Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands

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BubbleBobble Sat title.png

Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands
System(s): Sega Saturn
Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment
Developer:
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
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.

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).

Reportedly Taito had lost the original source code for Bubble Bobble, meaning developers Probe Entertainment had to resort to adapting the 1987 Atari ST version instead[2].

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
88
54 №48, p51
78
90 [4]
81 №67, p114
56 №85, p54
92 [5]
Sega Saturn
 77
Based on
7 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
Digitiser (UK)
88
[6]
Fun Generation (DE) PAL
80
[7]
Joypad (FR)
80
[8]
MAN!AC (DE) PAL
78
[9]
Mega Fun (DE) PAL
80
[10]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL
90
[11]
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, AU
BubbleBobbleRainbowIslands Saturn AU cover.jpg
Cover
BubbleBobbleRainbowIslands Saturn EU Disc.jpg
Disc

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Saturn
✔
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
74,445,504 CD-ROM (EU) T-8131H-50 V1.000
Sega Saturn
 ?
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
74,452,560 CD-ROM (US) T-8131H V1.000

References

  1. ↑ http://www.sega-saturn.com/saturn/software/bubble.htm (Wayback Machine: 1996-12-15 06:12)
  2. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "January 1997" (UK; 1996-12-06), page 12
  3. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "October 1996" (US; 1996-xx-xx), page 7
  4. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1996" (UK; 1996-09-03), page 60/61 (60)
  5. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "October 1996" (UK; 1996-09-18), page 74/75 (74)
  6. ↑ Digitiser (UK) (1996-09-25)
  7. ↑ Fun Generation, "10/96" (DE; 1996-09-11), page 68
  8. ↑ Joypad, "Septembre 1996" (FR; 1996-0x-xx), page 81
  9. ↑ MAN!AC, "10/96" (DE; 1996-09-11), page 62
  10. ↑ Mega Fun, "11/96" (DE; 1996-10-16), page 59
  11. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1996" (UK; 1996-09-03), page 60
  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/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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