There is practically no video game franchise that has done the same as the historic Taito Corporation with Bubble Bobble. Because with each sequel, the Japanese company changed its approach, going from the dragons with bubbles of the first to the rainbows of its sequel, Rainbow Islands. And what happened to the third chapter of 1991? The Parasol Stars umbrellas have arrived.
With a debut for the PC Engine in Japan, it is surprising to recall, looking back, that it never came out in arcade games , but only in home systems, with the Amiga 500 conversion being the best in Europe. And since it has just celebrated its 30th anniversary , it is the ideal excuse to remember the “third story of Bubble Bobble” .
To dance the bamba you need an … umbrella
It is fair to recognize that with Rainbow Islands the change was more drastic , since Parasol Stars did resemble much more the iconic 1986 Bubble Bobble by retaining a more similar level design, with a main ability that slightly evoked the classic of the eighties, changing the bubbles by the use of an umbrella capable of manipulating certain drops with different elements.
The umbrella, which we could direct both head-on and up, served us to stun the enemy by grabbing it and throwing it hard afterwards, although it concealed an essential extra ability against bosses and certain phases of more convoluted design: placed in its natural position (to cover us from the rain), he could accumulate several drops and forcefully unleash his special ability by gathering five drops at a time. From a makeshift river to lightning, burning the ground or dropping spinning stars. It was his grace, even if he didn’t always exploit it.
This was due to the large number of phases without that kind of drops, so the method to eliminate the enemies was in the basic movement, much less satisfactory than in other games of the same suit, such as Snow Bros. or Tumblepop. Of course, it was quite a feast to do it for all that food that suddenly appeared on the screen, following the wake of the launch. And, of course, when completing each phase, there was much more food at once to increase our score.
On the other hand, a curious detail that many people associate with this game was the presence of a version of the song Lambada , by the Kaoma group, when we faced off against the bosses of each planet . Here the resemblance was much more recognizable than the classic Over the Rainbow within the previous Rainbow Islands .
Parasol Stars, the other Bubble Bobble story
It was very noticeable that Parasol Stars was part of the Bubble Bobble universe , especially due to the level design and a good number of recognizable enemies from the two previous installments, from the helicopter with smiling eyes and mouth to the fact of sharing one of its bosses more characteristic.
He did not enjoy many power-ups for the protagonists Bubby and Bobby in their human form, but Taito did return to give importance to the secrets with certain stars that we could collect and that gave us access to a couple of extra phases, being one of them without going any further on Bubble Bobble , with his dragon at the end.
It was not as surprising as the classics of 1986 and 1987, but it gave a lot of play with the use of water, its best ability , to be able to climb the generated torrent so that the current would take us to the bottom of the screen. In addition, it was a very enjoyable game in the company of another person, with the spike that that meant in certain bonus sections to obtain more points in a short time.
Unfortunately, it did not enjoy a sequel or any revision, the fact that it shared a nickname with Bubble Memories: The Story of Bubble Bobble III was striking . Because yes, the sequels as such to the 1986 classic were Bubble Symphony in 1994 and Bubble Memories in 1996. The last one to date was produced with Bubble Bobble 4 Friends on PS4 and Nintendo Switch, here in 2020.
Has it stood the test of time well?
Yes, like the good Taito classics . But it is also true that it has lost freshness along the way, the names of Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands being bigger (with good reason) than this Parasol Stars , no matter how much affection there is.
Parasol Stars
| Platforms | PC Engine (analyzed version), Amiga 500, Atari ST, NES and Game Boy |
|---|---|
| Multiplayer | Yes, local (two players) |
| Developer | Taito Corporation |
| Company | Taito Corporation |
| Launch | 1991 |
| Price | Not available |
The best
- A different story inside Bubble Bobble
- Using the types of drops with the umbrella
- Fight bosses to the beat of Lambada
Worst
- It did not shine as much as its predecessors
- That does not have a more current version
