Bubble Bobble games are usually better in co-op (other than the sadly single-player Rainbow Islands), so it’s good that Parasol Stars supports drop in, drop out local co-op. Clearing stages is faster with a friend, and bosses go down much more easily as well. The game even has a couple of co-op mechanics. If Bub or Bob holds his umbrella out, it will reflect droplets or enemies thrown by the other player. One player can even pick the other player up and throw him, though this is probably more useful for joking around than for killing enemies. Finally, elemental drops thrown by one player can briefly stun the other, so careful throwing might be in order.
A normal playthrough of Parasol Stars consists of eight planets and a total of 56 levels. To get the good ending, however, players must visit the two hidden worlds that come after the eighth planet. This requires the player to collect three star crests prior to completing World 8. The problem is that precious little information about how to get the star crests exists online (this video’s description has the best guidance), so nobody on TrueAchievements or TrueTrophies has reached the hidden worlds (as of now). Speaking of Achievements, ten or so of them are quite tough and might be unobtainable to most players.
ININ’s version of Parasol Stars includes three modes: Standard, Arcade, and Challenge. All three modes support 2-player local co-op. Standard Mode allows the use of save states, rewinding, and five optional cheats. Arcade Mode doesn’t allow any of those helpful features, but it’s the only mode that has Achievements/Trophies. Given the overall toughness of the Achievements, ININ should’ve allowed Achievements in Standard Mode as well. As for Challenge Mode, each player gets a single life. There are no leaderboards, so there’s not much incentive to play Challenge Mode. Other extras include a single widescreen border and a handful of additional video options. Oh, and the Xbox version forces players to confirm their Xbox profiles a total of three times before starting the game, which is weird and clunky.
More than 30 years after the original release, Parasol Stars is still a lovely game. Each world features a distinct theme and unique enemies, and the sprites are great. The parasol-based gameplay still works very well too; this game actually plays more like Bubble Bobble than Rainbow Islands did. The game itself gets really tough towards the end, so it’s a good thing that ININ gives players 99 credits in both the Standard and Arcade modes. The omission of the instruction manual and other extras is disappointing, but it’s hard to complain much when the game only sells for ten bucks. Bubble Bobble fans owe it to themselves to play through this “lost” sequel. Pop that parasol open and get to it!
Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble III costs $9.99 on Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch.
An Xbox download code was provided by the publisher for this review.
Verdict
Co-Op Score
Overall
The Co-Op Experience: A second player can join the action at any time.
Co-Optimus game reviews focus on the cooperative experience of a game, our final score graphic represents this experience along with an average score for the game overall. For an explanation of our scores please check our Review Score Explanation Guide.