THE STORY OF BUBBLE BOBBLE III
PARASOL STARS IS A CULT ENTRY IN TAITO’S BUBBLE BOBBLE SERIES AND IS DUE TO BE RE-RELEASED FOR MODERN SYSTEMS. DESIGNERS KATARU UCHIMURA AND HARUO SUZUKI AS WELL AS SOUND DIRECTOR YASUKO YAMADA REMEMBER THE CREATION OF TAITO’S CHARMING PC ENGINE GAME
IN THE KNOW
» PUBLISHER: TAITO
» DEVELOPER: TAITO
» RELEASED: 1991
» PLATFORM: PC ENGINE, VARIOUS
» GENRE: PLATFORMER
Parasol Stars was the first original title in the Bubble Bobble series not to be developed for arcades. Initially designed by Taito on PC Engine, it was then ported to various computers and consoles by Ocean for the European markets. It may be less known than its predecessors Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands but it builds on everything these two classics laid down. Parasol Star’s story continues directly after Rainbow Islands. Bub and Bob, still in their human form, have been presented with magical parasols as thanks for rescuing Rainbow Island’s inhabitants. However, a new evil has started invading nearby planets and the duo must utilise their new parasol powers to save the day.
Parasol Stars’ project planner, Kataru Uchimura, joined Taito in 1988 and he played a key role in its development, most notably through designing levels, balancing the game, creating core game design and deciding on the game’s specifications. Uchimura starts by telling us how the idea for the game came about. “Although I was the game designer for Parasol Stars, I was also a fan of the games. I was 18 years old and still in high school when Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands came out. I’ve great memories of playing with my friends on Bubble Bobble and competing with them on Rainbow Islands after school.”
In 1989 Bubble Bobble creator Fukio Mitsuji left Taito and Uchimura was left worried. “What’s going to happen to the story of Bubble Bobble 2? I liked the game system and world of Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands so much I was selfishly hoping a sequel would be released one day. After that, there was no talk of a sequel, so I decided that I had no choice but to make one myself and submitted a rough draft of Parasol Stars as a sequel to the Bubble Bobble series, proceeded with the planning and eventually secured an official development project for consoles.”
DEVELOPER HIGHLIGHTS
SPACE INVADERS RELEASED: 1978 PLATFORM: ARCADE, VARIOUS
BUBBLE BOBBLE RELEASED: 1985 PLATFORM: ARCADE, VARIOUS
THE NEWZEALAND STORY (PICTURED)
RELEASED: 1988 PLATFORM: ARCADE, VARIOUS
Discussing how he decided on the parasol idea, Uchimura explains that it started with Bubble Bobble. “In that game, parasols are a magic item which allows the player to skip stages, so I took that as a keyword and developed the concept of the game from there. And give
