Wizard of Oz movie in some regions.
The Amiga version was awesome, I was lucky to play it on release, your number 1 choice wasn't released until a few years later so you'd agree it was the best version at the time.
Loved Rainbow Islands
Truly a classic 😀
I dont know which version of Rainbow Island I played first it was at a friends house I think it would have been an Amiga or Atari ST but who knows. Later I bought it for NES so that is the version I had.
The pc engine version really is excellent, just a little sprite flicker on the rainbows and slowdown occasionally but the colours are lovely and vibrant.
Amstrad version was the one I played, never did see it in the arcade sadly. Loved the Amstrad version, completed it but could never get the secret bonus level by getting all the gems in the right order.
Had it on the CPC then the Amiga, totally loved it :)
Great on both platforms.
tried to finish the arcade game, litterally 3hours in and still on stage 8 (out of 10). if i was pay 10p a credit itd probably be around 3k that i put into it
It is crazy how difficult it is, I tried on a emulator and got about that far too.
The nostalgia!
I played and loved the Amiga version back in the day❤
It was a good one 😀
I remember the CPC version which was very good !
One of the best.
Love!!! Had the speccy version, played on cpc, c64 and yeah, amiga as well, was the best i played back in the day.
Hey, Jamie, what about Palace's Barbarian? Few 8 bit and 16 bit versions...but not a coin op im afraid! 1 player, meh, but 2 player was decent...and it foreshadowed MK's fatalities (the dwarf kicking the head).
And the poster, nach!
Haha! Keep roling, love it mucker
Barbarian wasn't an arcade game.
Played and really enjoyed the Amiga version but, as already mentioned, it only had 7 islands.
Available for ps4 via arcade archives. The music has been altered a bit though. Like bombjack was too.
I'm loving all these videos, Jamie 🙂 My request for your next content is Pang and please include the PC Engine CD Rom version 🎈 You'll find it's one of the best
Hey, thanks. Pang! Will come at some point.
Parasol Stars is my favorite BubbleBobble game. Still play it a lot.
A classic 👌
Available on psn too
How do you get the secret levels? I aren't sure how to do the miracles so they match.
@@Daniel189HLL I’ve only pulled them off properly by accident in the past :D
My brother and I discovered this a couple of times on the PC Engine / TG16 version back when we had the original game in the 90s. :D We actually didn’t know quite how it worked then. I’ve never really looked it up either. Just kind of play a few rounds most of the time these days. Think it’s time I found out though :)
Great video. Was wondering where the spectrum version would end up. 😊
Hehe
for the honorable mentions you missed rainbow islands wii version called rainbow islands, towering adventure
Nom nom. More Taito goodness.
Parasol stars is my favourite in the bubble bobble series
Hint hint🤔
Sweet. Was just playing Arkanoid, used to have it on the Amstrad how’s about a comparison of that? 😊😊
No worries. Thanks
Unfortunately I despise the Mega Drive port. First of all the Normal mode mixes up the background colours for no reason at all. The first island is, like you said, black... but the third island is blue (which actually should be black due to the vampire theme)... but worst of all is that the height of the jumping is broken, you jump too low so that you do not reach platforms you should reach which completely throws off the flow of climbing the stages.
The Amiga version is outstanding. Just a shame that it lacks the final three islands and that they did not go for 50/60 frames per second instead of the 25/30 it got. The Commodore 64 version was the first one I played and I love it still. It stands above and beyond most arcade ports on the system and is a marvel in itself considering how well it runs and how little was cut. Technically it feels more impressive than the Amiga version considering the limitations of the hardware.
And, finally, I played my Master System version to the final boss but after beating it the game froze. The bug in the european version just makes the release seem beyond rushed. Baffling.
Great video as usual.
Hey, nice one. Thanks 😊
a m8 lent me rainbow islands on the megadrive i had to take my consoles top off so it would fit in the slot i could get the true ending which was not easy you had to get all the diamonds in correct order on each island and complete the 3 secret islands but there is a method that guarantees you get a diamond and the right colour based on where it lands i liked the extra mode especially how on the boss stage it copy's darius and does that warning battle ship detected just like in darius a game i might add i could complete without out taking a hit on all paths to get all endings ( man i loved that game )
I STILL HAVE PC ENGINE CD GAME BOUGHT FOR £30 YEARS AGO
Could this be the best port of all time across- the-board? thats a good idea for a video too I reckon... which port was best across the board..!
How can you rank those 8 bit computer versions over the master system version. Also the nes version is a bad port of the master system version
Very easily. Please listen to what the video is about which you can find in the introduction.
That extra version is just bizarre
Exactly what I thought.
Mate I'm going to be that garden troll again. I really enjoy your videos and comparing graphical fidelity and (for the most part) music is fine when emulating, but when you refer to frame drops, slowdowns, sprite flicker and suchlike please at least check other emulators and/or videos of the original hardware running the games. It's actually pretty hard for something like the Master System to have framerate drops when the console and cart are both, technically speaking, hardware. The game is literally built to have a specific update rate. If frames are skipped, that's your chosen emulator and/or your PC. And it's a big assumption to expect whatever emulator you've chosen to be a 100% accurate representation of the original hardware. I'm not saying you shouldn't do the comparisons but there should at least be some caveats, or if you notice issues, perhaps dig a little deeper?
Spectrum and Amiga forever!!!
Does the PS4 just emulate the arcade version? Just wondered why it wouldn't be on the list
Because PS4 isn't a retro system.
Hi me again, Amstrad fanboy. For the third time I am sure I have the best version. Renegade was better than the arcade on the Amstrad CPC in my opinion.
For the second and third best games, I have Silkworm and Rainbow Iseland on original JAMMA arcade boards. I think the last two played fine on my Amstrad too.
Ocean did better than most companies on the Amstrad as they spent a lot more developing time than other companies did on the Amstrad versions.
On behalf of all the feline gamers out there, I'm distraught that you didn't cover Kitty Rainbow! A genuine homage believe it or not... and it's actually pretty good.
the first gameboy port is weird, no idea why it used bubble bobbles music, a lot of their games sound a lot like the c64 and given that the c64 sounds different im very confused why the gameboy didnt just do the same thing.
I have 4 versions in my case AMIGA the best, Atari st next, Spectrum and then my fav Amstrad cpc great
Wasn't the Sega Saturn version cursed with that awful intro fmv? 😂
Haha. It was kinda shady
NES and SMS version should be ranked above C64 version,there are more enemies sprites than the C64,Zx spectrum and Armstrad have slow framerate. No reason to place above the home tv version.frame rate issues worse than flickering.
Plucky specky beating the console 8 bit
Haha
superb game this, had it on Atari ST and it honestly felt like the arcade, for some reason scrolling vertically wa always smooth, sideways was awful on the ST, so this just worked.
Good list bud.
PS: C64 version, the main character looks mexican :D
While it's no Bubble Bobble (all time fave with legit 1000s of hours) this was still a belter with a whole heap of time wasted on the C64 on this one
Atari St version was great
Yes Jamie!! At last a decent CPC conversion!! Lol...had this back in the day and it was quality! Will now resign myself to futher rubbish Amstrad games...cracking vid again mate, cheers!
Right on!