Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands

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  • Main title
  • Bubble Bobble
  • Rainbow Islands

BubbleBobble Sat title.png

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Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands
System(s): Sega Saturn
Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment
Developer:
Distributor: Arcadia Software (ES), Halifax (IT), Scanbox Danmark (DK), Roadshow Interactive (AU)
Licensor: Taito
Original system(s): Arcade boards
Developer(s) of original games: Taito
Game total: 2
Genre: Compilation, Action

















Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Saturn
US 		T-8131H
ESRB: Kids to Adults
Sega Saturn
EU 		T-8131H-50
ELSPA: 3+ OK
Sega Saturn
DE 		T-8131H-50
USK: 0
Sega Saturn
UK 		T-8131H-50
ELSPA: 3+ OK
Sega Saturn
IT
Sega Saturn
PL
Sega Saturn
AU
OFLC: G
Non-Sega versions

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Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands (commonly shortened to just Bubble Bobble & Rainbow Islands) is a compilation of both Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands, two popular arcade games developed by Taito in the 1980s and early 1990s. It was released for the Sega Saturn (alongside PlayStation and PC versions) in 1996.

Games included

Gameplay

Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands is a curiously named game as despite suggesting Bubble Bobble is the main focus of this compilation, it is actually Rainbow Islands which receives the most treatment. Rainbow Islands exists in two forms, a largely unaltered arcade conversion and an enhanced mode, which updates the graphics to take advantage of the larger colour palette. Both share the same musical score and gameplay.

Bubble Bobble takes cues from both these versions of Rainbow Islands, being a faithful arcade conversion with some very minor graphical changes, effectively just giving the characters some shading (as opposed to Rainbow Islands which replaces backgrounds too).

Neither version of Rainbow Islands is entirely true to its arcade roots, as the theme of its first stage has been altered to sound less like Harold Arlen's "Over the Rainbow", most likely due to legal concerns which arose as the game became more popular. This altered theme was used in previous conversions for the Nintendo Entertainment System (1991) and the Sega Master System (1993).

History

Development

Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands was originally announced as Bubble Bobble Trilogy, in which Probe would develop both Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands, as well as the "third" game, Parasol Stars. Parsol Stars was dropped and Rainbow Islands development was outsourced to Graftgold, with the project being subsequently renamed.

According to Probe head Fergus McGovern, Taito had lost the original source code for Bubble Bobble, meaning developers Probe Entertainment had to resort to adapting the 1987 Atari ST version (also brought to the Amiga) instead[3]. However this is not strictly accurate; David Broadhurst programmed both versions (the home computer one as part of Software Creations for Firebird Software), and claims Taito provided "the designs" for Bubble Bobble when developing the Saturn version[4]. With the ST version, the team only had an arcade cabinet for reference[4].

Production credits

Bubble Bobble

Probe Personnel
  • Executive Producer: Tony Beckwith
  • Associate Producer: James Stewart
  • Programmers: Dave Broadhurst, Mark Fisher
  • FMV Artwork & Design: Jason McDonald, Gary Noden, Charles Jackson, Paul Brierly, Frances Castle, Alex Lawrence
  • Artists: Mathew Cooling, Mark Frazer
  • Musicians: Andy Brock, Stuart McDonald
  • FMV Soundtrack: Steve Root
  • QA Manager: Clifford Ramsey
  • QA Testing: Mitchell Slater, Nick McGee, James Brown, Craig Kerrison, Tom Geddes
Acclaim Personnel
  • QA Senior Manager: Mike Weiner
  • QA Supervisors: Carol Caracciolo, Thomas Falzone
  • Lead Analyst: Eric Hendrickson
  • Technical Support Supervisor: Harry Reimer
  • Senior Technical Analysts: John Gonzales, Howard Perlman
  • Technical Support Technicians: Greg McGovern, Andrew Fullaytor
  • Project Lead: Kristian Telschow
  • Testers: Christian Moy, Michael Sterzel, Marty Glantz
  • Tester Training: Chris Shanley
Source:
In-game credits

