Interesting and refreshing take on a popular old game. This kind of game is from a different age. The original game is called Wonder Boy (published by Sega) and it was a huge mid-eighties arcade hit, being ported to all the home computers of the day and most notably got an arcade perfect port on the Master System. Hudson bought the rights to port it to the NES, and a couple of years later reskinned it and gave birth to the Adventure Island 'fork' in the series. There was a point when I could pretty much one-credit the arcade game (and knew where all the secret handbags were), and almost did the same thing on the Master System. As much as I love some 8-16-bit Hudson Soft games their take on Wonder Boy always felt a bit dirty and inferior to Westone and Sega's efforts. I wouldn't say the AI series is exactly their finest hour.
This game is a Wonder Boy clone from the SMS. The mustache among other things was needed for Hudson to make copyright changes from "Tom Tom" the original character from Sega.
Agreed. It was really unneccesary to have to collect the bee and then input a code ontop of that just to continue. There shouldve been unlimited continues as well as passwords. The game is challenging enough with unlimited continues. Some of the patterns get very difficult in a few areas towards the end. I have good and bad memories of the game. It was frustrating as hell but it has a nostalgia to it for me as well. I like it but its not a great game to me. The control is a little loose. New Adventure Island on turbo grafx 16 is the best adventure island I played and super adventure island was solid as well.
I'm gearing up to play this for the first time soon. It's fun going through retro games and seeing all the different channels out there and the different takes.
This is a Wonder Boy clone from the Sega Master System which came out a almost 2 years earlier. My NES friends could never figure out why I was so good at this game when they first got it 😅
I accidentally learned a cheat when I played this game. Unlimited Continues At the end of the first level right before the sign that says G on it there is a hidden egg. You will have to jump at the edge right next to the wooden platform that leads to this cliff and it will reveal the hidden egg. Inside this egg, you will find a bee that allows you to continue after a game over. After collecting the bee, anytime you are on the game over screen, hold Up + A + Select and press Start. This will respawn you at the start of the level you died on.
The character in this game is based off a Hudson employee by the name of Takahashi Meijin, known for his extremely fast thumb speed. There are videos that show how fast he can mash a button on a controller, the man literally doesn't need a turbo pad.
I highly recommend Adventure Island 3! AI2 is really good as well but the third game just seemed to have the most dinosaur critters and tons of secret areas/stages to enjoy. The first game might be in my Top 5 HARDEST NES games list because it is truly THAT hard to beat (for all the wrong reasons too...kinda hard to beat any game with no weapons which is the position the game puts you in multiple times).
The bee thing was ridiculous. I never liked the idea of the depleting health - which also happened on the SNES one too I think... never really understood the idea of that.
Ben Rai I don't mind the energy thing in Felix - there if you ran out of energy you'd just drop down to a less powerful form. Here you just die though. Also, having all the things that make the game easier be hidden seems contrary to an energy meter that compels you to move forward quickly.
Fair call. Honestly not a lot of NES games have aged well. They were good in 1986 when your alternative was losing heaps of money on arcade games, but these days we've been spoilt by the better games of the next two generations which are still much more playable.
Great review. Though you have to understand the gaming mentality of that decade, most games were not friendly or fun for all, games were made to challenge player and give them that adrenaline rush, and that orgasm(lol) of beating what it seemed impossible. That was an unique sensation far better than "fun", fun games didn't give that danger sensation and adrenaline. Later games lost it in order to be more popular, friendly and cash.
Ironically "cash" was also the reason why many of those games had an artificial and ridiculous level of difficulty. Most kids would only have 3 or 4 new games per year. They were quite expensive. And making the games freaking hard would make them last longer, because they still needed to be finished.
The difficulty and repetition of this game was insane. I own Adventure Islabd 2 so I can assure that one's a great game. I think therr's one on SNES but I never played it.
I actually forgot about Adventure Island till I googled up Island 3 and saw this video, thank you for highlighting the game, honestly, Island 3 was amazing, you should give it a shot.
