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 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. The boss is a large spider.

Combat Island
Tanks, planes, helicopters and cannons are still the primary opponents throughout combat island. The boss is a large helicopter.

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 remains the large Dracula.

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.

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.

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. However, 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.

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.