Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble 3 is being ported to modern consoles

What’s with umbrellas this year?

ININ has announced that they’re bringing Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble 3 to PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch consoles this year.

Parasol Stars was the follow-up to Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2. While those two games were released in arcade and ported to consoles, Parasol Stars skipped the first step and went straight to consoles. In North America, we only got the Turbografx-16 version, but in other parts of the world, it also landed on the NES, Game Boy, Amiga, and Atari ST platforms. So, it’s a bit of an obscure title.

Parasol Stars once again stars brothers Bub and Bob in their rotund human forms. This time, they’re equipped with magical umbrellas and travel from planet to planet, saving them from evil. It’s a pretty odd plot, but it’s not like the series ongoing narrative was ever really that sane.

It’s a bit unclear about what is going to be included beyond a port of the Turbografx/PC-Engine version. That’s exciting in its own right, as it’s a game that has been out of print for decades now. There’s no word on if the NES and Game Boy ports will be included. However, both the press release and trailer coyly suggest another announcement with “More parasols coming.” A full remaster? I don’t know, maybe. You now have all the information I do.

Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble 3 is coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch near the end of 2023.