Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble III (Review)

Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble III
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PlayStation
Original Platform: TurboGrafx-16
Released February 15, 1991
Designed by Kataru Uchimura
Developed by Taito
Re-Release Port by Ratalaika Games
$9.99 opened an umbrella indoors in the making of this review.

Unlike Bubble Bobble, this isn’t a split decision based on co-op. But seriously, if you get a chance, play this co-op.

One part I missed in the Rainbow Islands review (as featured in Taito Milestones 3: The Definitive Review) is how it really doesn’t feel all that much like a sequel. The Bubble Bobble connection feels forced. Something added after the fact, even if that’s not the case. It doesn’t have enemy-based end-goals and it doesn’t even have co-op. Weirdly, the shoe item, AKA the thing that I hated, is the one and only aspect that feels tied to the first game. But, in the case of Parasol Stars, it’s unambiguously a Bubble Bobble sequel/spin-off. We’re back to room-based, enemy-eliminating gameplay and it’s actually really good. Before I get to the gameplay, the package by ININ and Ratalaika is pretty dang solid, with five out of the six gems in the Infinity Gauntlet of Emulation. The only thing missing is a full tool-assisted gameplay video with optional jump-in. Every other feature is there. Button mapping? Check. Save states? Six slots available (though no quick save/quick load). Rewind? Yep. Hell, Parasol Stars includes some of the more impressive screen filter options I’ve seen. I don’t award “bonus value” for single reviews, but I would be VERY happy with these options if I saw them in a compilation. There’s also an Arcade Archives-like online scoring mode that prevents cheating. I’m 22nd in the world as of this writing. Go me.

There’s also a few quality of life features (which I consider “hardware enhancements, the 5th gem), including cheat toggles and a “fix” for the umbrella. If you play with the toggle off and hold the umbrella out, you walk backwards instead of turning around. It’s much more difficult than it sounds because it’s not really intuitive. An outstretched umbrella basically acts as a shield, and if you’re playing a game and something is shooting you from behind, it’s not instinctive to let go of the button, turn around, then push the button again. I tried Parasol Stars the original way back when the TurboGrafx-16 Mini came out (has it really already been almost five years? Jeez!) and it really is unintuitive. Good call, everyone involved in this release.

I only have one question: where’s the instruction book? This is a pretty abstract game, especially getting the secret doors if you want to play without the cheat codes on, but as far as I could tell, there’s no instruction manual. Again, I don’t do bonus value for single releases, but this is the type of oversight that would earn a game a fine that negates probably around half the bonus value. I can’t stress this enough to developers of commercial emulation releases: DO NOT assume we can find the stuff online! EVER! Neither of my two go-to sites for this type of thing, GameFAQs and StrategyWiki, had anything substantive on the TurboGrafx-16 build of Parasol Stars featured in this release.

And there’s extensive cheat codes. When I played with Angela, I used infinite lives and automatically getting the doors. We weren’t looking for a challenge. We already knew we’d mostly be throwing each-other with the umbrellas. That’s challenge enough. And I didn’t use multi-jump out of respect for Rainbow Islands, which I murdered with it.

So, in Parasol Stars, the object is to use your umbrella to defeat enemies, and as silly as it sounds, it’s one of the most versatile gaming weapons ever created. Like Bubble Bobble, defeating enemies is a two-step process. First, you must stun them, then you can either pick them up and throw them to ultimately defeat them, or throw other enemies into them for more points. Smaller enemies can be stunned directly with the umbrella, but there’s a wide variety of larger enemies (including an entire world based around them) that need to be defeated either by throwing multiple enemies at them or by using special bubbles. Oh, and in co-op, if there’s no downed enemy to use as your projectile, you can always use the other player.

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And, I’m still not done with the umbrella’s abilities. As I said earlier, it acts as a shield, but it also slows your fall in the classic gaming tradition. But, the main thing you need to learn to do is catch little droplets that appear on most of the stages. You need five droplets to create a giant bubble that provides an extra weapon. There’s four, three of which are the old school Bubble Bobble elemental bubbles of fire (that sticks to the floor), water (that cascades down the playfield and sweeps up everything in its path) and lightning (which travels in a straight line across the full length of the playfield). A new element, the star, sends a spiral of death out that’s hard to aim but it takes care of enemies all over the screen and is a little too overpowered in my opinion. In addition to all that, the droplets themselves can be used as weapons. And I haven’t even mentioned all the level-clearing items. Parasol Stars is one of the most flexible combative games ever made. None of that would matter if the combat was no fun, but actually, I liked it so much more than Bubble Bobble, and by a big margin.

The new addition to the formula is enemies that generate other enemies. By the way, this was the level that took Angela and me the longest to defeat, and our accidental ruining of each-other’s attacks was only half the reason.

