StarTropics

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StarTropics

Developer(s)	Nintendo IRD^[1]
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Designer(s)	Genyo Takeda (producer, director, script writer)^[2] Makoto Wada (main designer)^[2] Y. Hirai (music composer)^[2] Masato Hatakeyama (chief programmer)^[2]
Platform(s)	NES, Virtual Console
Release date	NES ^NA December 1, 1990 ^EU August 20, 1992 Virtual Console ^NA January 7, 2008 ^PAL January 11, 2008
Genre(s)	action-adventure video game
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: E (Everyone) (Virtual Console)
Media	4-megabit cartridge

StarTropics is an action-adventure video game released by Nintendo in 1990 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Unlike most of Nintendo's games, it was never released or intended to be released in Japan. It was released only in North America and Europe, although designed by Japanese designers living in the United States, written and directed by Genyo Takeda of Nintendo Integrated Research & Development (which also developed the Punch-Out!! series). The game was added to the North American Virtual Console on January 7, 2008, and the PAL regions' on January 11.

StarTropics was followed by a sequel titled Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II, in 1994.

1 Storyline
2 Gameplay
3 Immersive letter
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Storyline

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Much of the story is centered on celestial events (hence the name "StarTropics"), including the Southern Cross constellation, and the belief that meteor showers are portents of doom.

[edit] Chapter 1: Prelude

The first overhead map view in the game StarTropics. This particular area is known as C-island, so named due to its resemblance to the letter "C".

The story revolves around Mike Jones, a star pitcher from Seattle, who went to C-Island for a vacation and to visit his uncle, an archaeologist named Dr. Steve Jones, more commonly known as "Dr. J", after receiving a letter from him. Visiting the nearby village of Coralcola, Mike discovers that Dr. J has gone missing. However, the path to the lab is blocked, so the Chief gives Mike the Island Yo-Yo (Island Star in the Virtual Console version) as his first weapon, sends him to meet his sister (the shaman) and Mike goes through the monster-infested tunnel. After defeating the vicious C-Serpent, Mike reaches his uncle's lab. Once there, he meets Baboo, Dr J's assistant, who lets him take Dr. J's submarine, the Sub-C, which is navigated by a robot named NAV-COM. Mike travels off the island in the Sub-C, and his journey begins.

[edit] Chapter 2: Dolphins

After leaving C-Island in the Sub-C, Mike encounters a mother dolphin. Using a program on the sub which deciphers dolphin click-language, Mike finds that the mother is asking him to save her captured child. He agrees, and soon comes to a nearby island surrounded by dangerous coral reefs. He discovers a bottle on the beach from his uncle. Inside is a note from Dr. J, a desperate plea for rescue from aliens who have abducted him. The note also contains a code number used to activate the Sub-C's diving capability which Mike uses to navigate the island. After navigating a cave, Mike defeats a giant octopus named Octo the Huge to save the young boy dolphin. As thanks, the dolphins lead the Sub-C safely around the coral reefs, and Mike continues his journey.

[edit] Chapter 3: Storm and Calm

The Sub-C encounters a storm and is wrecked on a large island, and Mike must go to the village of Miracola to find help. Once there, he discovers that the Chief's daughter, Bananette, has fallen into a coma, and the Chief agrees to fix the Sub-C only if Mike cures his daughter. To find a cure, Mike must first go through a series of tunnels and face the fire-demon Magma, then make his way to the Castle of Shecola, where only women may enter. A gypsy living outside the castle agrees to help, but needs Mike to find her Crystal Ball that was lost in a nearby cemetery.

Mike battles the ghost town's queen, Maxie, after using the magic wand called the "Rod of Sight".

Mike falls into a grave and enters another dungeon sequence, culminating in a battle against an enormous phantom named Maxie, who can only be battled when Mike uses a magic wand that penetrates her invisibility. Defeating Maxie frees Mike from the grave and drains the lake in the cemetery, revealing the crystal ball. Once Mike returns it to the fortune teller, she disguises Mike as a girl so that he can enter Shecola. The Queen of Shecola tells Mike that she "heard about the battle at the Ghost Town." Impressed that it was this girl, the Queen sends the disguised Mike to a hermit who may have a cure for Bananette. The Queen also gives him a more powerful flail-like weapon called a Shooting Star. After climbing the Hermit's mountain and jumping on a geyser, Mike reaches the summit where the Hermit gives him a magic scroll whose incantation will wake Bananette. As thanks for reviving the Chief's daughter, the Miracolans repair the Sub-C and Mike continues. This is one of the longest Chapters in the entire game, with four action areas, and two towns to explore.

