Rainbow Star (レインボースター Reinbō Sutā?), also referred to as Bubble World (バブルワールド Baburu Wārudo?), Bubbleluna (バブルア Baburua?), and Rainbow Land (レインボーランド Reinbō Rando?), is the home planet of Bub and Bob, and the main setting for most of the games in the Bubble Bobble series. Rainbow Star is surrounded by numerous other planets, and is part of a star system known as Rainbow World.
Description[]
Rainbow Star is an Earth-like planet with a wide array of environments. The most prominently featured location is the Rainbow Islands, an archipelago that is home to Bub and Bob. Much of the planet is seen to be covered in greenery and wildlife, and fitting its name, rainbows are prominently seen in the planet's sky. In Space Bust-A-Move and Bubble Bobble Double, giant orange flowers are visible on the planet's surface from space.
The population of Rainbow Star consists of a variety of humans, animals, and mysterious creatures, all of whom are said to live together in peace and harmony. The planet's animal population consists of both regular animals and anthropomorphic ones who are capable of speech, appearing to have human-like levels of intelligence. Some of the planet's creatures are referred to as "monsters", and are often seen as having a level of hostility towards others, though this is shown to not always be the case.
History[]
Parasol Stars[]
Rainbow Star (レインボースター Reinbō Sutā?) is the eighth world in Parasol Stars. While technically appearing in Chack'n Pop, Bubble Bobble, and Rainbow Islands retroactively, the planet of Rainbow Star itself is first established in this game.
The world itself is based off of Rainbow Islands, and features enemies exclusively from the game throughout its various levels. The Boss of Shadow serves as the boss of the world, solely appearing in his Bubble Dragon form. If the player has not collected three Star Mystery Crests and obtained the giant key, the player will not be able to access the ninth world and will receive the game's bad ending.
Puzzle Bobble 2[]
Bubble World (バブルワールド Baburu Wārudo?) is referenced in supplemental material as being the location in which Puzzle Bobble 2 takes place, and where Bub and Bob live. In the game's Player vs. Computer mode, a map of several locations across Bubble World appears, with the player traveling across the map to encounter various characters.
Puzzle Bobble 3[]
Rainbow Star is once again referred to as "Bubble World" in supplemental material for Puzzle Bobble 3. Due to having his plans constantly foiled by Bub, Drunk uses his magic to explore other worlds, resulting in the protagonists from the worlds of numerous other arcade games being teleported to Bubble World, throwing the planet into chaos.
Puzzle Bobble 4[]
Bubbleluna (バブルア Baburua?) is the name of Bub and Bob's homeworld in Puzzle Bobble 4, appearing as part of Rainbow World. It serves as the location of the first round of the game's Player vs. Computer mode, where the player encounters Bob.
Space Bust-A-Move[]
Rainbow Land (レインボーランド Reinbō Rando?) serves as the first world in the story mode of Space Bust-A-Move, and where Bub and Bob's journey starts. After recieving a capsule with a plea for help from Snown, Bub and Bob set out in a spaceship in order to rescue him. Develon serves as the boss of the world, having appeared over the planet to test the abilities of the brothers.
Bubble Bobble Double[]
Rainbow Star appears from space in the intro of Bubble Bobble Double, being seen as Mecha Develon arrives at the planet in order to try and conquer it before trapping Bub and Bob in a mysterious dimension. The appearance of the planet from space is visually similar to its depiction in Space Bust-A-Move.
Puzzle Bobble Everybubble![]
The planet of Rainbow Star appears in the story mode of Puzzle Bobble Everybubble!, serving as the greater location of the game's setting of Rainbow Island. After Develon and Katze enact their plan to exacerbate the rate of the Miniroons' bubble-blowing in order to conquer Rainbow Star, the bubbles grow so vast that they begin to surround the entire planet. Packy eventually provides Bub, Bob, Peb, and Pab with a rocket to leave Rainbow Star and travel to Rainbow Moon in order to confront Develon at his moon base.
Trivia[]
- Bubble Bobble Evolution is one of the few games in the series to not take place on Rainbow Star, instead taking place on Earth, specifically in London, England during the 19th Century.
- Likewise, Bubble Bobble 4 Friends also appears to take place somewhere other than Rainbow Star, the events of the game occurring in a child's bedroom full of Bubble Bobble toys that come to life via the light of the moon.
- While the setting of Ultra Bust-A-Move is not specified, several of the profiles for the game's characters mention real-world locations such as China and Mexico. This, compounded with the title's lack of traditional Bubble Bobble characters in any sort of major role, may imply that it too is set in a fictionalized version of Earth as opposed to Rainbow Star, though this is unconfirmed.
- Rainbow Star is occasionally referred to as a star rather than a planet in English translations of Bubble Bobble media; this is due to the Japanese term for "star", hoshi (星?), also being used as a blanket term to refer to any celestial body (typically pronounced sei in this context). This usage is especially common in fiction, with fictional planets often using -sei as a suffix in their name, reflecting the character's use in the Japanese names of the planets of the solar system. This is likely also the origin of Rainbow Star's use of "Star" in its name, despite not being one.