I'm with you on this one. Needlessly difficult games are not my cup of tea either. Platformers should ideally ramp up the difficulty the deeper you go. Not make you wonder why the developers hate you right out of the box. I was THIS close to buying it on the 3DS eshop till you were onto how hard it was. Not having certain information making it harder reminded me of playing the first Zelda game, which was way harder playing blind. As a side note, I've watched (and commented) on many of your videos, and am impressed with the quality of content you put out for as long as you have been doing this. That level of talent deserves to be commended. You did 2 videos of mean things you've read on here, ever considered showing and reading some of the positive?
I enjoyed this game as a kid. I remember completing it then. Since being an adult I added it back to my collection just a few years ago. You touched on some very valid points. I can't see myself completing it now. Its very challenging and the 32 levels is a beating that's for sure. Still this game has a place in my retro history.
Lol it's funny you keep reviewing games I just bought or thinking of getting ! Felix, maniac mansion, Kirby I bought over the past few months, I don't have the first but I just got adventure island 2.... Also 3 is on its way in the mail right now. Keep the vids coming, you are so good!
This was one of the first NES games I played when I bought a console in 1990. My gf's friend played Nintendo and this was one of her favorite titles so we started playing it. It is a very challenging game, for sure, and I've actually never beat it, one of the few games out of scores for the NES that I've never finished (also Star Wars, which is nearly impossible to beat without cheats). As far as hidden items go, here are my 2 cents...The first hit for the NES was Super Mario Bros., which had many hidden items. The first time I played it my immediate thought was "WTF?? How the actual fuck are you supposed to know those blocks are there??". I only knew because my gf had played before and knew where all the hidden items were. It was common in games then. it encouraged the player to explore the world. The challenge in AI, of course, is to explore while at the same time replenishing food and killing/avoiding enemies. I realized pretty quickly that the hidden eggs were almost always on the edge of a pit or cliff, so that saved some time (we also died a LOT looking for eggs). The Hudson Bee trick I didn't learn until later. Back in the pre-internet days the way to get game hacks was to read the few gaming magazines and books that existed at that time. I think once I got better at the game and knew where all the power-ups were I made it to level 8, but there was one jump I couldn't do. It was impossibly hard, and that's why I watched this video in the first place. But now that I've watched it it might be AI 2 I'm thinking of! I think I did finish this game. Anyway...thanks for the great video!
This was really cool! we love this series at BFG and play the original all the time. it is an incredibly challenging game due to length and lack of lives.. also thanks for the background story a lot of people you wont hear that from. and finally i thought we were doing pretty good on finding secrets and the secrets level but the Hunny Bee was a great bit of information that will really help. keep up the good work
I really like this game but yeah having to collect a secret bee to even be able to continue is absurd. Should have just given infinite continues by default like Castlevania. Also, a password system to save progress after each world or atleast every other world would have been really nice.
I was the only person in my family who used the NES but I also have fond memories of it. As far as getting Adventure Island, I actually got it on the Sega Game Gear. Decent game for its time.
Blows my mind Hudson’s Adventure Island beat anything in a vote! Especially The Guardian Legend! I did play Aventure Island way back in the 80’s. One of those stay at home from school sick days! Needless to say it was a very frustrating day. Luckily no controllers were destroyed that day!! 😂👍
Nice honest review of a nostalgic hotspot for lots of retro-gamers (like myself). Good to hear what it was like for someone coming into it 'blind'. Thanks for sharing! I subscribed!
Where have you been all my life? An amazing, gamer, and an intelligent woman who knows her stuff, and is very beautiful! Instantly subscribed when I found your channel!
I grew up playing Adventure Island, because a friend had it, so I have more nostalgia for the game which definitely colors my opinion. I still enjoy it, but looking at it objectively, it is a pretty basic experience that is just really difficult because of the need to memorize everything. That said, a lot of 8-bit platformers relied on that same tactic, so it's not unprecedented, and at least the game has plenty of charm. I would agree that later games are better, because they add additional weapons, the ability to ride various kinds of dinosaurs, which also give the extra hit, and a bit more variety in the levels and boss fights.
