is an

action-adventure The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a storyli ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed by

Skip Ltd. Skip Ltd. (stylized as skip Ltd.) is a Japanese video game developer that has a close relationship with Nintendo. Nintendo has published all of their Japanese releases; with the only notable exception being ''LOL'' (''Archime DS''), which skip ...

and published by

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

for the

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...

. The game was released exclusively in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

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 The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a story ...

that involves making friends with the other island residents (who are all lesser-known 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-yo A yo-yo (also spelled yoyo) is a toy consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a string looped around the axle, similar to a spool. It is an ancient toy with proof of existence since 500 BCE. The yo-yo was also called a bandalore in ...

-wielding,

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of practical special effects. ''Tokusatsu'' entertainment mainly refers to science fiction, War film, war, fantasy, or Horror film, horror media featuring such te ...

-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

characters with their own dreams and wishes on his journey.

Gameplay

''Captain Rainbow'' is an

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 A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements, and is often smaller or more simplistic, than th ...

s, such as

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

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. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, fishing, and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

. Helping islanders would 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 would fall from the sky. The star could be carried to an altar at the top of the island where it would 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 would 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.

Reception

The four reviewers of ''

Weekly Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the f ...

'' 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 is a Japanese company that gathers and analyzes data from the digital entertainment industry, specifically focusing on the Japanese console gaming market. Business operations include publishing, market research and consulting. It is a popular webs ...

, 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.

Notes

References

External links

*
Captain Rainbow Walkthrough at NTSC-uk
{{Portal bar, Japan, Video games, Speculative fiction 2008 video games Action-adventure games Japan-exclusive video games Nintendo games

Captain Rainbow is an Action-adventure game, action-adventure 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, who ...

Skip Ltd. games Superhero video games Video games developed in Japan Video games set on fictional islands Video game superheroes Wii games Wii-only games Crossover video games Single-player video games Video games produced by Kensuke Tanabe