Rainbow Islands/Taito NES/SMS Guide

This page is only applicable to the following home conversions of the game:


 * The Japanese Famicom version.
 * The North American NES version.
 * The European and Brazilian Sega Master System version.

It does not apply to the European NES version, which was developed by Ocean (see the Versions for more information.)

Changes from the arcade

 * The graphics are simpler, contain fewer colors, and are generally smaller than their arcade counterparts.
 * With the exception of the Japanese release for the Famicom, the music has been changed in order to prevent a lawsuit from the copyright owners of the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."
 * There are only eight islands: seven initial islands, and one hidden island. Toy Island and Magical Island are removed from the game. Some elements of Dragon Island are combined with Monster Island. A new island, based on the game KiKi KaiKai is added.
 * Please note that the original European release of this game on the Sega Master System contains a bug which prevents players from accessing the eighth island. This bug was corrected in the Brazilian release of the game
 * There are fewer items to obtain than originally found in the arcade version.
 * There is no bonus to collecting the small diamonds in color order, and there is no silver door.
 * Players can collect bonus items which last until the game is over at the end of every island, but there is only a 50% chance of receiving one at random, and only if the player elects not to converse with the character who greets them after defeating the boss.

Islands
The basic arrangement of each island is the same as in the arcade. Each island contains four rounds. Each round is broken up into a number of segments that are exactly two screens tall. When you reach the top of one segment, the screen will stop scrolling upward until you advance through the top of that segment. The number of segments that make up a round tends to increase as the game goes on. At the end of the fourth round, there is a boss that you must defeat in order to advance to the next island. However, when the boss is defeated, there is an additional sequence if you managed to collect all seven of the small diamonds before you reached the boss.

In this sequence, you will converse with a person who will provide you with that island's large diamond. Then you are given the option to talk with them, or select a treasure chest. If you choose to talk with them, they will tell you something about the story, or give you a piece of advice about the game. If you choose to select a treasure chest, you are asked to choose between the left or the right chest. Only one chest contains an item, and the correct chest is random each time.

Insect Island
As in the arcade, this island is populated by worms, bees, beetles, and spiders. Use these early rounds to familiarize yourself with how they are broken up into smaller sections.

The boss is a large spider. He bounces back and forth along the ground in whichever direction you are. He has no special attack other than to collide with you. It's actually possible to defeat the spider very easily if you jump up to the top platform on the left. The spider won't be able to jump up to you, and you can continuously drop rainbows on top of him while he bounces beneath you.

Combat Island
Tanks, planes, helicopters and cannons are still the primary opponents throughout Combat Island. Remember that these enemies can shoot at you, so you have to watch out for their projectiles. You can use your rainbows as a shield.

The boss is a large helicopter. The helicopter moves back and forth, and will eventually change it's height after a while. It drops bombs to the floor. Lure it to the bottom, and then head to the top and drop rainbows on top of it until it is defeated.

Monster/Dragon Island
This is the first island that is a bit of a departure from the arcade version. While the ninth and eleventh rounds occur outside of a castle, the tenth and twelth rounds appear to occur inside, in a manner similar to Dragon Island. Although there are still werewolves, frankensteins, bats and vampires attacking you here, the cyclops and ghosts from Dragon Island also appear. In addition, there are sections of platform that are on fire, which prevents Bubblun or Bobblun from jumping on them or they will lose a life. There are also cattle skulls on the walls that shoot projectiles unless they are struck by a rainbow.

The boss is a large vampire named Fangs. Fangs moves a short distance in your direction, and then comes to a stop. Then he releases three bats from his cape which fan out, before continuing his pursuit of you. Stand about half a screen away from him and let him come to you while you attack him with rainbows. You can especially score a lot of hits very early in the battle when he first appears.

Robot Island
Robot Island jumps ahead from the sixth island to the fourth. Surprisingly, the entire cast from the arcade makes it in tact in this conversion. It also contains regions of ceilings and walls lined with spikes that the player must avoid, as well as pods on the sides of the screen which fire missiles across. The boss is a large robot.

The boss is a large robot named Robby. He moves very similar to the helicopter boss of the second island, but he moves much faster. In addition, he has a rocket punch attack where he shoots his fists off in the direction that he his facing. Your strategy should be the same as against the helicopter, rising to the top when he is on the bottom, and dropping rainbows on him. The only difference is that you'll have to move out of his way more often.

