Rainbow Islands
Reviewed by RanSei
"An excellent game to add to a Nintendo collection." That is the
perfect line to sum up "Rainbow Islands." Like most early NES games,
it is not really advanced as far as graphics and sound, but it has still
aged well. It is still fun, and I believe it to be quite entertaining. I'll
hush my rambling now, and let my review speak for itself. I do hope
that you will likewise agree with my review if you ever try the game.
Just one little note: I called the different islands "worlds" simply
because the latter is a more universal video game term. Especially
since you do not actually see an island (as in 'land mass surrounded
by water' perspective) until very far in the game.
Graphics 8.5 out of 10
Although it was made a rather long time ago (in video game terms),
Rainbow Islands has pretty good graphics. The main character looks
like an arcade game graphic in comparison to what we have today.
However, he is easily recognizable, and the enemies are quite detailed,
making it a fun game to look at for the many hours that it takes to
defeat. It sports a wide variety of creatures, backgrounds, et cetera,
without simply recoloring the graphics for set-up (like Final Fantasy
games do for the enemies). That kind of effort I cannot ignore, as it
proves that the designers put a lot of thought and effort into creating
it. The backgrounds are a bit simple to begin with, but as you progress
in the game, they get much more complex and interesting. In World 3,
there are castles and a graveyard below you, and the last level has you
fighting in a dungeon scene (complete with skeletons hanging from
shackles!). World 7 has the best graphics by far, in my humble opinion.
The monsters are detailed, esp. the boss King Fossil, and you can tell
what everything is without squinting and asking "What on earth is that
blob?!" Even the tiniest arms on a monster are visible. I give great
kudos to NES games that avoid any confusion on the part of the player,
as some challenges are hard enough as it is. World 7's background
is full of a colorful variety of stars and planets, making it one of the
most imaginative backgrounds I have ever seen. There are no "borrowed"
graphics from the standard Nintendo games (ie: Mario Bros., Zelda, etc.),
so the originality will only add to your experience. I could only wish
that Nintendo followed "Rainbow Island"'s example, and made their
early games as great to look at.
I only downgraded this category because the first world's graphics are
simple, and world 8 (which I'll talk about later) lacks a real background.
Despite that, the graphics are well worth the money.
Music and Sound 7 out of 10
For the most part, the sounds and music are great for the game,
and well-suited for their areas. There are a few things that take
away from the experience, though. The first three worlds repeat
the same music, and while that is not bad if you are a fair player,
dying and continuing in those worlds repeatedly can allow the music
to get on your nerves after a while. And World 8 (again, I'll talk
about that later) has appropriate music, as it's creatures reflect
the Jack-i n-the-Box's musical mood, but the whining tone that
occurs near the end of the song may drive your parents up the
wall if the do not particularly like video games (my mom made
me turn the sound off because of that part). But that is pretty
much it for any of the bad things.
The world 5 music is interesting, as it only makes sound when
you jump off, or fall on, the floors, thereby making it a fun place
to make your own tunes if you have any extra time in the level.
You won't believe how many times I did that while the island was
sinking, getting out in just the nick of time. World 6 has a great,
fast-paced oriental sound to it, and it takes quite a while for it to
repeat. It perfectly fits the chaotic feeling of having enemies
flying at you from all directions, and helped me to keep in that
"Nintendo groove." World 7 also has good music, perfectly fitting
the feeling of being in outer space. Additionally, these three worlds
also have their own status screen tunes that play, when the level
is starting up after you die or complete the preceding level. The
first few world's music is pretty good, but the choice music in
the later worlds is definitely a motivating factor! The sounds are
quite appropriate for the actions they represent: a "starkly" sound
for shooting a rainbow; a perfecting jumping sound, and even when
you hit a boss it sounds neat. And the invincibility music is good,
too. I would not consider grading this game down for sounds, as
it is full of different sounds, and all of them are good, especially
considering how little space Nintendo had to put material on their cartridges.
IMHO, musical variety is one of the key things to keeping any
video game interesting. I think that it is sad that Nintendo
rates musical quality at 10% for need in a game, as music sets
the mood for the game, and aids in the endurance of a video
game player (Ever play a game with the same music going on for
almost the entire game? It's horrible, and on hard levels it can
even make you edgier . . . or at least that it is my experience).
