The original adventure of everybody's favourite fat man in a grass skirt has finally hit the Virtual Console! Adventure Island is somewhat of a Mario clone - you guide Master Higgins to the end of every level (8 worlds with 4 levels each, sound familiar?) dodging wildlife, boulders and fire in order to defeat the witch doctor at the end of each world (also familiar?) who has captured your beloved bride-to-be Tina.
Things aren't as simple as they are in Mario games though. For one thing, along the way you will find eggs that reveal items when broken. You might find an Axe or Fireballs (the only weapons in the game - you are unarmed when you start or after losing a life, so be sure to rearm yourself); a Fairy that grants you temporary invincibility, allowing you to run through enemies to destroy them; a skateboard that lets you move at increased speed and take another hit (the drawback being that you cannot stop, only slow down); or an eggplant, which will cling onto you for a bit and drain vitality.
Adventure Island is known for its difficulty. Master Higgins will die from exhaustion if he does not keep collecting the fruit that hovers in the air in stages, so it is wise to hurry. Making contact with any enemy or obstacle will result in instant death unless you're on a skateboard, so watch out! There is one exception: many small rocks are scattered across the stages. If you trip on one, you will lose a small amount of vitality, but won't die.
To make the game a bit easier, there are 4 checkpoints scattered around each stage. Running past these will let you restart there after dying. If you lose all your lives though, it's an instant game over and you have to start back at the very beginning of the game ... unless you find a little secret. Hidden in the first level somewhere is an invisible egg that contains the Hudson bee logo. Collecting this will allow you to continue by pressing a button combination on the game over screen.
At the end of each world, you fight the witch doctor. Each time he will change heads and have some more health to take down. For example, he first has the head of a rhino, then a hawk, etc. His attacks do not differ (unlike the various bosses in New Adventure Island, also available on VC), so he basically requires the same strategy each time, similar to Bowser in Super Mario Bros.
So, what's up with the similarity to Sega's Wonder Boy (especially the first title in the series)? Well, some key people in the Wonder Boy team left WestOne for Hudson after creating the game. They wanted to port it to the NES, but were obviously unable to use the likeness of Wonder Boy, so they made him resemble Takahashi Meijin, the most famous Hudson employee (because of his button-mashing skills - he can press a button 16 times a second!) and renamed the game Adventure Island.
In Japan, it is known as Master Takahashi's Adventure Island and the main character, while still looking the same as Master Higgins, is actually Meijin himself. After removing some extra levels (Which weren't much different from the rest anyway), ramping up the difficulty a bit and changing the music, it was ready to go!
After that, Wonder Boy and Adventure Island went their seperate ways; Wonder Boy became more RPG-esque, while Adventure Island continued with the same style until the final installment, Super Adventure Island II, which combined the Adventure Island style with Wonder Boy's new RPG style, resulting in a fantastic game.
Adventure Island may be the least polished of the series, but it still holds up today. It's never really hard - it just requires quick reaction speed and memorization. If you're a fan of platformers, this is not one to be missed. It's a cult classic and still great. Just get that Hudson bee or you'll be sorry!
And for those wondering, New Adventure Island is not a remake of this game. It has the same basic gameplay elements, but the levels are entirely different. It also adds two weapons.
1. McCabe
02 Aug 2007, 20:19 GMT
I remember this one...not as good as its sequels, in which you got to ride on dinosaurs...some of which breathed fire. Challenging at times, this is worth your wii points if you like old school platforming...just remember to keep snagging the fruits. This is probably a sign that the sequels are to come. And heyy--who doesn't love throwing stone clubs at diabolical snail monsters whilst riding a skateboard? That's right- no one.
2. superfurryfox
27 Aug 2007, 12:07 GMT
Wait, dont we already have the Turbo Grafix version of this game? Why even bother to put this on VC?
3. Drake
27 Aug 2007, 15:08 GMT
Adventure Island and New Adventure Island are two completely different games. The original's actually better than New.
4. Suburban_Sensei
03 Sep 2007, 16:10 GMT
This is a game I bought completely for nostalgia. I remember the days when I was young, at the video store and seeing that big Rhino Witch Doctor on the cover, so when I saw this on the VC, I remember how fun this game was. The review hit it right on the nail, basically a prehistoric Mario game.
5. Wolf
03 Sep 2007, 17:14 GMT
You're a cave man with a skate board who rides dinos! This is a classic series. I don't remember if the first one did but they even had the overworld view where you could see where you were going next sort of like super mario world but u couldn't control it. Really cool idea for an adventure game back then.
6. The Jono
03 Sep 2007, 18:48 GMT
I had Adventure Island for the Game Boy and remember it having dinosaurs to ride. I assume it was a port of a console version, anyone have an idea which one? I'd definitely pick it up... just an all around fun game.
7. Dusk
03 Sep 2007, 18:50 GMT
This game just might be the best game in the series IMO. The sequels were good, but I really think this one still takes the cake. Maybe the nostalgia is influencing my opinion, but this game is a solid, challenging game.