Parasol Stars just plays better in every way, and I think that’s largely because it’s not an arcade game. It didn’t have to ever be cruel just for the sake of making money. Which isn’t to say that it’s sunshine and hugs. Like Bubble Bobble, some stages are based around figuring out how to reach certain enemies at all, let alone kill them. But, I think the formula works a little better here as the environments of Parasol Stars usually offer many more options, or if not options, clues to the solutions. The most I ever got frustrated was when sometimes the drips of the power bubbles just stopped, seemingly for no reason. I think it was because too many drips were lingering that hadn’t been picked-up. Other times, Parasol Stars becomes absurdly busy, with so much stuff on the screen that it’s hard to keep track of. As more and more enemies start firing projectiles, it can become almost like a mosh pit of a game. Absolute chaos, but it never stops being fun.

Bosses all play out similar to the Super Drunk battle at the end of Bubble Bobble. Hell, Super Drunk is a boss in this game. Grab a bottle to grant you the ability to generate the elemental bubbles. Since you’re not blowing bubbles, you have to hold the umbrella up, which magically conjures the droplets. You can either charge-up for the full elemental attack or you can just throw the droplets themselves. Really, either way works. I don’t think the difficulty of the bosses scales right, and some of them are really tough (and seem like they take more hits than others) but they’re all fun to do battle with, and that’s all I ever cared about.

In the original Bubble Bobble, co-op was transformative, turning a mediocre and over-aggressive experience into a much more enjoyable one. What makes Parasol Stars unique is the game was already a good one, but the co-op is still transformative in a different way. This time around, most of the levels are bigger than the screen itself. But, Parasol Stars is not a split-screen game. Moreover, no one player is “the main player” that controls how or when the screen scrolls. Whoever moves to the edges first scrolls the screen. But, the level design presents roughly the same kind of challenges (only significantly toned-back) as Bubble Bobble, with the same “hold the button to hop on the droplets” gameplay as the first. Oh, and this time you can use each-other as platforms. This turns Parasol Stars into a game where communication and teamwork is absolutely required, especially late in levels. You can be cutthroat with each-other if you wish, but it won’t get you anywhere. On the other hand, having two players flinging enemies often results in levels being beaten without even realizing it. Several times we had to work together to scroll the screen only to see that the enemies were already knocked-out and waiting to be finished-off.

I didn’t remember to get a picture of a level that was bigger than the screen that we got the bottle on. Maybe because we lost and who needs the reminder?

Unlike Bubble Bobble, Parasol Stars’ chaotic nature makes the whole experience inelegant. Even when you really try to work well together, there’s no way of assuring that you can’t interfere with each-other’s work. You can accidentally shoot a player with an item, which will knock the droplets off their umbrella. You can accidentally prevent them from climbing by hitting them with your umbrella. In the heat of battle, you can accidentally stop someone who’s trying to collect an item that will clear the screen. Like my sister did to me. Many, many times, in fact. This wasn’t a situation like Vs. Balloon Fight where we were deliberately betraying each-other. It’s just a very intense action game. It doesn’t look like it, but it doesn’t take long for the screen to become totally full of items, enemies, and droplets. “Move towards me” must have been shouted dozens of times in the hour or so it took us to beat it.

Which isn’t to say we didn’t work well together. For a non-regular gamer, Angela’s score isn’t too far below mine, and we were able to quickly do things like have her help me bounce up to get this bomb here with minimal attempts needed.

That picture there tells you everything you need to know about Parasol Stars. Much like Bubble Bobble, the fact that the non-hardcore gamers in my family could pick-up and play this game, even with its plethora of offensive options, says it all! Maybe we wouldn’t have had as much fun if eating game overs was on the table, but that’s why they put those cheat options as toggles to begin with. They also included options to forgo needing the secret items to get the doors at the end of stages, and I’m all for that. Angela and I played a full session of Parasol Stars and finished it in roughly the same time or maybe even a little sooner than we did Bubble Bobble, and we had a great time. Again.

I’ve decided not to do the European exclusive NES port of Parasol Stars. Oof.

And we both agreed that Parasol Stars stood head and shoulders above Bubble Bobble. Seriously, it’s going to be difficult for the other games in this franchise to defeat it. As much fun as I had playing with my family and especially Angela, Bubble Bobble has some bullsh*t level design that occasionally leads to moments where the fun is gone and frustration and/or annoyance is all there is. But that’s almost never the case with Parasol Stars. Even the tricky stages are typically exciting until you clear them. This is a game that makes very few mistakes, and a game that shines whether you play solo or with friends and family. Parasol Stars is the first Bubble Bobble game I outright love.
Verdict: YES!