Great video, great channel, great series, we are attempting to do something similar, and I have fond memories of playing that game, I stress "playing" not beating, or winning, but it was a fun addition to my NES lineup.
@@Cannotbetamed1 yayy thanks for replying to my comment however it's only top 5. I'm looking for games like adv island, wonder boy etc..that you just can't stop playing. Thanks ❤️
Though I never played this one as a kid, it sounds a lot like any other NES game at the time: Secrets are learned through word-of-mouth, and you only had a few games at the time, so you had plenty of time to play it over and over to get better, or you use a code (*ahem* Contra *ahem*). I did try this one a couple of times within the last few years, got to about the 4th or 5th level and decided to quit. There just isn't as much time to play as an adult!
Good review! What did you think about the music in the game? Not even worth mentioning, right? I think you would've had more fun with The Guardian Legend, and its music is fantastic :)
ShmupShmupPewPew The music was okay, I guess, it got quite repetitive. It's definitely not memorable like many other NES platformers. I think I may play The Guardian Legend next, that's the one I wanted to win the vote :)
I didn't play this one, though I did play Wonder Boy, which doesn't seem to be too different from this. Speaking of which, out of all the Adventure Island games, Super Adventure Island II on SNES seems to be the best one. It's rather distinct as it emphasizes on adventure more than just straight up platforming. I've actually seen it labeled as a Mertroidvania, so that's definitely interesting.
Maybe there is another retro game you would like to check out on NES. I dunno the english title but it's called Doki Doki Amusement Park... or something like that... Starts with a boy in blue clothes jumps into a movie screen theatre in order to rescue a kidnapped girl... Was a pretty cute game.
Oh god! I had that nightmare of a game. I may have reached half the game. It was too hard for kids. This easily could have been a rival to Super Mario Bros if it had better main character design, music control and a little bit more easy(at least continues). And the ability to get rid of the skate board at will. Hated that thing mostly. I got the 3rd too which was better but I felt it surprisingly too easy after being used to the abuse of the first.
Well when I was in K.G. I used to play this game but once i got adventure island 2 and 3 then i did not play this game XD very hard and genuinely I'm happy that a girl also like some nes games. All NES games provided me a golden childhood :') and I still play some selected games and I hope u may make ur reviews on " Shadow of the Ninja ", " Double Dragon 3 " , "Ninja Gaiden series" "Mighty Final Fight" , "Jackie Chan" and "Kick Master" and "Tokyuu Sherei Solbrian" . These were the golden games of NES era !!! Ur review is awesome !!!! Totally love it
+Cannot be Tamed It's an honor that u think abt "Jackie Chan" and I wanna tell u that there're two best soundtracks; the first one appears in stage 01 just before the buddha boss of the stage 01( u will understand during stage 01) and the other soundtrack is in stage 02 part 02 ( ice cave ). The 1st track is my most fav :) Thank You
I have memories of playing part two I have seen super adventure Island II also but I did not even know there was a number one even if it sounds laughable
There was only one gaming girl on our street. And she would let her go in her house, and she would play Island. I hated it so much. To me it was the anti-video game. But if I find it somewhere, I will buy it. lol. Just for the memory,
Did you beat the game? This game is deceptively hard, it looks nice and friendly but really isn't. It took a good japanese player 23 hours(!) to beat this game(GameCenter CX)... (without the better weapon I might add)
my parents hated arcades and my brother and i were forbidden to get near one, the local farmacy that was a bit far and hidden downtown had this game on it, occasionally my brother and i would save some coins and play it for a little bit and when my mother asked where we were when we got home we would just tell her we bought band aid cus one of us or one of our friends fell hehehe good times. great videos btw keep them up :)
Farthest I got was 8 1 back in a day. My best result is 7 4 currently... It gets crazy starting at world 7... I did beat Wonderboy in a day, because it has continues...
