Rainbow Islands Revolution takes the classic game from past generations and puts it onto the DS and, for the most part, keeps everything the same. Unfortunately, the one major gameplay change that was thrown into the mix makes the game almost impossible. But more on that later.

Graphically, Revolution is exactly what you would expect out of a Rainbow Island title. Levels are simple, 2D, vertically-oriented scenarios (typically) filled with platforms, spikes and jumping enemies - all of which look like they would be right at home in one of this game's previous incarnations. This game is one of those that show you don't have to push the most polygons to look the best and that 2D games are still worth their weight graphically.

Much like the visuals, the game's audio is very much in theme with the older Taito games. The game's music is simple and very reminiscent of the 8-bit days, but still has enough variations and subtleties to keep it interesting for modern gamers. The sound effects, on the other hand, come in the flavor of beeps and boops that will make any old-school gamer grin.

Rainbow Islands Revolution's Story Mode brings you back to that chain of islands where Bubby once called home. Years after the events of the last Rainbow Island adventure, our hero has become a master rainbow magician and he is coming home to find it is once again overrun with monsters. Now you will guide one of four characters through the islands, clearing them out one stage at a time.

As in past games, you have a set amount of time to climb your way through each level. Along your way, enemies fitting the current island's theme will jump on you, fire at you, and otherwise try to impede your progress. Also, like the past games, you will use rainbows to either knock the enemies out, or trap them or block them from reaching you. You create these rainbows by drawing them with your stylus (a la Kirby Canvas Curse). When some enemies encounter these rainbows, they turn around and start walking the other way, while other enemies will just fly or bounce over them.

As you defeat baddies, you can collect various special items, typically fruit, but there are also shoes (which makes your character faster) and potions that help enhance your rainbow's potency. If you collect enough points, your Star meter will fill up. When you tap the meter and draw a five-point start on the screen, all of the enemies that appear on both screens will be killed. Another trick you can perform with the rainbows includes drawing a triangle that sucks all of the enemies on the touch screen into one place, allowing you to swipe through them all at once.

So the big difference between this game and the past Rainbow Island games is how you create a rainbow and what those rainbows can do. Previously, you just created arcs and they pretty much just trapped enemies. The other change is that your character is encased in a bubble. You don't use the D-Pad to move your guy around, but instead you drag him across the level with the stylus (yes, the same stylus you need to use to kill enemies). Switching between the movement and rainbow mechanics got to be quite a headache after a while (but more on that later).

Besides the Story Mode, Revolution also provides Score Mode and Versus Mode. Score Mode is essentially an endurance game to see how many enemies you can destroy and how many points you can gather with one life. Versus Mode lets you and up to three other friends play through specific levels at the same time in order to see who can get to the goal first. An interesting aspect of this game is that even though you don't see the other players on your screen, you do feel their effects. When they kill an enemy, it appears on all of the other players' levels, and if they get a power up (like the shoes), then they speed up and everyone else slows down.

Rainbow Islands Revolution's difficulty is what really hurts the title. Where the previous versions have progressively gotten harder and used fairly simple mechanics to navigate, Revolution's use of the bubble and stylus really makes the game hard as hell from the very beginning.

Let me start over. There are two difficulty modes, Easy and Normal. The Normal mode is the one the developers really want you to play through. According to the manual, the set of levels you have to go through in Easy Mode won't show you "all of what Rainbow Island Revolution has to offer". And while Easy mode lets you really blast through level after level in order to get a general feel for the game, it seems a bit pointless if you want to see all it has to offer. So then, there is Normal mode.

In Normal Mode, you have the same islands with the same themes, but the actual levels are different. And on top of that, the bubble containing your character seems to always be pulled in a direction you don't want him to go (typically toward some spikes). So when you have to draw rainbows to get rid of enemies, you have to do it quickly because the longer you spend drawing, the further away your character is pulled. This makes the levels (from Stage 1 and on) a frantic flurry of stylus swipes that make you glad you have a screen protector on your DS.

Rainbow Islands Revolution's mechanics are very well rooted in it's gameplay. As I mentioned above, you control your character by dragging his bubble around the world with the stylus. This same stylus is used to draw rainbows that can either attack or trap enemies. In the Story Mode's Easy setting, this isn't much of a problem, but in Normal Mode, it seems like the forces pulling your bubble around on the screen also cause it to stay a couple of bubble-lengths behind the stylus and really makes the game a pain when you are trying to guide your character into a safe spot in order to clear the screen.

Besides the addition of the stylus, there aren't really that many changes in the game mechanics over past Rainbow Island games. If you are a long-time gamer and loved the series and really want to experience the next part of the story -- then pick this game up. Otherwise, unless you are in the mood for some masochistic fun, rent before you buy.