“Adventure Island” is a run-and-jump game for the Game Boy that despite sharing name and cover art (at least in the PAL region) bears more resemblance to the sequel rather than the original outing on the NES.
You play as Master Higgins, a somewhat heavy lad with an underbite wearing nothing but a loin cloth and a baseball cap being in a constant state of famine. You must explore 8 critter-infested islands in order to save your girlfriend Tina from the monsters holding her captive. That’s it, that’s the whole story.
The gameplay is all about running from left to right, defeating and avoiding flora and fauna on the way, while hatching eggs containing axes, skateboards and friendly dinosaur to ride. These dinos each has their own ability which can wary from shooting electricity from the tail to taking off to the skies. They won’t alter the overall experience dramatically, but will make traveling a bit faster and easier.
Stash items and dinos between stages for later when the going gets tough.
Being released 1992 here in euro territory, it feels heavily outdated standing next to contemporary titles such as “Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins” and “Kirby’s Dreamland”. Not only does the graphics feel bland, but the repetitiveness of both sounds and level design wears my patience thin throughout the entire game. About half-way through the levels starts to be rehashed and there’s nothing new that entices the player to continue their journey. The bosses are incredibly simple and even if you do reach the end, the reward for beating the game isn’t worthwhile the roughly hour it takes to complete it.
Should this have been a release title I could have seen through its shortcomings, but unfortunately I cannot recommend this game to anyone who wants to experience a varied, challenging platformer on the go.
Two miniature Master Higgins out of five.
https://thanius.chuggybumba.com/2024/04/03/adventure-island/
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