I always felt like this game was someones attempt at Marios Cousin on crack. I enjoyed it myself. But it did feel like they were trying to both capitalize, and somehow..... improve of the Mario games while throwing in their own take on it. Not a bad idea. But..... I agree. Maybe a little too much thrown at you at once comparitvely.
nice review. ive never been a fan of this game or had any desire to own it cause of the reasons you mentioned and im a fan of 'hard' games but the no continues thing is a bit too much of artificially hard aspect for me. i think some of the sequels are better though. its also interesting the games a rehash of the wonder boy series but what evs. maybe some time youll get to those other two games. think you'd dig rock n cats. guardian i have mixed feelings about but i get its charm. ever play puss n boots. weird game but i think id rather play that over this first adventure island. least its short and easy.
BenevolentDick I really don't understand the point of the hidden bee to let you continue - it seems like that should just be a part of the game. It's a strange way of gating or extending the gameplay. I'm sure I'll get to TGL and RK soon, I wanted to play all 3 games I put up for vote. I have not played Puss n' Boots, but I do really like shorter Nintendo games.
I played 1 and 3(as a kid) AD1 is on my list of non beated games :( AD3 instead was too easy XD or maybe I was already got used to masochist difficulty XD also 3rd had rideable dinosaurs... before Yoshi. Coincidence?
I'm giving a try to this game for the first time and I found no continue feature which I thought it was insane. Later I also checked the manual and noticed there was a continue option that activates finding a secret bee inside an egg and then pressing the DPAD and START during the main screen. What a bunch of bullsh*t!
Adventure Island 1 is flawed - in particular the eggs and their rewards are too much of a guessing game in the later worlds - but I do think games like this need to be understood in the context of their day to help understand their design philosophies. You see this talked about a bit in the GameCenterCX episode, but the Hudson Bee being an easy to find secret - but a secret all the same - wasn't just to make the design more obtuse and difficult for difficulty's sake, but instead designed encourage players to just...play the game and just see how they do. It's not a design decision that makes much sense nowadays, especially for people that want continuous forward progression, but there is a logic to it, of playing and sharing secrets over brute force completion. And, of course, once you have the bee, you have infinite continues, and can use your lives to power through the checkpoints and learn each section. In that sense, the game does play fair with you. The remaining secrets in that context are more like schoolyard secrets than anything essential. Not to mention, the difficulty is better thought out and tested than a lot of "hard" NES games, in the sense that its repeating structure really does train you to incrementally learn the layouts and get better. Consider 8-3 and the infamous "3 bats" Before you even reach that level, you still have a variation of the stage where only every other platform drops, then afterwards every platform, then finally every platform with the bats. If this was the first time hitting the sequence, it would be an absolute wall. But knowing the structure of platforms, and anticipating that there's going to be some extra step to fuck you up, 8-3 ends up building a little suspense even before you know what's coming. And this is true throughout the whole game. This design also has the advantage of helping the player learn or identify secrets from earlier stages to use in later stages in many cases. Obviously this is not a perfect thing - repeating level structure is still at best a dated way to construct a challenge or theme - but the fact that it is done in such a deliberate way does make me more inclined to forgive or even appreciate it. Hell the fact that every challenge did feel so deliberate and playtested is probably the reason why I beat it, despite being a very precise game to win.
As someone who grew up here in Australia, where the sega master system was just as popular, perhaps even more so, as the NES, this looks like a store-brand copy of Wonderboy on the Sega Master System, which is what I had as a child. It's no coincidence, as my understanding is that they are basically the same game, but with some things altered, such as the name and the main player sprite. The music in this sounded a bit weak compared, and the colours looked a bit washed out too, although some of the levels looked pretty close to Wonderboy. I never completed that game either, for the same reasons as you stated, even back in the day, although I do remember that my brother and I managed to make it a fair way through eventually. Is there any chance you could try Wonderboy on the Master system to give your honest comparison?
