Reviewed: March 12, 2008
Reviewed by: Stacey Meade

Publisher
Ignition Entertainment

Developer
Digital Whip
Taito

Released: January 22, 2008
Genre: Platformer
Players: 1-2

4
5
4
4
4.5

Supported Features:

  • Multi-card Multiplayer

    Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)


  • Rainbow Islands first came to us in the form of Rainbows Islands an arcade game produced in 1987. This game was a sequel to the original Bubble Bobble created by Taito. The original Rainbow Islands was a simple game that offered many twists and turns and secrets for the play to unlock. Now to newest version of Rainbow Islands has appeared. Rainbow Islands: Evolution is a colorful, 3D version of the original hit. With updates to the original Bub and Bob characters and all new 3D worlds, can this game really improve on a classic or will it fail like many others before it? Can you really improve a classic?


    Rainbow Islands: Evolution is a game of islands and rainbows. This game is all about stopping the evil record company. The evil record company has turned all of the islands inhabitants into evil beasts with its loud generic music. The only way for Bub and Bob to save the islands is to blast each of the transformed inhabitants with a rainbow. Yeah, sounds pretty cool huh! This game offers ten different islands to complete including the evil record companies island.

    While playing you will have to dodge nuts and avoid different animals that have been transformed by the evil record company. There are seven bosses that you will have to beat through out the different islands. You will defeat these different bosses by using your resonator. You will be able to level up you resonator as you progress through the game. When you happen upon a boss you will have to power up the resonator by turning the analog stick as fast as you can. This can get pretty difficult later in the game. I really didn’t like this aspect of the game it was really kind of tedious and boring.

    When playing this game you will travel around saving the different artists that have been transformed by the music pollution that the record company has put out. The basic’s of this game are that you make steps with rainbows and transform things back to their original forms with you guessed it rainbows. Then you use the resonator to defeat the different boss’s. That’s basically the whole game. The whole time I was playing this game I was thinking, “Is it over yet?” For the producers of this game to take a classic and try to improve it and completely make it a flop is outrageous. This game is a complete no brainer. The only time I actually had fun while playing this game was when I was racing to reach the top as fast as I could. At least that added a competitive edge to the game.

    The whole storyline of this game is hilarious. Who do they think this game relates to? About two percent of the population that’s who! Don’t get me wrong some of the music generated from major record labels is pretty fake. But all the loud, blood pumping music from today’s rock bands, and fun and flirty music from today’s pop stars is what the majority of today’s consumers are listening too. Take away the story line and the game can be summed up in one world: “tedious”. There are even that many monsters to transform back into their original selves. That’s odd because within each level there are three levels of depth that you can explore. You can travel to each different depth by riding on a space ship. How a space ship fits into this game I don’t know. Basically to sum up this game rainbow stairs, rainbow weapons, Rainbow Islands: Evolution for the PSP.


    Alright the graphics in this game are not terrible. Some of the animation is actually pretty appealing. They did go to the trouble of including 3D characters. The 3D animation is however pretty boxy as far as I am concerned. It is comparable to early Playstation games. I know the PSP is capable of more than that. I really didn’t like the areas that this game had to offer. I can’t really knock them for the graphics on this game because they did improve the color and add a lot of 3D effects throughout the game.


    I don’t know about the majority of gamers but I like loud rock music with drums and electric guitars. The only time that I listen to maracas and bongo drums is when, well I don’t unless I happen to be at a fiesta, I have never actually been to a fiesta but if I had I assume that music would be appropriate. I really think the music on this game was mediocre at best. The sound effects were okay. Overall, I’m not impressed and I know that there could have been several improvements in the sounds that this game offers.


    This game is stores cost’s $19.99. Would I pay that amount, well I wouldn’t pay for this game at all. But if you are a fan of the Rainbow Islands games, twenty bucks isn’t asking for much. I just didn’t find this game enjoyable in any sense. But I guess it is not completely a dud. If you like rainbows and kazoos then this is the game for you. But if I were you I would wait because this game is going straight to the dump bin at your local retailer. I can see the price of this game dropping rapidly. I really can’t see this games creators being very proud of this game.


    The whole time I was playing this game I was thinking of ways to destroy it. The idea that the creators of this game could bash the majority of these games consumers’ types of music is ridiculous. I don’t know if the producers know this but the majority of people who purchase games listen to rock, rap, and pop! Oh well the story line of this game isn’t even the main problem with this game the game just isn’t fun. Making steps from island to island with rainbows isn’t my kind of fun. Transforming monsters back into their regular forms with rainbows is dumb. Where’s the swords, the magic! Boring is the best way to describe this game the only people I can see enjoying it would be the original games fans.