Now, I knew that a new version of Rainbow Islands was coming out for PSP - it's coming out in Europe in a couple of weeks, for one - but a new NCSX post reveals the true oddness of the packaging/story for the Japanese version, called 'New Rainbow Islands: Hurdy Gurdy Daibouken!'

As NCSX explains: "Bubby and Bobby don decidedly South American garb and wield instruments in a new game of Rainbow throwing proportions... Across the Rainbow Islands worlds, creatures are being changed into other guises while a record company executive peers at the carnage through binoculars." Uhm, WHAT?

I'm not really sure what weird ethnic stereotypes the developers are going after here, since the hurdy gurdy is almost a Eastern European instrument - it's all a bit It's A Small World! There's also some odd gameplay going on:

"A pseudo 3D stage design where foreground, midground, and background may be traveled between by hopping on a moving platform that shuttles between the depths... Due to the concept of three distinct "levels" in every stage, enemies that appear in the midground can't be attacked if you're standing in the foreground although they might appear very close."