Rainbow Islands

The Rainbow Project
  • Converted by Graftgold: Steve Turner, Julie Turner, Andrew Braybrook, Kevin Holloway
  • Programmers: Charles Knight, Jose Doran, Iain Wallington, Dan Leslie, Simon Clay
  • Artists: Colin Seaman, Jeffrey Miranda, Steve Wilkins, Mike McGregor
  • Musician: Lee Banyard
Source:
In-game credits


Magazine articles

Main article: Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Next Generation (US) #22: "October 1996" (1996-09-17)
also published in:
Logo-pdf.svg

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
54 [6]
Sega Saturn
 54
Based on
1 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
Digitiser (UK)
88
[7]
Fun Generation (DE) PAL
80
[8]
Joypad (FR)
80
[9]
MAN!AC (DE) PAL
78
[10]
Mega Fun (DE) PAL
80
[11]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL
90
[2]
Player One (FR)
81
[12]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
56
[13]
Sega Saturn Magazine (UK) PAL
92
[14]
Total Saturn (UK) PAL
89
[15]
Video Games (DE) PAL
81
[16]
Sega Saturn
 81
Based on
11 reviews

Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands

Saturn, US
BubbleBobbleRainbowIslands Saturn US Box Back.jpgBubbleBobbleRainbowIslands Saturn US Box Front.jpg
Cover
BubbleBobbleRainbowIslands Saturn US Disc.jpg
Disc
Bubblebobblerainbowislands sat us manual.pdf
Manual
Saturn, EU
BubbleBobbleRainbowIslands Saturn EU Box.jpg
Cover
BubbleBobbleRainbowIslands Saturn EU Disc.jpg
Disc
Saturn, FR (Blister pack)
BBRI Sat FR blister front.jpg
Cover
Saturn, IT

Saturn, AU
BubbleBobbleRainbowIslands Saturn AU cover.jpg
Cover
BubbleBobbleRainbowIslands Saturn EU Disc.jpg
Disc

Technical information

Main article: Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands/Technical information.

References

  1. ↑ https://groups.google.com/g/rec.games.video.sega/c/nO_ENwGDTcM/m/NON-IdOShm8J
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Mean Machines Sega, "October 1996" (UK; 1996-09-03), page 60
  3. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "January 1997" (UK; 1996-12-06), page 12
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://www.lemonamiga.com/interviews/david_broadhurst/ (Wayback Machine: 2023-02-16 14:20)
  5. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "October 1996" (US; 1996-xx-xx), page 7
  6. ↑ GamesMaster, "November 1996" (UK; 1996-09-26), page 51
  7. ↑ Digitiser (UK) (1996-09-25)
  8. ↑ Fun Generation, "10/96" (DE; 1996-09-11), page 68
  9. ↑ Joypad, "Septembre 1996" (FR; 1996-0x-xx), page 81
  10. ↑ MAN!AC, "10/96" (DE; 1996-09-11), page 62
  11. ↑ Mega Fun, "11/96" (DE; 1996-10-16), page 59
  12. ↑ Player One, "Septembre 1996" (FR; 1996-08-29), page 114
  13. ↑ Sega Power, "November 1996" (UK; 1996-09-26), page 54
  14. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "October 1996" (UK; 1996-09-18), page 74
  15. ↑ Total Saturn, "Volume One Issue Four" (UK; 1996-12-29), page 13
  16. ↑ Video Games, "9/96" (DE; 1996-08-28), page 92


Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands

BubbleBobble Sat title.png

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Bubble Bobble/Rainbow Islands games for Sega systems
Bubble Bobble (1988) | Rainbow Islands Extra (1990) | Rainbow Islands (1993) | Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands (1996) | Bubble Symphony (1997)
Puzzle Bobble/Bust-a-Move games for Sega systems
Bust-A-Move (1996) | Bust-A-Move 2: Arcade Edition (1996) | Bust-A-Move 3 (1997) | Bust-A-Move 4 (2000) | Azumanga Daioh Puzzle Bobble (2002)
Unlicensed Bubble Bobble/Rainbow Islands games for Sega systems
Super Bubble Bobble MD (1995)
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