Developer: Hudson Soft Publisher: Hudson Soft Release: 09/88 Genre: Platformer
I honestly do not know when my obsession with Adventure Island began. Maybe it was the name; and island full of adventure sounds like the greatest thing in the world. I was 8 years old, give me a break. It would be a few years after its release before I got my hands on it. Little did I know that Adventure Island is basically the Nintendo equivalent of Wonder Boy, a title I was not too fond of. And while I did not like it initially I have grown an appreciation for it, warts and all.
How Adventure Island came to be is an interesting story. Wonder Boy was created by developer Westone and published by Sega. As Sega owned Wonder Boy Hudson Soft bought the rights to publish their own version of the game for the NES/Famicom. Wonder Boy was replaced by Master Higgins, a caricature of their spokesman Takashi Meijin. While both series ran concurrently they would eventually spin off in two completely different directions. Westone turned the series into an action RPG while Hudson stuck to platforming until the later games.
It is clear the game is patterned after Super Mario Brothers. Adventure Island has an identical structure to SMB, eight worlds of four levels apiece. The end level boss is virtually identical every time except with a different head. The similarities do not stop there; both star overweight heroes with red caps as well. I would like to believe that last bit was unintentional. But there are major differences in gameplay as well.
Master Higgins does not butt bounce enemies but chucks a mean axe and later fire. The only differences between the two are range and the ability to destroy rocks. Further power-ups are few in number. The rare fairy grants invincibility while the grim reaper will quickly drain your life. I still cannot decide if the skateboard is a help or hindrance, that is for you to decide.
The most prominent difference between Super Mario Brothers and Adventure Island is the life gauge. Unlike most titles here it isn’t to protect you from danger. In fact it poses the biggest threat for a multitude of reasons. The life meter constantly ticks down, serving as a timer. Collecting fruit restores it in different amounts but it remains an ever present threat. It makes the game faster paced than your typical platformer as you always need to stay on the move. That pacing gives the series its own identity and informs the rest of the game.
The way Master Higgins life bar affects the game is kind of brilliant upon close examination. Watching your health tick down creates a palpable sense of urgency that leads to mistakes. The game preys on this, with deliberate and well thought out enemy placement. While your every instinct is to rush it is actually more prudent to take it slow. Outside of a few end game stages specifically designed around speed there is almost always enough breathing room to take your time. That being said you do still have to search for hidden fruit to stay alive at all times.
I do have some gripes with the game. I do not like the slippery controls; Master Higgins slides before coming to a complete stop. There are two jumps; a short hop and the crucial super jump. The timing and reliability of the super jump is finicky at best, leading to cheap deaths. They really needed to nail that move as it is critical to the game but didn’t. The game is also heavily repetitive. Adventure Island recycles the same forest, cave, and cloud themed stages as early as the second world. It grows old fast and doesn’t get better. You can lobby the same criticism at Super Mario Brothers but it did set the mold the rest of the genre followed.
Adventure Island has a steep difficulty curve due to some of the above issues. The challenge spikes very early and grows as you progress. Most of the time it is fair; as I said enemy and trap placement is deliberate. But there are plenty of instances where it is impossible to avoid death at first. The frequent checkpoints and unlimited continues lighten the burden but you will spend some time on this one before reaching the end.
In Closing
Adventure Island is a good but not great platformer that did something different in the genre. The foundation it created lead to its much improved sequels although I do not know if I would recommend it today. It is a little bit archaic.
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