Collection essentials #35: Adventure Island (NES)

 

The background of this game and its series is amusing. Basically, in the ‘80s, a company called Escape was tasked by Sega to make an arcade game called “Wonder Boy”. A strange byproduct of this was that Escape held the rights to the game, but Sega owned the rights to the brand and characters. Another company, prominent developer Hudson Soft, acquired the rights from Escape to publish Wonder Boy on the NES, but they had to change the characters and music in order to not violate the copyright from Sega. This new version would be called “Adventure Island”.

So who would they replace Wonder Boy (the character) with? Well, Hudson had an employee involved with public relations that had achieved minor celebrity status through stuff like hosting tournaments and a TV show where he talked about Hudson Soft’s games, so the company decided to make a cartoonish version of HIM as the main character! For the American release his name was changed to “Master Higgins” since Japanese names don’t roll off of our tongues too well.

And another odd product of this story was that Adventure Island and the character of Master Higgins wound up being quite successful, so Adventure Island got its own independent series of completely original sequels. And meanwhile, Wonder Boy also spawned its own series as well! How strange and cool is it that one single game led to TWO completely different franchises??

Anyways, about the game itself. Adventure Island is a platformer (i.e., the same type of game as Mario), but stands out with a “stamina system” that very much changes how the game is played. You have a meter that slowly depletes as you play, and you have to regularly pick up fruit to keep filling it back up. You can grab stuff like weapons and a skateboard to help you along the way. The game is designed to be played at a fast pace, not one where you go slow and explore or be really cautious. And the game is divided up into short levels, rather than one marathon. The game does have an ending, but it’s so difficult to actually get there, and after a while the levels basically wind up becoming basically the same repeats but a little more difficult, so it doesn’t feel like it’s really MEANT to be beaten. You’ll drive yourself crazy trying. But it’s certainly good fun if you don’t hold yourself to the standard of beating it.

In my youth, the earliest memory I have with Adventure Island was actually with one of its sequels, Super Adventure Island, which I believe my family either rented or briefly borrowed from someone. I didn’t get very far, but it always stuck out in my memory. I don’t remember when I first played the original, but it was one of my first NES games when I got one as a young teenager. A few years ago I decided to stream on Twitch my first and only attempt to truly beat the game, and I threw in the towel without even really getting that close! You have infinite continues, but that doesn’t mean you’ll have infinite patience.

Adventure Island got two sequels on the NES which I also own, plus a fourth that only came out in Japan which I do not own. The sequels are better games, but actually this one is the only one I consider essential, since I’ve owned it from a young age and because of the history behind it as the original. Even though it’s technically the least of the bunch, it’s still a fun game in its own right.