I'm sure you already know this, but just in case you are not aware of it, the mega drive (sorry, Genesis there?), has a full master system in it, with only a simple adapter needed, such as the Power Base Converter, known as Mega Adaptor (メガアダプタ) in Japan, Master System Converter in Europe and Adaptador Para os Jogos Master System in Brazil, or there are 3rd party alternatives. If you know anyone handy with a soldering iron, it's even easy enough to get a simple adapter for the cartridges made. There is also the everdrive route, which may be easier if you've got one of those, but I understand some people prefer the real hardware. Anyway, I'd really appreciate it, as it would be interesting to contrast your experiences of the NES against the MS library, and if you go the mega drive/genesis compatibility route, you wouldn't have to use the original master system control pad, which to be honest had a pretty terrible directional pad.
Adventure island basicly is a shameless copy of the Wonderboy series. Since Sega (not sure if im talking truth im not Googling) owned the rights to the Wonderboy name so Nintendo could not port it directly. That's why it looks so similar, only the name and some mechanics where changed as well as the appearance of the character.
Sega only owned the name, Westone (the independent company that developed the Wonderboy games) allowed Hudson Soft to basically port the original Wonderboy game under a different name with different characters on NES with the game still being licenced under Westone. Hudson Soft later developed sequals based on the same gameplay from Wonderboy 1/Adventure Island 1.
Someone needs to make a romhack where you are the real Higgins from from Magnum, P.I. killing the cast of Magnum, P.I. , You would use the dogs from the show as a weapon.
This is definitely a tough game. I remember sitting up waaay too late in grade school with my buddy Stan figuring out how this goes, switching off and on :P Yup, this game was most fun back when two-player meant, "Well, we'll trade off on lives!" Made it more appealing when you got/lost your turn every few seconds, and eventually progressed to minutes XD
You should try Wonder Boy for the Master System. Its essentially the same game as this, with different character sprites, music, and slightly different gameplay. Both games were created by Westone, but Wonder Boy is superior.
Cannot be Tamed it's worth looking into, Power Base Converter for your Genesis or just grabbing the console itself. Wonder Boy is definitely preferable over Adventure Island. If you liked the core mechanics and gameplay but don't want all the secret hudson illuminati shenanigans, Wonder Boy is the version for you! someone may have done a comparison video about it, too :)
The sequels are much better. They have a stage select code, dinosaur friends, shorter levels and a boomerang to choose with the axe. This game does several things right, but it has not aged well. I've never been a fan of games that need you to enter a code to continue.
personally oodly enough iliked the challenge of it lol and tgis is comming from somebody who likes elevator action it has nastalga factor for me as well
![Hudson's Adventure Island (NES) - Extraordinarily Hard Games [#17]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/rOXkgX2IumA/mqdefault.jpg)
![Hudson's Adventure Island (NES) - Extraordinarily Hard Games [#17]](/img/tr.png)
Hudson spared no mercy for us gamers with this one 😂 colorful, vibrant, quirky characters, fun music and a brutal level of difficulty
I love the expression on the characters face when he's running around without the skateboard.
Interesting and refreshing take on a popular old game.
This kind of game is from a different age. The original game is called Wonder Boy (published by Sega) and it was a huge mid-eighties arcade hit, being ported to all the home computers of the day and most notably got an arcade perfect port on the Master System. Hudson bought the rights to port it to the NES, and a couple of years later reskinned it and gave birth to the Adventure Island 'fork' in the series. There was a point when I could pretty much one-credit the arcade game (and knew where all the secret handbags were), and almost did the same thing on the Master System. As much as I love some 8-16-bit Hudson Soft games their take on Wonder Boy always felt a bit dirty and inferior to Westone and Sega's efforts. I wouldn't say the AI series is exactly their finest hour.
Wonderboy on SMS is much more forgiving than the NES Adventure Island, imo.
I always thought he was just a chubby kid when I played this at 5 years old, never noticed the mustache. Too funny
lol, he does have the body of a baby
lol i thought it was a giant underbite
That's not a mustache, it's his mouth. That's why it changes shape based on his facial expression.
