Captain Rainbow
Encyclopedia
is a video game developed by Skip Ltd.
and published by Nintendo
for the Wii
. The game was released exclusively in Japan on August 28, 2008.
The game puts players in the role of Nick, an ordinary guy whose alter ego "Captain★Rainbow", was once a popular TV superhero. In order to regain his popularity, Nick travels to Mimin Island, a place where dreams are said to come true. Captain★Rainbow is an action-adventure game
that involves making friends with the other island residents (who are all past Nintendo characters), collecting "Kirarin" crystals, and granting their wishes.
-wielding, tokusatsu
-styled superhero that stars in his own TV show. Unfortunately, his TV show is no longer popular. To restore his popularity, Nick ventures to Mimin Island, an island where wishes are said to come true. Nick meets a vast array of past, minor Nintendo
characters with their own dreams and wishes on his journey.
with gameplay divided into two parts. The adventure part of the game is set on enjoying the life on the island together with its other residents. Nick can go fishing, bug catching, and help the other islanders with their requests. Most of the requests can lead to various minigame
s, such as boxing
, volleyball
, fishing and golf
. Helping islanders will grant the player special, star-shaped crystals known as "Kirarin" (”Sparklies”). The action part of Captain★Rainbow is based around those crystals. Each time 20 Kirarin are collected, a star will fall from the sky. The star can be carried to an altar at the top of the island where it will grant a wish. While carrying the star to the altar Nick is challenged by a mysterious Shadow who for unknown reasons wants the star for himself. If Nick succeeds in bringing the star to the altar there will be two choices left for him. He can either grant his own wish to become a popular hero again or grant the wish of one of the islanders and go back to finding other Kirarin.
magazine scored Captain★Rainbow a total of 31 out of 40. The panel was overall impressed by the game's writing and characters, especially due to the day and night cycles. They also enjoyed the gameplay, music, and tempo, but found the humor to be often vulgar.
Captain★Rainbow was a financial disappointment. According to Media Create
, the game only sold a scant 6,361 copies during its first week of release. A total of 22,682 copies were sold in Japan in 2008.
Skip Ltd.
Skip is a Japanese video game developer that has a close relationship with Nintendo of Japan. Nintendo has published all of their Japanese releases; with the only notable exception being LOL , which Skip Ltd. published independently. The company's staff includes prominent developers from Square...
and published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
. The game was released exclusively in Japan on August 28, 2008.
The game puts players in the role of Nick, an ordinary guy whose alter ego "Captain★Rainbow", was once a popular TV superhero. In order to regain his popularity, Nick travels to Mimin Island, a place where dreams are said to come true. Captain★Rainbow is an action-adventure game
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
that involves making friends with the other island residents (who are all past Nintendo characters), collecting "Kirarin" crystals, and granting their wishes.
Plot
The game's storyline follows, Nick, who is able to transform into "Captain★Rainbow", a yo-yoYo-yo
The yo-yo in its simplest form is an object consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a length of twine looped around the axle, similar to a slender spool...
-wielding, tokusatsu
Tokusatsu
is a Japanese term that applies to any live-action film or television drama that usually features superheroes and makes considerable use of special effects ....
-styled superhero that stars in his own TV show. Unfortunately, his TV show is no longer popular. To restore his popularity, Nick ventures to Mimin Island, an island where wishes are said to come true. Nick meets a vast array of past, minor Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
characters with their own dreams and wishes on his journey.
Gameplay
Captain★Rainbow is an action-adventure gameAction-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
with gameplay divided into two parts. The adventure part of the game is set on enjoying the life on the island together with its other residents. Nick can go fishing, bug catching, and help the other islanders with their requests. Most of the requests can lead to various minigame
Minigame
A minigame is a short video game often contained within another video game. A minigame is always smaller or more simplistic than the game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game...
s, such as boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
, fishing and golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
. Helping islanders will grant the player special, star-shaped crystals known as "Kirarin" (”Sparklies”). The action part of Captain★Rainbow is based around those crystals. Each time 20 Kirarin are collected, a star will fall from the sky. The star can be carried to an altar at the top of the island where it will grant a wish. While carrying the star to the altar Nick is challenged by a mysterious Shadow who for unknown reasons wants the star for himself. If Nick succeeds in bringing the star to the altar there will be two choices left for him. He can either grant his own wish to become a popular hero again or grant the wish of one of the islanders and go back to finding other Kirarin.
