Rainbow Islands

Following the events of Bubble Bobble, Bubby and Bobby set out to defeat the "Dark Shadow" and rescue the Rainbow Islands. The Dark Shadow is the entity responsible for the events in Bubble Bobble. The game is set on a chain of ten islands, each one with a different theme. Each island provides four rounds of game-play, and once these are complete the player moves to the next island in the chain.

In each round the player must get to the top before the sea level rises and kills them. The islands get progressively more difficult, with enemies moving much faster on the later ones. These are depicted on a map screen before the start of each island.

In Japan, Game Machine listed Rainbow Island: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 as the second most successful table arcade unit of November 1987. It went on to become one of the top ten highest-grossing arcade games of 1988 in Japan. The Spectrum version of the game was number one on the UK sales chart from May to June 1990 at the time of release. It was re-released at a budget price, and was number one again from October 1992 to March 1993. It was also the top-selling Amiga budget title of March 1992.

UK magazine C&VG gave the ST version a score of 93%, praising the graphics and calling the game addictive and "tremendous fun". It was awarded 94% in the April 1990 issue of Your Sinclair and was placed at number 8 in the "Your Sinclair official top 100". In issue 93 of the same magazine, the readers voted it the second best game of all time. It was also awarded a 94% score in Crash.