Developer: Konami Publisher: Konami Released: 1987 Genre: Action
If you are a child of the 80s chances are the Goonies is a cultural touchstone you remember. The premise of a group of kids going on the adventure of a lifetime will always be appealing. Now I’ll be honest; as much as I remember the movie it was never one of my favorites. But a video game sequel was right up my alley. I don’t quite know what I expected from the Goonies II but it certainly surprised me, for better and worse.
Most kids in America were perplexed as to how there is a Goonies II without a first one. For some inexplicable reason the original Goonies was only playable in US in Play Choice 10 cabinets. But I digress. The Goonies II is a…..loose sequel to the movie. Ma Fratelli has broken out of jail and kidnapped all of the Goonies except Mikey. She has also captured a mermaid named Annie for some reason. That gets a big WTF from me.
The Goonies II is an adventure game along the lines of Castlevania II and Metroid. The game Is entirely nonlinear with your main goal being to rescue the six missing goonies and Annie. You are given no direction; you start with a yo-yo and a two-sided map and left to your own devices. Occasionally you can find vague “hints” but they mostly tell you stuff you already know. Like the games that inspired it this was the ultimate guide game. Too bad for those of us in the 80s there were none.
Over the course of the game Mikey will collect a range of equipment, from candles, keys, and a diving suit to weapons like a slingshot and boomerang. You find most of these items in the first person rooms. These are patterned after point and click adventure games and offer a few commands to interact with the environment. But where you could logically see the puzzles in those titles every room in Goonies II is a mystery. The game is obtuse with its hints leaving you to hit every wall and ceiling in every room for items. There are even a few key items that require you to hit the damn doors to find. It grows old fast, especially as there are plenty of rooms that offer nothing and waste your time. This aspect of the game drags it down because it is so prominent and I wish it were different.
Navigation is also a pain in the ass. The Goonies II has two maps dubbed front and back. One would assume that moving from the front to the back will take you to the same spot on the other map. But in reality the warp zones between maps dump you all over the place. It is bad enough that you end up pounding every wall and ceiling but the controls in every room are frustrating. I should stop harping on this element of the game, I think you get the point. The only guidance the game gives are magic locator devices that sort of point you in the direction of your friends. While they are marked on the map how you get there is the challenge.
What I’ve outlined sounds damning but the Goonies II is still compelling in spite of its faults. It screams that Konami quality from its graphics to its fantastic soundtrack. Between the odd moments of frustration when everything clicks you can see the potential the game has. When you find the item you need to progress to the next section of the game and it opens up it feels very rewarding. As frustrated as I was at times I did still like it enough to persevere to the next segment which means I actually like it. Lord knows I dropped Dr. Chaos like a brick and that game has many of the same problems but worse.
Back in the day the Goonies II seemed like an impenetrably massive adventure. In reality it is a little over an hour long. Most of the time spent is shuffling back and forth great distances to find items. If the map were more sensible it would probably be even quicker. This is not a difficult game either. Most enemies are indifferent to your progress and die quickly. The few stronger enemies are worth the damage penalty to run past since you can farm hearts. With every Goonie saved your life bar grows and death is a minor convenience. The only real challenge is figuring out what the hell to do and where to go. If the game’s various systems were ironed out it would be incredible.
In Closing
The Goonies II is a flawed game but still worth a solid afternoon in spite of that. As a 1987 release it was pioneering game design and so I can forgive it for its faults. I recommend it but only if you use a guide.
My Favorite NES game of all time. You were right about it being comes and difficult to understand. I had to use The Official Nintendo Players Guide just to beat the game.