[edit] Chapter 4: Confession

Mike comes across a small island whose residents, inhabitants of the village of Tunacola, say that someone from C-Island was looking for him. While out on the ocean past the island, a large whale swallows the Sub-C. Inside the whale, Mike meets up with Baboo again. Baboo had a lighter that they could use to smoke themselves out of the whale (similar to the events in Pinocchio), but Baboo has lost it. Mike navigates the whale's entrails and finally locates the lighter, and the whale coughs Mike and Baboo out. After the escape, Baboo tells Mike to dip his uncle's letter in water, revealing a hidden code on the letter (747) that activates a program to detect a tracking device that Dr. J planted on himself before going on the expedition that ended in his abduction. Following the signal, Mike continues. This chapter is unique in that this is the only chapter to not include any battles, as perhaps it was intended as a chance for the player to relax after the lengthy Chapter 3.

[edit] Chapter 5: Captain Bell

Mike encounters an island where the strait is blocked by an old clipper ship, left there in the 1600s by Captain Bell to keep pirates from passing through the strait and terrorizing the island. The residents of the local village of Bellcola explain that Mike will need "Peter's" help in order to move the ship. "Peter" turns out to be a talking parrot, who won't help anyone unless given a gift. Mike returns with a worm to feed Peter, and Peter tells Mike a Do Re Mi sequence Mike must play on Captain Bell's giant organ to open Captain Bell's Cave. Inside, Mike battles zombie pirates and throws an ancient lever which sinks Captain Bell's ship, clearing the strait and letting Mike move on. The signal shows that Dr. J is not far.

[edit] Chapter 6: Reunion

Mike happens upon a large archipelago of small islands, including the village of Howduyadu-cola and a skeleton that Mike believes belongs to "Rob Crusocola". The signal indicates that Dr. J is somewhere in this area. After navigating around the archipelago, the Sub-C enters a cave, and Mike goes through a series of tunnels, encountering a creature resembling a massive Hallucigenia. After crossing underground lakes, he also battles a living statue called a Hoodoo Doll, which resembles a classical Japanese statue of an alien, followed by a vicious, living Moai monster, and a pair of stone cyclopes. After defeating all of them, Mike encounters an enormous hunk of melted metal with a strange cipher on the side. Shortly after, he finally finds his uncle, Dr. J. After a tearful reunion, Dr. J explains that he was investigating what he thought was a meteorite when he discovered it was an escape pod used by an alien race from the planet of Argonia, who were exterminated by an evil alien race and sent to Earth to escape. The evil aliens kidnapped him, and took three cubes which were lodged in the side of the escape pod. Dr. J had only just escaped from their spaceship, which is landed nearby, and asks Mike to board it and retrieve the cubes from the aliens.

[edit] Chapter 7: Alien Spaceship

Mike boards the evil alien spacecraft after receiving a new weapon called the Supernova. Mike sneaks through the passages, occasionally encountering aliens and their technology, and manages to find and reunite two of the three cubes after travelling through maze after maze. Suddenly, the spaceship takes off and begins to orbit the Earth. Mike must find the third cube before the ship flies into deep space.

[edit] Chapter 8: Final Battle

The third and final cube is held by the alien leader, named Zoda, who calls himself the "Prime Invader." First, Mike battles Zoda in a dark chamber, where Zoda manifests as a giant floating head and claws. After defeating him, Mike locates the spaceship's nuclear power source and causes it to malfunction. As the power wanes, Mike finds and battles Zoda's final manifestation, a hideous alien similar to a xenomorph who vomits spawns to kill Mike. Mike locates the final cube just in time, and the alien ship destroys itself with Mike leaving it in one of the ship's escape pods. The escape pod plunges into the ocean, Mike begins to swim towards the shore, however he is quickly fatigued. He wakes up on the shores of C-Island to find that the female dolphin from Chapter 2 saved him. Back at Coralcola, Dr. J instructs Mike to join the three cubes together. The cubes transform into a pod. The pod opens, and seven Argonian children emerge, including an Argonian Princess, Mica. The children are taken in by the Chief of Coralcola. Mike's quest is over at last, and the villagers have a feast to celebrate the new arrivals.

[edit] Gameplay

StarTropics is played from a 2D top-down perspective, similar to The Legend of Zelda (in the "dungeon" areas) and various RPGs on the NES (town/overworld areas). Unlike The Legend of Zelda, StarTropics is linear and has a constant storyline. The game is divided into a series of chapters through which the story progresses. In each chapter, Mike initially walks around towns or other areas, talking to NPCs and obtaining information. After speaking to the required people, Mike will often then travel to a cave or other underground area. It is here that the game switches mechanics. The view is much more zoomed-in, with Mike traveling through rooms that are (usually) one screen big.