This game is a Wonder Boy clone from the SMS. The mustache among other things was needed for Hudson to make copyright changes from "Tom Tom" the original character from Sega.
Agreed. It was really unneccesary to have to collect the bee and then input a code ontop of that just to continue. There shouldve been unlimited continues as well as passwords. The game is challenging enough with unlimited continues. Some of the patterns get very difficult in a few areas towards the end.
I have good and bad memories of the game. It was frustrating as hell but it has a nostalgia to it for me as well. I like it but its not a great game to me. The control is a little loose. New Adventure Island on turbo grafx 16 is the best adventure island I played and super adventure island was solid as well.
I'm gearing up to play this for the first time soon. It's fun going through retro games and seeing all the different channels out there and the different takes.
This is a Wonder Boy clone from the Sega Master System which came out a almost 2 years earlier. My NES friends could never figure out why I was so good at this game when they first got it 😅
I accidentally learned a cheat when I played this game. Unlimited Continues
At the end of the first level right before the sign that says G on it there is a hidden egg. You will have to jump at the edge right next to the wooden platform that leads to this cliff and it will reveal the hidden egg. Inside this egg, you will find a bee that allows you to continue after a game over. After collecting the bee, anytime you are on the game over screen, hold Up + A + Select and press Start. This will respawn you at the start of the level you died on.
The character in this game is based off a Hudson employee by the name of Takahashi Meijin, known for his extremely fast thumb speed. There are videos that show how fast he can mash a button on a controller, the man literally doesn't need a turbo pad.
I highly recommend Adventure Island 3! AI2 is really good as well but the third game just seemed to have the most dinosaur critters and tons of secret areas/stages to enjoy. The first game might be in my Top 5 HARDEST NES games list because it is truly THAT hard to beat (for all the wrong reasons too...kinda hard to beat any game with no weapons which is the position the game puts you in multiple times).
Loved this game. Never was able to beat it as a kid, but it was a ton of fun to come back and finally beat it after so many years!
The bee thing was ridiculous. I never liked the idea of the depleting health - which also happened on the SNES one too I think... never really understood the idea of that.
Ben Rai I don't mind the energy thing in Felix - there if you ran out of energy you'd just drop down to a less powerful form. Here you just die though. Also, having all the things that make the game easier be hidden seems contrary to an energy meter that compels you to move forward quickly.
It’s called a challenge.
@@Cannotbetamed1 you should review Nintendo World Championships 1990 .
Fair call. Honestly not a lot of NES games have aged well. They were good in 1986 when your alternative was losing heaps of money on arcade games, but these days we've been spoilt by the better games of the next two generations which are still much more playable.
some of the Hudson soft games are great but stay away from Milon's Secret Castle, it will drive you nuts
I still like playing milons secret castle...and still can't get through it
Great review. Though you have to understand the gaming mentality of that decade, most games were not friendly or fun for all, games were made to challenge player and give them that adrenaline rush, and that orgasm(lol) of beating what it seemed impossible. That was an unique sensation far better than "fun", fun games didn't give that danger sensation and adrenaline. Later games lost it in order to be more popular, friendly and cash.
Ironically "cash" was also the reason why many of those games had an artificial and ridiculous level of difficulty. Most kids would only have 3 or 4 new games per year. They were quite expensive. And making the games freaking hard would make them last longer, because they still needed to be finished.
The game feels like it have a lot of momentum, also your voice is very pleasant.
Played it as a kid and it was super hard and cheap. I got to the final boss once and died. I never got that far again.
5:33 i just noticed that when the “new” boss head falls off it goes back up as the 1st head lol
The difficulty and repetition of this game was insane. I own Adventure Islabd 2 so I can assure that one's a great game. I think therr's one on SNES but I never played it.
I actually forgot about Adventure Island till I googled up Island 3 and saw this video, thank you for highlighting the game, honestly, Island 3 was amazing, you should give it a shot.
This game was designed for a cabinet, and insert a coin was always a wise choice
This is one of my dad's favorite games, along with Tengen Tetris, Flipull and Solomon's Key
Are they all on the Nintendo
@@fidelsolis6070 yes all, but flipull. Dont know what the hell that is. Maybe he meant Pitfall?
