Rainbow Islands Revolution
Taste the rainbow...of DEATH!!
It seems Taito is getting more and more of a presence on the Nintendo DS. Relax, that's a good thing. We need an arcade classic every now and then to calm us down from the gaming experiences that Metroid Prime Hunters and New Super Mario Bros. bring, right? Due later next month will be another title from their catalog, courtesy of the folks at Rising Star Games- Rainbow Islands Revolution.
Rainbow Islands is basically the spiritual successor of Bubble Bobble, a game that will also be getting the DS treatment next month. In the game, you control a cutesy character on a quest to stop a corrupt kingdom from overtaking the land. Your weapon of choice? A rainbow. OK, before you start snickering and wondering how many times you got hit on the head with that formula, keep in mind that this is a powerful rainbow that shoots across the path like a projectile. If it hits an enemy, it kills them. And you thought rainbows were nice. Silly people. Anyway, as the game progresses, the player can pick up power-ups to make their rainbows longer or stronger, while picking up fruit and gem icons for bonus points.
The game will have a design similar to that of the original, but with some touch-ups that take advantage of the Nintendo DS' design. There will also be some new secrets to uncover, including hidden items and a couple of new characters, who you have to unlock over the course of the game. It's worth noting that these two characters are designed by Harvest Moon artist Igusa Matsuyama, so they'll be worth uncovering if you're a fan of cute games of that nature.
The game will contain a hundred stages for the single player to go through, as well as a Score Attack mode where players can try to rack up high points. But perhaps the biggest feature the game will contain is its multiplayer mode, where up to four players can complete in events and races to see who is in fact the master of the rainbow. Can you survive the strength of colors? Only time will tell.
Rainbow Islands Revolution should be a lot of fun, if the gameplay works with the DS in some way and manages to retain its arcade flavor. We'll be back with a full review of the game upon its release next month. In the meantime, remember- rainbows can be lethal. Watch out!!
