Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands

Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands for PlayStation is a 1996 compilation from Probe Entertainment and Acclaim Entertainment that brings together two arcade-era Taito platform games. The disc contains Bubble Bobble, the 1986 game starring the bubble-blowing dragons Bub and Bob, plus Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2, the 1987 follow-up in which the pair return to human form. Rather than a new sequel or a single continuous adventure, this PlayStation release is a two-game package, with Rainbow Islands offered in both an arcade-style presentation and an Enhanced! variant.

Bubble Bobble is the more screen-by-screen of the two. One or two players guide Bub and Bob through a hundred fixed rounds packed with roaming enemies. The dragons attack by blowing bubbles: an enemy caught inside can be popped for points and dropped food, while unattended captives escape and become more dangerous. Bubbles are also part of movement and survival, since the characters can jump on them to reach higher ledges. Power-up bubbles add tools such as water, lightning, or fire effects, and item collection rewards alert play and cooperation. The complete game is designed around clearing every enemy in a round, with special rooms, warps, and different outcomes giving repeat visits something to uncover.

Rainbow Islands changes the viewpoint and the central trick. Bub and Bob climb vertically through island-themed stages, racing from the lower part of each screen toward the top while enemies and hazards block the route. Their rainbow-making ability is both weapon and scenery: a rainbow can catch or knock down foes, become a temporary bridge, or create a step toward a higher platform. Each island is divided into several sections and culminates in a boss encounter. Picking up the gems left by defeated groups of enemies matters beyond score, as the game’s hidden rewards and routes depend on how thoroughly its stages are cleared.

The PlayStation compilation distinguishes its Rainbow Islands content with two visual choices. Players can select a version intended to resemble the original arcade look or the Enhanced! presentation, which redraws the experience with brighter colour, shading, and more detailed backdrops while retaining the same basic upward-climbing game. Bubble Bobble likewise preserves the familiar two-player cooperative setup rather than reimagining it as a 3D PlayStation game. That contrast is central to the collection’s appeal: the hardware is used to package polished 2D conversions, not to replace the fast, compact rules that defined the coin-op originals.

Although the title gives Bubble Bobble top billing, Rainbow Islands is more than an extra mode. It is its direct story sequel and deliberately inverts its predecessor’s design, moving from enclosed single screens and bubbles to tall scrolling climbs shaped by rainbows. Together, the games show two approaches to arcade platform action from the same Taito lineage: one built around trapping enemies and coordinated clearing, the other around improvised routes, vertical momentum, and careful use of a multipurpose tool. Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands remains a PlayStation snapshot of those connected classics, with solo play and local two-player action available where the original design supports it.