8. Cowmansr
03 Sep 2007, 20:10 GMT
Am I the only person who just never liked this game. All the levels felt pretty much the same. Especially after beating the first boss. There really isn't anything new after that. The levels were too simple, and they allowed no interaction (no climbing, bouncing, brick-breaking, going down pipes, through doors, anything). It just felt like a wanna-be Mario that they tried to make cool by throwing in a skateboard. I didn't even know anyone liked this game. Some of its sequels looked better, though.
9. Ben
04 Sep 2007, 03:12 GMT
i hated this awful game, generic platformer.
10. Darkness Deku
04 Sep 2007, 03:14 GMT
This game looks a little plain but the way you fight through the levels looks interesting. I might buy it.
11. CocoLopez
05 Sep 2007, 16:28 GMT
imagine if this is better than new adventure island. seems like people talk without having a clue as to what they're saying.
12. El Vampe
08 Sep 2007, 01:00 GMT
YES!!! Me and my brothers were convinced that this would never be released cause we thought that Nintendo wouldn't see the use after releasing New adventure island. THIS is AVENTURE ISLAND at its purest form, with the difficulty that gives no mercy whatsoever! I admit the New Adventure Island has more diversity, but the challenge just isn't there, and the music is not as catchy as the originals(although the boss music was nice). To all players who THINK they are the masters of platformers or are just looking for a HARD or a FUN game, step right up and buy it. The difficulty of this game is CLOSE to that of the Ghouls n' ghost series, but the cheat (which I've never tried) will give infinite continues, but if you're not good enough, you'll just end up dying over and over again. So beware...
13. ej
09 Sep 2007, 19:45 GMT
Did they ever make this game for N64? I remember it had Higgins and Don Don Pteradon
14. Drake
10 Sep 2007, 00:33 GMT
@ ej: Nope, there hasn't been a new, proper Adventure Island since Super Adventure Island II in 1994.
There was a mobile phone "Adventure Island" last year, but that's simply one of the Wonder Boy games (2 I think) with slight changes.
There was also a remake of the original Adventure Island with a graphical upgrade for the GameCube (Japan only), and Master Higgins appeared in a JP-only GameCube fighter.
15. retrogamer88
11 Sep 2007, 15:51 GMT
Waste of time. Not fun at all.
16. Mip
29 Nov 2007, 16:50 GMT
I've never played a game on a arcade machine except: Racing games, light gun games, adventure island and first tekken.
17. StarSoldier1
20 Dec 2007, 03:36 GMT
Cool, it's Wonderboy!
18. alex cabrera
24 Dec 2007, 00:00 GMT
adventure island is a rip off wonder boy
19. Drake
24 Dec 2007, 12:32 GMT
The same people made both Wonder Boy and Adventure Island, so it's not a ripoff at all!
20. learn japanese ds
07 Jan 2008, 05:40 GMT
The original wasn't all that great but the sequels were all awesome. I'll definitely pick up the later games when they let you ride dinos!
21. Jogurt the Yogurt
22 Feb 2008, 00:30 GMT
I had this for my NES back in the day. I traded it in at a flea market for a copy of Mega Man II, which I then traded in with $4 for Final Fantasy. Those were the days.
This is a fun, fast-paced little platformer, but the controls aren't as tight as what Nintendo made us used to, and the graphics have a bit of a shallow/cartoony look to them. Worth checking out, especially for all of the Wonderboy/AI faithful around here.
22. President_Leever
22 Feb 2008, 00:45 GMT
Not as good as wonder boy or the TG16 game.
23. That Guy from Faxanadu
22 Feb 2008, 14:50 GMT
This is a lot better than dull Adventure Island II for NES, but not as good as the Master Systems Wonderboy. That game had amusing bonus levels. And a regular continue screen without having to chase any "Hudson Bee". On the upper hand, I like Adventure Islands music, so I´ll download it.
24. slangman
23 Feb 2008, 13:39 GMT
Might download this, it looks fun and has catchy music.
25. stinssd
17 Mar 2008, 16:15 GMT
This game is like a poisoned banana. When I rented this game back in the day, I had more fun driving to return it to Blockbuster than playing it.
26. NHKagent
23 Mar 2008, 03:15 GMT
I played this of the Gameboy way back when.
Adventure Island was my first "real" game aside from pac-man.
Still, I can't wait to play this on the VC
,
27. Adamant
01 Apr 2008, 22:25 GMT
"I had Adventure Island for the Game Boy and remember it having dinosaurs to ride. I assume it was a port of a console version, anyone have an idea which one?"
Adventure island for the Game Boy is a port of the NES Adventure Island II.
(ha, that was one belated reply
)
28. Roo
01 May 2008, 16:57 GMT
This is okay. It's a 2D platformer with music, gameplay and graphics. Nothing more, nothing less.
29. retrogamer
11 Jul 2008, 20:51 GMT
I have this on my NES. Slippery controls make it really frustarating when you are trying to time a jump.
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