@@Dikwili she meant pitbull
@@fidelsolis6070 idk. Doesnt seem right
Flipull is on the system, but it might be Japan only. Great game!
I'm with you on this one. Needlessly difficult games are not my cup of tea either. Platformers should ideally ramp up the difficulty the deeper you go. Not make you wonder why the developers hate you right out of the box. I was THIS close to buying it on the 3DS eshop till you were onto how hard it was. Not having certain information making it harder reminded me of playing the first Zelda game, which was way harder playing blind. As a side note, I've watched (and commented) on many of your videos, and am impressed with the quality of content you put out for as long as you have been doing this. That level of talent deserves to be commended. You did 2 videos of mean things you've read on here, ever considered showing and reading some of the positive?
Reading out a bunch of nice things people say about me seems a little self-absorbed.
Adventure Island 2 & 3!
Never played this one, but was just chatting with a friend about games where you have to continously eat
I enjoyed this game as a kid. I remember completing it then. Since being an adult I added it back to my collection just a few years ago. You touched on some very valid points. I can't see myself completing it now. Its very challenging and the 32 levels is a beating that's for sure. Still this game has a place in my retro history.
This game is more like childhood's nightmare than entertainment.
Lol it's funny you keep reviewing games I just bought or thinking of getting ! Felix, maniac mansion, Kirby I bought over the past few months, I don't have the first but I just got adventure island 2.... Also 3 is on its way in the mail right now. Keep the vids coming, you are so good!
beefcurtainz69 Thanks so much! I look forward to trying AI3, I hear it's much better
This was one of the first NES games I played when I bought a console in 1990. My gf's friend played Nintendo and this was one of her favorite titles so we started playing it. It is a very challenging game, for sure, and I've actually never beat it, one of the few games out of scores for the NES that I've never finished (also Star Wars, which is nearly impossible to beat without cheats). As far as hidden items go, here are my 2 cents...The first hit for the NES was Super Mario Bros., which had many hidden items. The first time I played it my immediate thought was "WTF?? How the actual fuck are you supposed to know those blocks are there??". I only knew because my gf had played before and knew where all the hidden items were. It was common in games then. it encouraged the player to explore the world. The challenge in AI, of course, is to explore while at the same time replenishing food and killing/avoiding enemies. I realized pretty quickly that the hidden eggs were almost always on the edge of a pit or cliff, so that saved some time (we also died a LOT looking for eggs). The Hudson Bee trick I didn't learn until later. Back in the pre-internet days the way to get game hacks was to read the few gaming magazines and books that existed at that time. I think once I got better at the game and knew where all the power-ups were I made it to level 8, but there was one jump I couldn't do. It was impossibly hard, and that's why I watched this video in the first place. But now that I've watched it it might be AI 2 I'm thinking of! I think I did finish this game. Anyway...thanks for the great video!
Thanks for watching
This was really cool! we love this series at BFG and play the original all the time. it is an incredibly challenging game due to length and lack of lives.. also thanks for the background story a lot of people you wont hear that from. and finally i thought we were doing pretty good on finding secrets and the secrets level but the Hunny Bee was a great bit of information that will really help. keep up the good work
Glad to help, thanks!
I really like this game but yeah having to collect a secret bee to even be able to continue is absurd. Should have just given infinite continues by default like Castlevania. Also, a password system to save progress after each world or atleast every other world would have been really nice.
I’m going on a binge of your videos .-.
This was my whole family's fav game in the NES days
I was the only person in my family who used the NES but I also have fond memories of it. As far as getting Adventure Island, I actually got it on the Sega Game Gear. Decent game for its time.
@@111olbap I played it on an emulator the other day & I am terrible at it now
Blows my mind Hudson’s Adventure Island beat anything in a vote! Especially The Guardian Legend! I did play Aventure Island way back in the 80’s. One of those stay at home from school sick days! Needless to say it was a very frustrating day. Luckily no controllers were destroyed that day!! 😂👍
Now that I’ve played both I’m also disappointed by people’s votes.