Mike initially attacks enemies with the Island Yo-Yo (which is called the Island Star in the Virtual Console version of the game because "yo-yo" is still a trademarked name in Canada), which has a short range. Later in the game, it can be upgrade to two more weapons adding range and power to his attacks, in order of appearance: the Shooting Star (Chapter 3 from SheCola) and the Supernova (Chapter 7 from the Orange Cube). These upgrades, however, require Mike's health to be at a certain level to be available, otherwise the item will change back to the next lower item. To use the Shooting Star, Mike needs 6 hearts full of life, and to use the Supernova Mike needs Half of his health meter or 11 Hearts full.

Mike can accumulate other weapons and magical items, some of which are baseball-themed, while some others were renamed according to the Operations Guide, in these areas, such as baseball bats, baseballs (also called Wonder Horsehides), cleats (also known as Spikes), torches (titled as Fire), bolas (also known as Twisters), Asterisk/Twin Cross-Blades (which are similar to shurikens, but can split apart to move in a 90 degree angle), slingshots, reflective mirrors (known as Miracle Mirrors), two types of laser guns (a pistol and a rifle) and more. These special weapons do not carry over from dungeon to dungeon. In addition, Mike can collect several items that have different uses, such as a lantern for lighting darkened rooms, a snowman doll that freezes the enemy (used in chapter 2), the Rod of Sight used to make ghosts appear, the magic stopwatch that either slows or stops enemies and the magic bracelet that allows Mike to jump twice the distance until he moves to the next room.

Mike has a life meter which is made of a maximum of 22 hearts, similar to that of Link's. This meter can be expanded by finding Big Hearts (which are essentially the same as Heart Containers in Zelda). Sometimes a healing item called "Vitamin X" can be seen in some places in the game, which they can temporarily fill up all of Mike's hearts, while Mike's health will slowly drain to the amount of hearts he has. Mike loses hearts when he takes damage. These hearts can be refilled by finding hearts or stars either from enemies, or inside rooms, or by collecting 5 stars from enemies. Additionally, Mike can use stored potion to refill hearts when none are available.

Mike has three lives and must restart from the beginning of a dungeon area if he loses them all. It is possible to have more than three lives, by obtaining the "Try-Your-Luck Signs" to either have more or less lives, depending on what number is shown on the sign. There are dozens of different enemies within the game and some instant-kill traps, such as spiked pits, platforms that sink into the ubiquitous water and giant bowling balls reminiscent of the rolling rock seen in the Indiana Jones movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Upon reaching the end of the dungeon area, Mike will usually fight a large boss character, which often requires a unique strategy to defeat. There is a point system in the game, which unlike most games, does not reward the player with more points for performance, but rather awards the same number of points after an area is completed. The points do not appear to serve any purpose in the game other then to measure your progress.

[edit] Immersive letter

A unique aspect of StarTropics was a saga involving a piece of paper, resembling parchment, that came packaged with the game. Written on it was a letter from Dr. Jones and was addressed to Mike, asking him to visit him at his laboratory on C-Island. It was as if the actual player had intercepted the message and was being invited indirectly to play the game. In later parts of the game, Mike receives an enigmatic message from his uncle through a third-party.

"Evil aliens from a distant planet...." "Tell Mike to dip my letter in water...."

Even for a player who owned an original copy and thus, was more likely to have the letter, it was unusual for a game to refer to a physical object that would otherwise just be a novelty. This prompted the player to think that Dr. Jones might be referring to an object within the game. To add to the confusion of the puzzle, putting this paper under water might damage it. Regardless, the correct course of action was to dip the physical piece of paper in water. It revealed a secret message from Dr. Jones and the number "747" that must be used in the game in order to advance.

Since many rental stores and used video game retailers often do not have game boxes or manuals, it is difficult to find a copy of StarTropics with the original letter, requiring the use of online game manuals or online walkthroughs to complete this part of the game. Game magazine Nintendo Power was asked this question often enough that they published the "747" code as part of their "Counselor's Corner" soon after their article of the game.^[3]

After completing the game a slideshow of events from the game is shown, including the letter being dipped in water and the number "747" visible on it.

For the Virtual Console release, the letter is included in digital form with an image of a letter and a bucket of water at the bottom. When the player clicks on one of the images, the letter dips into the bucket and the code is revealed. In the European release, the letter simply has a "click here" link at the bottom of the letter.