The original Adventure Island was a released on the Nintendo Entertainment System as a symptom adaptation by Hudson of the original Wonder Boy for Sega’s own eight bit console. Neither are particularly great, but the nod must be given to the latter for having better music and graphics. When the time came to make a sequel to Adventure Island their basis of inspiration had already moved in a wildly different direction (action RPG) and thus the developers decided to expand upon the original ideas. This was actually my first exposure to the franchise as a kid, and this is only because the box art captured my imagination. Adventure Island II quickly turned into one of my favorite platforming titles, but as the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo overtook relevance my local rental store liquidated their collection of Nintendo titles. I didn’t get a chance to play Adventure Island II again that is, until recently when it was added to my collection. It’s not quite as great as I recalled, but it’s a solid package overall that outshines most platformers of the era.
In Adventure Island II you once again play as the grass skirt clad Master Higgins. Once again he must rescue a kidnapped damsel in distress traveling across an uninhabited chain of eight islands each featuring several different stages and a boss character waiting at the end. Although these are divided up by a world map you cannot return to previous levels nor are you given the opportunity to choose your path. Progression is linear for the most part with hidden warp zones ala Super Mario Bros. which allow you to simply skip the landmass you’re currently on. Anyway, let’s move on to gameplay. Adventure Island II is a traditional side scrolling platform game. Your goal is simply to guide Master Higgins with his innate ability to run left, right, jump and swim to the end of each stage. Okay, maybe it’s not that simple. You have an army of enemies to contend with and by default our hero can only take one hit before he loses a life and starts over. One unique aspect that returns from the previous game is Master Higgins’ hunger meter. Despite being a portly guy you must constantly touch fruit and other foods that appear in each stage to replenish this gauge because you also lose a life if this runs out. It’s a unique dynamic that forces the player to take risks they wouldn’t normally, and it makes the action much more frantic. The original game didn’t take advantage of this with overly straightforward level design, but part II is more open making this dynamic more significant by forcing exploration when desperate. It makes the game stand out from the pack.
The biggest advancement was made by means of introducing power-ups. The original only had a throwing hammer projectile, your typical invincibility item and a skateboard that caused you to constantly move forward which was more detrimental than anything. These all return, and they function in pretty much the same fashion. The new additions are amazing. Instead of simply giving you new weapons the developers introduce here a host of dinosaur friends that Master Higgins can ride and each has their own specific abilities. You have four different dinos here; a blue one that can attack enemies with its tail, a palette swapped red creature that breathes fire and can walk through lava, a pterodactyl that can fly endlessly making platforming a snap, and an elasmosaurus that allows you to swim effortlessly in the aquatic stages. Each of these, as well as the other power-ups are stored inside eggs that spawn in specific areas of each level. These dinosaur friends disappear when you’re touched by an enemy or fall down a chasm, but should they survive to the end of the level you can stockpile them in your inventory and activate them at the beginning of a stage as needed. You can even do this with your hammers. I really like this feature.
The level designs have been stepped up significantly. The original Adventure Island was a poor man’s Super Mario Bros. clone with very straightforward stages and a never ending recycle of the same enemies. It was a simple left to right affair, but here there’s far more variety. Some areas feature multiple tiers for added exploration, others are completely vertical in progression, and as I’ve already mentioned you even have fully aquatic areas to explore. Apparently Higgins learned to swim since his last outing. This added variety is welcome, and enemies are more smartly placed and have less routine patterns of attack. Because most eggs are invisible and must be triggered you’re encouraged more to walk everywhere, but you must be smart about it because the hunger meter is constantly counting down. Thematically the game is diverse and interesting. The islands all have their own motif, and it’s well established and adds even more variety. You have your typical ice, water, and desert themes but others such as Cave Island, Cloud Island, and Volcano Island are significantly more interesting. The boss encounters are especially well done. They’re mostly based on large versions of tropical monsters, but their patterns are fun to memorize and they’re challenging but not impossible. As an added bonus Higgins and whichever dinosaur he’s riding separate and the dinosaur gains a whole new dynamic as a helper character with this system.
While it’s not among the best looking titles for the platform Adventure Island II is a noticeable upgrade from the previous title graphically. Characters feature more detailed sprites, and this time around you actually have some objects in the scenery (it’s usually just trees or rocks but that’s something at least) to give each area its own unique feel. The prehistoric direction this game takes is a good one for the series and never feels out of place. It’s part of the reason I picked this one up from the rental store when I was a kid after all. Slowdown doesn’t occur as often here as in most NES titles which is nice. There are still some moments where the game chugs along, but for the most part it runs well enough. Unfortunately the flickering is pretty bad. It can be tough to see many of the enemies and I found myself dying simply by touching enemies that didn’t appear to be there. This requires a little memorization because it seems to happen in the same areas time and time again. It’s not a deal breaker by any means though. The soundtrack is a bit limited with only a handful of different compositions, but I enjoyed each of them especially the cave music.
I loved this game in my childhood. Looking back I might have been a little overzealous when my younger self declared it better than Super Mario Bros. 3, but honestly it’s not all that far off. I’m thankful that Hudson Soft built upon the ideas established by the original Wonder Boy instead of simply copying Sega’s effort because the result is incredible. Adventure Island II might have been released to little fanfare, and is hardly recognized even today, but it’s one of the best platformers you’ll find on any system modern or retro alike.