Characters
- Nick - Coming from "The Land of the Free": Mameruka (a pun on America), Nick's alter-ego is Captain★Rainbow. Although not as popular as he used to be, Nick came to Mimin Island with the dream of restoring his popularity.
- Mimin - Little bunny-like creatures with yellow ears. The original inhabitants of Mimin Island. They seem to have a connection with the Island's ability to grant wishes. They can be seen forming a bridge so that Nick can reach the shrine at the top of the island.
- Shadow - After Nick obtains a star, this figure appears to steal the star away from him. Nick can try to knock him out with his Yo-Yo while in his Captain★Rainbow form, but can also try to defeat him in a duel when the Shadow hits him in the back. A group of four Shadows can be seen dancing around a stolen star, slowly dancing its life-force away.
- Birdo (Catherine)BirdoBirdo, known in Japan as , is a fictional character in the Mario series of video games, who first appeared in Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, which was localized for English audiences as Super Mario Bros. 2 and is an enemy to Mario...
- From Super Mario Bros. 2Super Mario Bros. 2Super Mario Bros. 2, often abbreviated SMB2, is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a sequel to the 1985 game Super Mario Bros. The game was also remade as part of the Super Mario All-Stars collection for the Super Nintendo Entertainment...
, Birdo's reason to come to Mimin Island is to become popular with all the boys, but is arrested by Mappo after walking in the women's restroom, uncertain of Birdo's gender. Birdo claims that Nick is his/her boyfriend after Nick "proves" she/he is "female" and releases him/her from prison. Birdo lives in the "Cute House" on a separated part of the Island. The interior consists of mostly pink colored furniture, ribbons, and eggs. The game continues the recurring controversy around Birdo's gender, where she claims to be female and that Nick is her boyfriend but she has a male voice. - Mappo - The robot jailer from GiFTPiAGiFTPiAis a video game that was developed by Skip Ltd. for the Nintendo GameCube. It was released in Japan on April 25, 2003. Despite that its last showing at Electronic Entertainment Expo was in English, Nintendo cancelled the North American localization of GiFTPiA...
, it came to Mimin Island to become a plainclothes officer instead of a KobanKoban (police box)A is a small neighborhood police station found in Japan. Kōban also refers to the smallest organizational unit in today's Japanese police system. In addition to central police stations, Japanese uniformed police work is done from small buildings located within the community, a form of community...
officer. Mappo lives together with Tao in a strange guardstation with monitors resembling Mappo and a doghouse for Tao. It holds no furniture as neither of them have need for it. Birdo's cell is located here. - Tao - The dog from Chibi-Robo!Chibi-Robo!, fully titled Chibi-Robo! Plug Into Adventure!, is a platform-adventure video game for the Nintendo GameCube console. It was developed by Skip Ltd. with collaboration from Nintendo. The game was first released in Japan on June 23, 2005, in North America on February 6, 2006, and in Europe on May...
and GiFTPiAGiFTPiAis a video game that was developed by Skip Ltd. for the Nintendo GameCube. It was released in Japan on April 25, 2003. Despite that its last showing at Electronic Entertainment Expo was in English, Nintendo cancelled the North American localization of GiFTPiA...
. His dream is to do nothing but eat. - Drake Redcrest (Gitchoman) - The action figure from Chibi-Robo!Chibi-Robo!, fully titled Chibi-Robo! Plug Into Adventure!, is a platform-adventure video game for the Nintendo GameCube console. It was developed by Skip Ltd. with collaboration from Nintendo. The game was first released in Japan on June 23, 2005, in North America on February 6, 2006, and in Europe on May...
. He can be found on the beach, near the Famicom Wars Soldier's volleyball net. - Little Mac - From the NES Punch-Out!! gamesMike Tyson's Punch-Out!!Punch-Out!!, originally known as Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, is a boxing video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System developed and published by Nintendo in 1987. It is a port of both the Punch-Out!! and Super Punch-Out!! arcade games with some variations. It has consistently been ranked among...
