I freaking love Bubble Bobble.  I have so many good memories renting the NES version and playing it with my best friend, and then later playing the arcade version on a PSOne collection with my brothers.  And it was a very popular game with many sequels and spinoffs.  In fact, one of the spinoffs, Puzzle Bobble, is probably more popular than the game it was based on.  But back to the main game, it had many sequels and was kind of confusing.  There are three games claiming to be Bubble Bobble 2, and three more claiming to be Bubble Bobble 3!  We won’t go into it more than that here, as we’d be here all day.  But Parasol Stars was one of the games claiming to be Bubble Bobble 3.  In the game, two boys Bobby and Bubby (formerly the bubble blowing dragons Bub and Bob), they have just saved the Rainbow Islands with their rainbow making powers.  As a reward, they get two magical parasols and go flying off to save some planets from other cute and cartoony enemies.  Originally Parasol Stars was on consoles like the TG-16, NES, and Game Boy.  But now you can play it on all modern consoles (reviewed on PS4 here).  Luckily the version they ported here is the TG-16/PC Engine version, as that was the best one.

When I first played Parasol Stars, I remarked that it was like Bubble Bobble with technique.  And it really is.  Move the boys around with the control stick and jump with the X button.  The square button makes you swing your umbrella.  When you do that to an enemy, it’ll spin around.  You can then swing your umbrella again and pick it up and carry it around.  Swing again to toss the enemy.  If it hits other enemies, they’ll spin around, too.  You can also catch special bubbles that you can then use as powers when you collect five.  They are water, fire, and lightning bubbles and act the same way as they do in Bubble Bobble.  You can also hold the umbrella over your head and glide down after a jump, or hold it out in front of you to block projectiles.  Just like Bubble Bobble, you can collect food items for points (good for extra lives), and other goodies to give you an edge.  Clear all the enemies to pass a level, and if you get hit, you’ll lose a life.  Lose them all and it’s Game Over.

Since it’s one of those ‘one hit and you die’ kind of games, it can be pretty hard.  But luckily in this port, you can activate cheats to help you out.  You can get infinite lives and continues, be invincible, or let you jump multiple times in the air.  There are also lots of super hidden secrets in the game, and if you want to see the best ending, you can make those secrets visible, too!  These cheats are handy if you want to see what all the game has to offer, or if you are with a younger player.  If I had any problems with this port, it would be the lack of an art gallery or instructions.  But luckily the game is pretty easy to figure out.  So if you like Bubble Bobble and other single screen arcade action games, I highly recommend this one.

Kid Factor:

Parasol Stars is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Fantasy Violence.  You hit cartoony enemies with umbrellas, and when you or an enemy gets defeated, they just spin around and fly off the screen.  Reading skill isn’t needed, and while the game is challenging, the two player co-op option and cheats make this one accessible to everyone.  I have so many good memories playing the original game with my brothers and friends, and I highly highly highly recommend this one to families and kids of all ages.

Tags: Game Reviews