Bunny Bounce is the direct sequel of Beauty Bounce, and also a spin-off from the original game; Beach Bounce. Just like with the previous spin-off, this one could also work as a DLC for Beach Bounce, but turns out it worked perfectly fine as a stand alone chapter. Released just one mouth after Beauty Bounce, in March, 2017, this is the latest and final entry of the Bounce series, so far!
In Bunny Bounce players continue the adventure of Tomoyo, the owner of Beach Bounce, the most exotic but also family oriented resort for the perfect vacations. After the previous troubles with the bank, everything got fixed, but bad luck keeps chasing our protagonist, this time getting himself almost hit by a car. Saved in time by a mysterious girl named Asuki, Tomo is taken to the hospital, and when he finally wakes up, something is not right… Besides all the bruises and painful injuries, he seems to be having hallucinations. Tomo sees every girl in lingerie… and not just any lingerie, but the best they could ever use, and, if that’s not even enough, their sexy attire is representing their personality, or even their spiritual animal.
Yuuki, the cute and shy nerd has bunny ears, Aiko is a sexy tigress, and Sakura has adorable mouse ears. The world is definitely different since Tomo returned from the hospital, but is this his final steps lingering between reality and insanity? Will the pain in his head will ever go away? Well, all the girls want to help, but they are not so properly dressed, or it's all an illusion only Tomo can see? Chiasa now walks around the resort with a provocative black lingerie set, and what about Sakura? Her mischievous attitude aligned with a one-piece see through underwear is barely capable of letting Tomo concentrate on his daily responsibilities!
Following the events from Beauty Bounce, Rei and Mineko are still absent in vacations, so the staff remains as previously seen, with the addition of Dr Mineko, the doctor, who makes sure Tomo is doing just fine, but between us, she is just another beautiful image he can’t really remove from his head.
The concept for Bunny Bounce is slightly changed from the traditional formula we have seen in pretty much every Dharker Studio release so far, which was an interesting surprise to see a significant difference in a game series which have been around for a while, as the case in the Bounce series. As always, players have choices to follow, and a dialogue tree to choose from, however, the path this time is slightly more linear, with one wider route. Tomo is invited for activities with every dateable girl, and whereas romance does happen depending on the player's choices, the big difference is that dating in Bunny Bounce affects the ending and not any other romantic route while in the same playthrough. To make things simpler; players can choose to date every girl, without compromising their options, this means this game is the most linear of the studio’s so far. Obviously, such decision still affects the ending, but for those going for the ultimate experience, it is possible to get romantically involved with every single character in just one run.
The gameplay still remains the same, it’s your everyday Visual Novel, with simple mechanics and choices that go accordingly to your preferences. Dialogue and narrative are similar to the previous spin-off, Beauty Bounce, but considerably longer, with a main route capable of reaching four hours of gameplay. The writing is close to its primordial, and since it deals with a more serious issue, there are less humoristic situations, but the occasional giggle is promised. Tomo still retains his personality, and all the girls behave accordingly to what one would expect, by playing previous games. Dharker Studio managed to release a consistent release, within just a month, but adding original content, an interesting and amusing storyline that will keep players entertained, and curious about Tomo’s final condition. This alone is a testament to this studio's ability of releasing amazing content of high quality within a month difference.
As visuals go, Bunny Bounce shares the same style as in previous titles of Bounce series, the same 2D renders, with a cartoonish approach, but maintaining the adult appeal, through light and shadow works. Cloths and effects suit well, and a few expressions are available to each character, to portray their feelings and mood. There’s only one new character, Mineko, which follows the same design direction, blending perfectly within the rest of the cast. The backgrounds were 90% re-used, meaning only a couple are new, and all the others were mostly seen in Beach Bounce, which is perfectly fine. Would still be interesting to get a weather variation, considering it’s the winter season at the resort, and would be a fantastic reason to innovate. Especially since all recent releases by Dharker Studio upscale perfectly well with high resolution monitors.
A Director’s Cut Adult Uncensored Patch is available through the official Dharker Studio Website, and it adds a couple of adult scenes per each romantic option players decide to take. Adult scenes are not near as good as in Beach Bounce, but they follow the quality of Beauty Bounce, and player’s interactions are mostly through dialogues, while the visuals are dedicated drawings with full nudity! The erotism present in the game follows the directions previously seen, but, with new events things take new turns. At this time players take a different approach over the storyline, there won’t be a harem ending, but one can still enjoy Aiko and Sakura cuddling, and plenty, plenty more.
In Beauty Bounce, the soundtrack was mostly re-used, but this new chapter presents us a completely new main theme, very original and melodic with huge emphasis on the bass. Other tracks are also quite smoothly melodic, and it’s actually the closest we have in terms of quality to match the original Beach Bounce. The soundtrack is not available through DLC, but considering how short it is, it’s understandable.
Other sound effects are available, and they remain a fantastic addition. First introduced in Beauty Bounce, special effects like running, moving specific objects, or closing doors are just some of the sounds players can hear. This doesn’t replace voice-acting, but adds that extra enjoyment Visual Novels tend to miss!
Overall, Bunny Bounce is a cute and amusing. Visual Novels fans who are familiar with the previous chapters in the series can easily enjoy and become one with the protagonist. With well directed dialogues and scenes, it’s another fantastic release by Dharker Studio.