Computing counts down the best ever titles released on the Amiga
27. Rainbow Islands
The fact that it's a sequel to one of our other entries in this list becomes more obvious when you give this game its full title: ‘Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2'.
Like its predecessor, this Taito title began life as a fully-fledged arcade machine, making its way to the Amiga in 1990, a year after its release on the ZX Spectrum, and three years after its arcade debut.
In Rainbow Islands, instead of Bub and Bob the dragons from Bubble Bobble, the characters are Bubby and Bobby, apparently their human forms. Reassuringly, however, their shirt colours remain the same (green and blue respectively).
The story, involving defeating the ‘Dark Shadow', is just as irrelevant as it was in the first game. What matters is that players shoot rainbows at enemies, which can also serve as platforms to reach other areas.
Like Bubble Bobble, there are multiple endings, with the alleged best ending only available after completing all three secret islands - accessible only after all seven big diamonds are collected. You guessed it, most players never even saw a single secret island, so presumably had to settle for less special endings, like finally getting too frustrated and doing something else instead.
The game was a huge critical and commercial success, garnering reviews scored well into the 90s almost across the board.
