It was almost a year ago that we learned of modern console port plans for Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble 3. Now ININ has come through with a date, opening the umbrella for a smooth glide to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox consoles on July 11, 2024.
With that lovely news comes an appropriately bubbly release date trailer, showing some footage of the port and promising “many quality-of-life enhancements.” Please, enjoy another pre-release peek at Bub and Bob in their stout little human forms and prep for the arrival of the Rainbow Islands sequel below.
As for what those enhancements are, the updated port has added in the usual retro bells and whistles, namely the inclusion of save states and the ability to rewind gameplay. There are also shaders and filters that aim to recreate the experience of playing on a CRT screen. Beyond that, the hook here is very much the ability to play and own a relatively obscure entry in Taito’s storied series.
There’s no mention of including the other versions — which spanned Atari ST, Amiga, Game Boy, and NES — so it looks like we’re just getting the PC Engine/Turbografx-16 version of Parasol Stars. That’s fine and dandy, especially considering the fact that it’s priced at a cool $9.99. Nintendo Switch pre-orders are live now and 10 percent off until July 12, with Xbox pre-orders to follow on June 19. The game can also be wishlisted on PlayStation.
