Looks like there's always some kind of trouble in the Rainbow Islands... Once again a bored daemon decides to make a mess and as usual, Bubby and Bobby are the victims of his jokes. Do you remember Bub and Bob, stars in Bubble Bobble, who had to rescue their girlfriends? Well, Bubby and Bobby are their sons. Let's keep on speaking of this sort of soap-opera: at first this game shouldn't even see the light - a videogame named Parasol Stars should be the real sequel to Bubble Bobble, but unfortunately Taito just produced a few prototypes of that videogame, and at last they decided to only publish it as a home computer and console videogame (the Amiga versions is named "the Story of Rainbow Islands II", while PC Engine and NES versions are named "the Story of Bubble Bobble III", both three were released in 1991 and got enormous success). Let's leave this mystery to our sons...
I'm about to speak about the introduction, which you can read from the game itself:

"This archipelago is called the "Rainbow Islands". Here there is a tower used to monitor the island and protect everyone who lives from harm.
In that tower there live two inseparable brothers. The older brother, a slight and cheerful lad, is named Bubby. And the younger brother, named Bobby, is a shy and quiet boy who likes to read. Then one day something suddenly happens to disturb their peaceful and happy lives. That something was their being turned into dragons at the hands of a mysterious avil being. The same evil being that did this to them has also destroyed the magical Rainbow Potion elixir they need to return to human shape. The evil being, has sealed himself into the tower. Why is it that Bubby & Bobbly were transformed into the shape of dragons? And what was the true intent of the evil being that did this to them?

The way being left for the two who have been changed into bubble dragons is to go on a journey to the rainbow tower. When can they return to the figures of human being? Good Luck!"

Gameplay almost remained the same as the previous chapters of the series except for an innovation: we can now create huge bubbles to entrap more enemies or larger ones! This is very useful in case your dragon is encircled by enemies, or when they are attacking in lined formation. We can capture them all with a single shot.
There's even an useful tutorial, so if you never played Bubble Bobble and Bubble Symphony you'll discover how to play by reading all explanations. This appears after you insert coin - before starting the game itself. Here they are:

"With horns or fins, crash the bubbles! When keeping the bubble button pushed for a while, the fins become bright, and giant bubbles can be belched! Coop enemies in a giant bubble in a lump, and by crushing the giant bubble, more higher points can be scored!! It is possible to jump on bubbles! By defeating all enemies, a round can be cleared!"

After selecting the number of players (one or two simultaneously - the two-players mode is much more entertaining!) you have to choose the game mode:
- Story game: 80 rounds;
- Pratice game: 10 rounds only.

The latter is useful in case you need to get used to controllers and some situations you'll find in the Story game. It is composed of 10 rounds plus the final boss. Beat him and game ends. We'll receive a time bonus after clearing each round. As less tiem we need to complete it, as higher the bonus will be. An extra 60,000 points bonus score is added in case a new record is set.
In the Story mode we'll meet a boss at each 10 rounds, and we'll have to fight two bosses in a row when get to the final round!

Again we'll fight the usual cool enemies - each renewed by a more colourful look and animations, plus brand new enemies. Same thing about bonuses: magic shoes, candies and potions are still there though new bonuses and magical items add more variety.
Don't forget to collect all potions you find, or all your efforts done to reach the final boss won't be enough... and Bubby and Bobby won't come back to human shape anymore!