. Mac's wish is to become a world champion once again. It is shown that, depending on how Nick helps Mac with his training, he can become either massive or incredibly thin. He lives in his boxing ring near Birdo's house. - Hikari - From Shin OnigashimaShin Onigashima, often simply referred to as , is a video game title developed by Nintendo EAD and Pax Softnica and published by Nintendo. It was first released on two disk cards for the Family Computer Disk System. The first disk was released on September 4, 1987, while the second disk was released September 30,...
. She is shown to be intimate with Nick, as they can be seen sitting together at the beach at night. She lives in a house shaped like a Japanese shrine. Next to her house is a pond with a waterfall. She's much older here than in her original game. - Takamaru - From Nazo no Murasame Jō. His wish has something to do with the fact that he can't control his excitement when thinking of women, which leads to extreme nosebleeds. He lives in a DojoDojoA is a Japanese term which literally means "place of the way". Initially, dōjōs were adjunct to temples. The term can refer to a formal training place for any of the Japanese do arts but typically it is considered the formal gathering place for students of any Japanese martial arts style to...
so run down, that pieces of wall and roof are missing. - Ossan - From Famicom Golf, he is portrayed as an old man. His house is fairly normal, besides the fact that it has a giant golf teeTeeA tee is a stand used to support a stationary ball so that the player can strike it, particularly in golf, tee ball, American football, and rugby.- Etymology :...
with a giant golfball on it next to it. - Lip - From Panel de PonPanel de Pon, also known as Panel de Pon: Action Puzzle Game, is a puzzle video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Super Famicom home video game console. It was released on October 27, 1995 in Japan, and was later ported to the North American and European markets as Tetris...
(which was remade into Tetris AttackTetris AttackTetris Attack is a puzzle video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System home video game console and Game Boy handheld game console...
for US and PAL regions). Her dream is to become a great magician. She lives in a Mushroom shaped house which has a Piranha Plant from Super Mario Bros in its garden. Her choice of interior consists of flower shaped furniture with eyes and crayon drawings of herself on rainbows. - Tracy - From The Legend of Zelda: Link's AwakeningThe Legend of Zelda: Link's AwakeningThe Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, known as in Japan, is a 1993 action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy...
. Above her throne she has a portrait of MarioMariois a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
and Link next to an empty portrait that later in the game has a portrait of Takamaru. Her wish is to enslave all the men in the world. She lives in a Grand Mansion in the center of the Island where she usually sits on her throne with a swarm of flies swirling and buzzing around her (a small indication that she may be the flies queen). At night, she can be found in front of her mirror,powdering her face with flies or using the toilet behind a revealing showercurtain. - Famicom Wars Soldiers - From Famicom WarsFamicom Warsis a turn-based tactics military game. Produced by Nintendo, it was released on August 12, 1988 for the Family Computer in Japan and later re-released on the Wii Virtual Console on May 19, 2009. It is the first game in the Wars series.-Gameplay:...
. For some reason, their wish is to become good at volleyball. They train their volleyball skills during the day, search for shellfish when the tide is low and sit around the campfire at night. They live in a camp near the beach with a watchtower. Army binoculars can be seen together with a picture of Tracy with flies buzzing around it in the watchtower. - Devil - From Devil WorldDevil Worldis a maze video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released in Japan on October 5, 1984 and in Europe on July 15, 1987. The game was also released on the Wii's Virtual Console in Japan on January 22, 2008 and in Europe and Australia on October 31,...
. His wish is to become the number one villain in the underworld. He lives in a house shaped like a skull with bat wings on a far side of the island where hardly any plants grow. His house is decorated with mostly skull themed furniture.
Reception
The four reviewers of Weekly FamitsuFamitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
magazine scored Captain★Rainbow a total of 31 out of 40. The panel was overall impressed by the game's writing and characters, especially due to the day and night cycles. They also enjoyed the gameplay, music, and tempo, but found the humor to be often vulgar.
Captain★Rainbow was a financial disappointment. According to Media Create
Media Create
is a Japanese company that "gathers and analyzes data from the digital entertainment industry, specifically focusing on the Japanese console gaming market...
, the game only sold a scant 6,361 copies during its first week of release. A total of 22,682 copies were sold in Japan in 2008.