Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble III review for PlayStation, Xbox, Switch

Everyone knows Bub and Bob from Bubble Bobble, the two Bubble Dragons who save the universe from wacky monsters with their Bubble powers! Well, in their human forms, they are actually Bubby and Bobby, and with the power of their magic parasols, they are back to protect the Bubble Bobble Universe from the weird and wacky.

Many players may not be familiar with this particular adventure, as the third installment never made it to Arcades, but rather found a home on the Turbografx-16, PC Engine, NES and various home computers like the Amiga. Players control Bubby and Bobby, as they try to save their neighboring planets from an goofy, evil bad guys out to ruin the peace. The brothers no longer shoot bubbles, but are now armed with powerful parasols with magical powers. These parasols can also be used to shield against enemy attacks, stun foes or unleash powerful magic blasts to bring down the larger enemies!

The main gameplay remains largely the same from the previous Bubble Bobble Adventures. You begin on a single screen loaded with enemies and its your job to defeat them all, collecting the prizes that they leave behind when you fling them off the screen. Some of the larger enemies require you throw other, smaller enemies at them to make them weaker, or collect some magic powerups with your parasol and fire off a powerful blast to take them out. You can collect Fire magic to rain down fire on an area, water magic to make a screen clearing tidal wave or lighting magic to zap those baddies away!

During gameplay, you can collect Treasure panels that unleash a powerful screen clearing attack, or shower you with point prizes when you collect 3 of the same. These panels don’t appear often, so grab them anytime you see them! After you clear a few areas on the planet, you have to take out a Boss Character. These guys are huge and only respond to magic attacks. The more powerful the magic shot, the easier it will be to defeat them. Some bosses can get craft with their attacks, but with a little strategy, you can learn their patterns. The gameplay remains largely on a single screen with each area, but sometimes extends the playfield a bit for a wilder field of play. The only time the action changes slightly is during the boss fights, so some players may grow tired after a few rounds, but if you love single screen arcade platformers, then you won’t hesitate to keep pushing on to higher rounds.

There are not many different game modes offered here, outside of Arcade Mode and a Challenge mode for high score. You can select between the USA and Japan versions of the game, but I didn’t see any differences in the versions, outside of some on screen text.

The graphics are very bright and colorful throughout your adventure. Even though this was not originally an Arcade game, it does look and feel like one, right down to a Credits counter. All of the music and sound effects match the visuals perfectly with cheery, up beat tunes and cute beeps and chimes. Some of the backgrounds look a little washed out, but it doesn’t take you out of the game at all. You have a few effects to play with too, like scan lines, Arcade glow and CRT effects to enhance your play experience. Control is 100% solid and there are no hiccups or lag anywhere to be seen. So, if you keep getting killed, you cannot blame the controller, unless it isn’t charged.

Parasol Stars is a fantastic, single screen game that challenges while it charms. Easy to learn but hard to put down, this game is what classic gaming is all about. I only played this a small amount during its initial release, but only after a few playthroughs with this release and I have a new favorite classic. It’s even more fun when 2 players take on the challenges together! Definitely give this one a try if you can, you won’t regret it.

Note: ININ Games provided us with a Parasol Stars code for review purposes.