Game Challenge 8 out of 10
This game is tough to defeat, with or without the code to get
you to any world. It starts off easy enough, but as the bosses
get harder and levels get longer, it becomes harder to survive.
In fact, some levels have only a few small platforms for you to
land on and get items, which means that you had better fall
faster than the item, and that the water had better not be rising,
or you will lose it. I was stuck at the world 3 boss, Fangs, for many
months, and world 4 took me years to get past. And considering
that I defeated Super Mario Bros. 3 in less time than that, I
consider it a challenging game. Like any good game, the levels
get progressively harder, but not to the point where you need
a strategy guide to get past it. All that you really need is skill,
and planning. Whether you use the code or not, you will have
your work cut out for you.
Getting all 7 small diamonds can consume you with the amount of
trouble it causes. If you don't get all the diamonds, then you do not
get the Big Diamond for that world, which is very frustrating indeed.
However, if this happened, and you are playing without the code, and
also manage to survive until the end of World 7, you learn the code
to get you to any world. That means that you can go back and get
any of the Big Diamonds that you failed to get the first time
through. I recommend using the code, because you can revisit
older, easier worlds and get more lives and permanent items
(well, they are permanent until you lose all your lives, at least).
However, once you get all the Big Diamonds, you automatically
proceed to World 8, and can no longer travel back to any world.
In world 8, you go up against the big boss Krabo, and his life
meter (the one that is partially filled for each boss) is FULLY
filled, and he is very tough, as he moves exceptionally fast
and spits out a lot of bubbles. You also go through many long
levels with few lifts, which makes it very hard to escape quickly
when the island is flooding.
The reason that this game is not a 10 out of 10, is because the
first world is *too* easy. Also, there are no really puzzling events
(such as Zelda), and so it really cuts down on the challenge.
In a nutshell, this game is (for the most part) pleasantly challenging,
and will not cause you to lock your Nintendo away for months out of
pure frustration, as some games can make you do.
Game Play-Fun 9 out of 10
Rainbow Islands is great fun! Even though you have a bit of a hard
time controlling the main character when he is jumping or falling,
it is still highly enjoyable. The challenge coupled with the graphics
and music make this game nearly perfect. When I first played this,
I could not keep my hands off of the controller. Once I played from
dawn til early morning just to defeat the game for the first time.
The challenge keeps you going that "one last time before bed," and
the music just goads you on (esp. in the later worlds) to get to the
real ending, and not just the one after World 7 when you didn't get
all the Big Diamonds. I keep pulling my Nintendo out of my dresser
and forcing it to work for this game. And that is saying a lot, since
it can take me a month to make the system actually play the game!
Your whole family can enjoy this game . . . but only one at a time, as
there is no two player mode (sadly enough).
Frustration
Yes, there is frustration, as I noted in the "Game Challenge" section.
It can take a long time to get past those "impossible" levels and
bosses, and it can make you want to give up. The frustration isn't
really so bad that you want to give up for long, though. If nothing else,
it allows your friends to get a chance to play the game. Therefore,
I wouldn't hold "frustration" as a reason not to play this game.
Replayability 9 out of 10
I love playing this game. I go back to it as often as possible, and
even though I've beaten many times, it never seems to lose its luster.
There are 8 worlds, and 4 possible endings. If you don't pick the "right"
ending at the end of World 8, you still get a decent ending, with a
newscaster telling what happened thereafter. Don't get me wrong,
the "right" ending is the one to shoot for, but to get any of the endings
is certainly reason to replay the game often. Also, you might want
to see how many "permanent" items you can get, and lives you can
acquire. It is certainly worth your time, and can be addictive like "Tetris."
Game Value 10 out of 10
If you pay over $40 for a used copy of the game, I'd say that you
were getting chiseled, as there will be a more limited "lifespan" of
the game. A new game, on the other hand, is well worth almost any
price. My parents must have bought it from a pawn shop for about
$25-30, and it has provided years of entertainment (I got it when I
was in 4th or 5th grade). It was worth every penny. BUY THIS GAME!
You will most likely find that it is well worth the money that you
paid for it.
Overall 9 out of 10
This is a great game, even in this day and age of video games. I
recommend this game for the avid Nintendo player. Rainbow
Islands will be an invaluable part of your collection. Get this
game wherever you can find it, because it is quite rare, and
almost impossible to find (at least where I live).