Hudson's Adventure Island, commonly known simply as Adventure Island and known in Japan as Takahashi Meijin no Bōken Jima (高橋名人の冒険島, lit. "Master Takahashi's Adventure Island"?), is a video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System and certain other platforms, first released in Japan for the Family Computer on September 12, 1986 and MSX in 1986. The North American NES release came in September 1988, and the game was released as Adventure Island Classic on the European NES in 1992.
Developed by Hudson Soft, the game was an adaptation of the arcade game Wonder Boy. Adventure Island would go on to found a successful video game franchise with many sequels. "Adventure Island" is also the name for the Japanese version of an unreleated game developed by Hudson for the TurboGrafx-16 called Dragon's Curse.
Plot[ | ]
An Evil Witch Doctor has kidnapped Princess Leilani and taken her to Adventure Island in the South Pacific. Master Higgins, the game's protagonist, is attempting to save the kidnapped princess from the Evil Witch Doctor.
Gameplay[ | ]
Adventure Island is a side-scrolling platform game similar to Super Mario Bros.. Power-ups are found inside eggs, and include, but are not limited to, shooting power, a skateboard, superior shooting power, and fairies.
There are 8 areas in the game and a boss is featured at the end of every area. Each area consists of four rounds.
Running into an enemy, a rolling boulder, or a fire results in death, as does falling into water in the clouds level or into a pit. Stumbling over a small rock results in a partial loss of vitality. It is necessary to collect inexplicably floating food items by jumping in the air, or else Master Higgins will die. A fairy provides protection against enemies, boulders, and fire for a set while, but Higgins is always vulnerable to falling into pits and water.
Development[ | ]
The game was developed by Hudson, which took the graphics from Escape, which had developed Wonder Boy for the arcade. The levels are exactly the same ones as in Wonder Boy, but the eighth area in Adventure Island was a bonus area in Wonder Boy. The sprites are nearly identical as in Wonder Boy.
Sequels and re-releases[ | ]
Two sequels were produced for the Nintendo Entertainment System: Adventure Island II and Adventure Island III. Both sequels were ported to the Game Boy under the titles of Adventure Island and Adventure Island II respectively. A fourth game for the Family Computer was also released in Japan titled Takahashi Meijin no Bōken Jima IV. Other sequels include Super Adventure Island and Super Adventure Island II for Super NES, New Adventure Island for the TurboGrafx 16, and Adventure Island: The Beginning for the Wii.
A port of the NES version has been released for Game Boy Advance in Japan, as part of the Famicom Mini series. A 2003 remake titled, Hudson Selection Volume 4: Adventure Island (Takahashi Meijin no Adventure Island) was released as a Japan-only game for the Nintendo GameCube and PS2.
Gallery[ | ]
Famicom Boxart
NES Boxart
NES European Boxart
External links[ | ]
- Adventure Island guide at StrategyWiki
- Adventure Island at MobyGames