Doh Island
As with the arcade, the fifth island serves as the first theme island. In this version, every island from this one on is an homage to a previous Taito game. This island contains elements from Arkanoid. The boss is Doh, the evil entity that you must defeat at the end of Arkanoid: Revenge of Doh.

The boss is the face of an entity known as Doh. He remains stationary in the center of the screen throughout the entire fight. He releases groups of diamonds from his mouth which fly out in your direction. There are no platforms to rely on throughout this battle, so you'll have to create your own until you are high enough to attack him, or simply jump into the air and create rainbows that hit his chin. Eventually, the diamonds he fires will destroy your rainbows and you'll have to recreate them to continue your attack.

KiKi KaiKai Island
This is the first and only island which is completely original to this version of the game. Not found in the arcade version, it is an homage to the game KiKi KaiKai, which takes place in feudal Japan. Mixing KiKi KaiKai's overhead perspective with the straight-on view of Rainbow Island cab sometimes be disorienting, making it appear as though you can simply walk up the screen, when in fact you must continue to jump or climb rainbows. All of the enemies that appear on this island are naturally enemies that appear in KiKi KaiKai, and the music is from the game as well.

The boss of the game appears to be a giant version of Sayo, the shrine maiden hero of KiKi KaiKai. Sayo bounces continuously around the screen, bounding all the way to the ceiling. As she hops, she will occasionally swing her wand, and fire three cards forward which fan out. Her movement isn't based on where you stand, so she's a little easier to predict. Try to stand just to the left or right of where she will land, and shoot rainbows as she reaches the ground. Upon defeating her, you will discover that the boss was actually a tanooki named Manuki who merely disguised himself as Sayo. In the English version of the game, you are introduced to the real Sayo as "Cindy."

Darius Island
In this version, Darius Island is no longer a hidden island, but actually the last known island that you must visit. In some rounds, there are small objects that look like mines which must be avoided. Most of the enemies which have been transplanted from Darius appear in this version as well, along with the background music from the game. However, the boss of this island has been changed.

The Electric Fan no longer appears here. Instead, King Fossil, the giant fish that serves as the first boss in zone A of Darius, serves as the boss of this island. It starts at the top of the screen, and circles around the edge of the screen in a counter-clockwise direction. It doesn't move quickly, so it's relatively easy to stay ahead of it. However, it fires very slow bullets that make their way to your current position, so you can't remain in one place for a long time. Anticipate when King Fossil will reach the bottom of the screen, and drop as many rainbows on top of it as you can before it returns to the top.

At this point, the game will end if you did not manage to collect all seven giant diamonds from each island. However, if you did collect all seven giant diamonds, another cut scene will occur, and the eight and final island will rise out of the sea, allowing you to play through four more rounds.

(It is at this point that players of the original European release of this game on the Sega Master System will be prevented from advancing to the eighth island, even if they have met the correct conditions. Players of the Brazilian version of the game will be able to continue playing.)

Bubble Island
The final island of the game remains an homage to this game's predecessor, Bubble Bobble. Once again, all of the enemies from Bubble Bobble make their reprise appearance, and the original theme music plays as well. (However, it appears that there is a bug with the music, in the North American NES version at least, which prevents the bass line from playing correctly.) Even the two-stage boss battle is faithfully reproduced in this conversion.

When you begin the fight against the Bubble Dragon, he starts at the top of the screen, and moves very much like a fast version of the Vampire boss from the third island. He moves towards you, and stop to spit a group of bubbles at you, before resuming his approach in a new direction. You can use the middle platform on the right, the upper platform on the left, along with the lower left corner of the floor as locations to wait in order to lure him around the screen in a triangle while you find opportunities to attack. Once he is defeated, the true boss Skel appears. Skel moves continuously and bounces off the walls, floor and ceiling at 45 degree angles. He doesn't attack and his motion is very easy to predict. Stay out of his path and attack him from the sides as he passes by.

After you defeat Skel, you will be presented with the ending. In this ending, you are allowed to choose one of three wishes. To receive the best ending in the game, you must choose the wish of Friendship. Congratulations.