Overview – originally developed by Taito for TurboGrafx-16/PC-Engine and ported over by ININ Games and Ratalaika Games, Parasol Stars is the third story in the Bubble Bobble series, taking place across the world stars. In this adventure, take control of Bubby and Bobby as they go on an adventure with their Magic Parasols to save the world stars in need. This title is available for all console platforms, with a link to each version of the game at the bottom of this review.
Disclaimer: before I get into the review, I would like to thank PR Hound for providing the copy of Parasol Stars that was used for this piece. The provision of this software has not influenced the contents of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.
Now with the introductions out of the way, let’s get into the review, starting with the story. This information has been taken from the original TurboGrafx-16 manual for Parasol Stars, which has been provided through the Konami website (HERE). Please note, Images featured are from the original PC-Engine.
Story – Bubby and Bobby, had won the admiration of Rainbow Island by defeating the enemies terrorizing their planet, allowing peace to settle in. To show their appreciation, the residents of the Island entrusted Magic parasols to Bubby and Bobby. In the months that followed, Bub and Bob were so intent on learning to harness the power of the Magic Parasols, they did not notice the presence that was overtaking the neighboring planets.
One day they received an emergency distress call from one of those nearby planets. Though they had not quite mastered the techniques for using their Magic Parasols, they courageously raised their parasols. Pointing their Parasols toward the planet in distress, they disappeared into the skies above Rainbow Island. However, they were unaware of the danger and size of the quest that was to unfold before them.
Gameplay – Parasol Stars is a single screen platform adventure, where the objective is to clear each of the worlds by stunning the enemies and throwing them across the screen. In order to stun the enemies, the player can hit enemies with the Parasol, changing their color and stopping them from moving. Stunned enemies won’t hurt the player if contact is made, but the player will lose a life if they aren’t stunned by the player first.
When an enemy is stunned, this will only be temporary as they will revive after a time. It is important to dispose of those enemies, which can be done by picking them up and throwing them across the screen. Players can also throw stunned enemies at other enemies, either stunning them or defeating them if they have already been hit. Multiple dazed enemies can be taken out if they are lined up, providing a big score boost for the player.
There are droplets that will appear in the stages too, split into four elements of Fire, Water, Lightning and Star that the player can collect with their Parasol. These elemental drops can be built up, increasing their power as they are collected. Droplets can be built up into special big droplets by collecting 5 of the, making big powerful special attacks with them. The smaller drops can also be thrown, stunning and defeating enemies when contact is made.
During a stage, when enemies are defeated they will yield points by dropping various items to collect. These items will disappear after a time, so players must be quick to pick them up before they go away. There will also be the chance for special items to drop when a stage is cleared, boosting the player score further and providing bonuses like extra lives and even additional continues. There are special items that can also appear during stages.
The items that can appear in stages include speed up boots, special screen clearing bombs and even special mystery crests made up of the four drop elements. These mystery crests will cause a Miracle to occur when three are collected, unleashing a special power that will stun all enemies on screen. There are many secrets that are hidden in this game for players to discover, with many items that can be uncovered in stages by throwing enemies/drops.
However, it is advised not to take too long hunting for secrets in the stages, as there is a time limit for each round. If the player takes too long “HURRY!!!” will appear on screen, with Death itself appearing shortly after to claim their life. Death is invincible and will hunt the player down, only disappearing if the player either dies or clears all enemies. This system adds to the tension during a playthrough, as every second can matter to get big scores.
At the end of each world, the player will encounter a boss battle, pitting them against a large enemy. In these boss battles, a bottle containing an element must be picked up, letting players create drops to attack the boss. When a big droplet has been created, throw it at the boss for maximum damage. If the player is hit by the boss or an attack, they will lose their power-up and need to collect it again. When the boss is defeated, they will drop some big point items.
As this is an arcade style platform action title, the player will have limited lives to make it through the game. If all lives are lost during a round, the player will be sent to the continue screen, or the high score board if they have earned enough points. When continuing the game, the player will be sent to the start of the round they were defeated on, getting back into the action immediately. If all continues have been used, the game will end going back to title screen.
There are a few game modes that the players can enjoy in this release, available in English and Japanese. The main game modes are Standard and Arcade mode. In Standard mode the player can experience the game with limited credits, controller improvements and other additional features. Then there is Arcade mode, which provides 99 credits for players to take on the challenge from start to finish. Both of these modes can be played solo or with another.
Alongside the regular game modes are the special challenges. In this mode, the player will get a single credit to get the highest score possible, which will be added to the leaderboard letting players compete worldwide for the top spot. There is an English and Japanese leaderboard, separated for the two different versions of the game that are included in this release. The Challenge mode can be played in single or multiplayer mode, offering a unique ranked experience.
As an emulated port, there are new additions to the game for modern consoles. These additions include save/load states, rewind and fast forward. There is also the inclusion of cheats for players to be able to change up the gameplay experience, including unlocking some of the secrets that the game has to discover. All of these additions make the game more accessible for new players, providing an experience that is flexible enough for everyone to be able to play the game. The only thing that is missing from the game is a manual, but it is not a significant loss.
Now with the gameplay covered, it is time to cover the other aspects of this release, starting with the controls.
Controls – as this is a PC-Engine/TG-16 title, the controls are very simple using a two button input system. The buttons are used for jumping and using the Parasol, which is intuitive and is comfortable with all controller styles, with the preferred way being a controller with a good D-Pad. The control improvements alter the way the game functions, so those who prefer the original should toggle them off. All of the inputs can be freely remapped by players.
Difficulty – the difficulty has a sharp increase during play, starting off simple at first before ramping up to knock the player down and increase gameplay time, which was the style at the time. The limited credits in the standard mode add to the challenge, leading to restarts and players needing to practice to get better. The Arcade mode is an easier mode to play, but has its own unique challenges, which cannot be influenced by the bonus features as they are disabled.
Presentation – this game still looks fantastic as it did when it was originally released. The sprite work and environments are super vibrant, looking clean and crisp on modern displays and the Nintendo Switch screen. The sound emulation is perfect, with the music and sound effects being as clear as they were on the original hardware. With this release, there is the inclusion of filters that can change the games looks, with display styles, scanlines and color mods that can be used.
Final Thoughts – this has been a long time coming, as Parasol Star was hit by delays after being due for release last year. This didn’t reduce my excitement to see the game on new platforms, as the original release was trapped on dead hardware. I jumped at the chance to cover this title, as I have been a Parasol Stars enjoyer for a long time. All of the new features, challenge modes and enhanced gameplay were a joy to experience, with the arcade mode being my favorite.
This version of the game has been emulated well, bringing the fun and exciting gameplay to new systems perfectly. There is little to criticize as the few downsides that the original had have been fixed, making it the best way for new players to experience Parasol Stars. The game may look simple, but there is a lot of depth and secrets to discover, I just wish a manual was included as a reference for players. I have no issue recommending this game as it is so much fun to play.
In the end, I give Parasol Stars a final score of 4.5/5. This is a fantastic release, offering players the best way to play this classic game on current systems, with quality of life improvements and special additions to make it an easy to pick up experience for everyone to enjoy. If you want to check this title out for yourself, a link to each version of the game will be below.
Link to Nintendo Switch version (HERE)
Link to PlayStation version (HERE)
Link to Xbox version (HERE)
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