Adventure Island (video game)
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| Adventure Island | |
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| Developer(s) | Hudson Soft, Escape |
| Publisher(s) | Hudson Soft |
| Release date(s) | JPN September 12, 1986 NA September, 1988 EU 1992 |
| Genre(s) | Platform |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Platform(s) | NES, Virtual Console |
| Media | 3-megabit cartridge |
| Input | Gamepad |
Adventure Island (高橋名人の冒険島 Takahashi Meijin no Bouken Jima?, lit. "Master Takahashi's Adventure Island"), also known as Hudson's Adventure Island, is a video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System and certain other platforms, first released in Japan for the Famicom on September 12, 1986. The North American NES release came in September, 1988, and the game was released as Adventure Island Classic in Europe several years later, in 1992. Developed by Hudson Soft, the game was an adaptation of the arcade game Wonder Boy, which was ported to Sega home gaming systems under its original name, except for the North American release of the Game Gear version, where it was called Revenge of Drancon.
Adventure Island would go on to found a successful video game franchise with many sequels.
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[edit] Name change
For trademark reasons, Hudson Soft renamed the game, and revamped the main character to be Takahashi Meijin, who is executive of Hudson Soft. In the English language version they dubbed him "Master Higgins". Wonder Boy, Adventure Island, and Revenge of Drancon (the latter title was used on the American release of the Sega Game Gear version, because a Wonder Boy sequel had already been released on the system) are essentially the same game. Adventure Island's stage design more closely resembles that of the Wonder Boy arcade version than the Sega Master System version; the SMS version of Wonder Boy featured, on every fourth area, original world designs that are not found in either the Wonder Boy arcade version or Adventure Island.
[edit] Origin of the game
Adventure Island was not created solely by Hudson Soft. Hudson licensed the game from a company called Escape (later known as Westone) and it is even said that Escape helped Hudson developing Adventure Island although there is no reference to Escape in either the title screen or manual of the game. Escape was responsible for developing Wonder Boy to the arcades and the Sega Master System. Because Wonder Boy was a game that Escape had created for Sega, the latter company owned the rights to the characters and bosses, and therefore the franchise could not be used as a release for the Famicom or NES. Escape, however, owned the rights to the regular monsters and the game itself. As a result, Hudson changed the sprites, music, and some of the items from Wonder Boy, modified the way the game can be continued upon "game over," and renamed it Takahashi Meijin Mo Bouken Jima (or Master Takahashi's Adventure Island). Adventure Island is considered by many as a slightly depraved version of Wonder Boy but still managed to sell more copies than its SMS counterpart due to the lack of popularity of the Sega Master System in North America and Japan.
Adventure Island 2, and all other Adventure Island sequels, were purely developed by Hudson. Escape had no part in developing these games.
On the left is a screenshot of Hudson Soft's Adventure Island for NES. On the right is a screenshot of the same level on Sega's Revenge of Drancon for Game Gear (which is identical to the SMS version of Wonder Boy).
[edit] The Storyline
Adventure Island is a side-scrolling platform game, in the same vein as Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog. Master Higgins is attempting to rescue his mate by traversing the tropical island.
[edit] Gameplay
Power-ups are found inside eggs, and include, but are not limited to, shooting power, skateboard, superior shooting power, and fairies.
Running into an enemy, a rolling boulder, or a fire results in death, as does falling into water in the clouds level or into a pit. Stumbling over a small rock results in a partial loss of vitality. It is necessary to collect inexplicably floating food items by jumping in the air, or else Master Higgins will die. A fairy provides protection against enemies, boulders, and fire for a set period of time, but Higgins is always vulnerable to falling into pits and water.
[edit] Zones
Adventure Island is divided into worlds/levels, followed by bosses, like other games of this genre. Unlike Super Mario Bros., the segments of each level are marked to show where one will have to go back to, when starting over after the character dies.
[edit] Hidden Extras
There are Easter eggs (literal eggs, in this case), in the NES/Famicom version, such as a Hudson Soft Honeybee logo that allows unlimited continues.
[edit] MSX Computer Version
In 1986, Adventure Island was also ported to MSX, with the title Champion Takahashi's Adventure Island (represented as such).
[edit] Sequels
Sequels for 8-bit Nintendo Systems included Adventure Island II-IV, which saw the introduction of a map. Sequels were also made for TurboGrafx-16, Nintendo Game Boy, and Super NES. The Adventure Island sequels bear no relation to the Wonder Boy sequels (with the exception of Super Adventure Island II, which features similar gameplay), which went in a very different direction. The original black and white Game Boy version of the same game bears little relation to its larger console cousin, instead resembling the NES and Game Boy sequel Adventure Island II.
[edit] Recent Releases
A port of the NES version has been released for Game Boy Advance in Japan, as part of the Famicom Mini series.
A 2003 remake of Adventure Island was released for the Nintendo GameCube and PS2 as Hudson Selection Volume 4: Adventure Island. It is only available in Japan.
[edit] Trivia
- In Spanish-speaking countries the game was commonly referred to as "Islander".
- In India too, the name of this game was Islander, and was included in the TV-video game cassette called "64-in-One" (games).
[edit] External links
- Hudson Selection Vol. 4: Takahashi-Meijin no Bouken Jima (Adventure Island remake for Nintendo GameCube and Sony PlayStation 2)
- Adventure Island at MobyGames
- SydLexia.com Adventure Island Review
- Adventure Island Soundtrack (Rip)