3 games my mom enjoyed were Rainbow Island, Bubble Bobble, and Adventure Island 2.
Nice honest review of a nostalgic hotspot for lots of retro-gamers (like myself). Good to hear what it was like for someone coming into it 'blind'. Thanks for sharing! I subscribed!
Where have you been all my life? An amazing, gamer, and an intelligent woman who knows her stuff, and is very beautiful! Instantly subscribed when I found your channel!
I grew up playing Adventure Island, because a friend had it, so I have more nostalgia for the game which definitely colors my opinion. I still enjoy it, but looking at it objectively, it is a pretty basic experience that is just really difficult because of the need to memorize everything. That said, a lot of 8-bit platformers relied on that same tactic, so it's not unprecedented, and at least the game has plenty of charm. I would agree that later games are better, because they add additional weapons, the ability to ride various kinds of dinosaurs, which also give the extra hit, and a bit more variety in the levels and boss fights.
Yeah you are right The Adventure Island 2 is good
in my top 10 NES games (the trilogy)
why nobody talks about this game being an official port of SEGA's & Westone's: Wonder Boy 1
i play this game every summer on my NES
Thumbs up for acknowledging how stupid the boss fights are. :)
Great video, great channel, great series, we are attempting to do something similar, and I have fond memories of playing that game, I stress "playing" not beating, or winning, but it was a fun addition to my NES lineup.
Original Gamer Stevie Strow Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it.
I'd totally forgotten this had existed...! \m/ excellent
Your voice is so sweet. I just subbed. Gorgeous. Can you also give a list of your favorite nes games?
ruclips.net/video/ckcx2OqUCEQ/видео.html
@@Cannotbetamed1 yayy thanks for replying to my comment however it's only top 5. I'm looking for games like adv island, wonder boy etc..that you just can't stop playing. Thanks ❤️
This game started in arcade it was awesome
Ahh, that 2015 vibe :D
Though I never played this one as a kid, it sounds a lot like any other NES game at the time: Secrets are learned through word-of-mouth, and you only had a few games at the time, so you had plenty of time to play it over and over to get better, or you use a code (*ahem* Contra *ahem*).
I did try this one a couple of times within the last few years, got to about the 4th or 5th level and decided to quit. There just isn't as much time to play as an adult!
The weird thing about Adventure Island is that it is pretty much the same game as the first Wonder Boy game on c64 and Master System.
I beat this game as a kid! As an adult I can’t do it! Fun game but damn it’s hard!
Adventure island, more like Secret island adventure. I never got very far in the first one. I loved the third one, the dino rides were awesome.
The third one does look better, never played it myself though
@@Cannotbetamed1 It's worth a shot I'd say, far superior game. I'm not sure how much it runs though.
Good review! What did you think about the music in the game? Not even worth mentioning, right? I think you would've had more fun with The Guardian Legend, and its music is fantastic :)
ShmupShmupPewPew The music was okay, I guess, it got quite repetitive. It's definitely not memorable like many other NES platformers.
I think I may play The Guardian Legend next, that's the one I wanted to win the vote :)
I didn't play this one, though I did play Wonder Boy, which doesn't seem to be too different from this. Speaking of which, out of all the Adventure Island games, Super Adventure Island II on SNES seems to be the best one. It's rather distinct as it emphasizes on adventure more than just straight up platforming. I've actually seen it labeled as a Mertroidvania, so that's definitely interesting.
I've never played Wonder Boy
Maybe there is another retro game you would like to check out on NES. I dunno the english title but it's called Doki Doki Amusement Park... or something like that... Starts with a boy in blue clothes jumps into a movie screen theatre in order to rescue a kidnapped girl... Was a pretty cute game.
Cool videos! I've been looking for some new retro gaming stuff...Think I'll subscribe :)
Hello!
HI! Keep up the good work :)
Great review!
Adventure Island 2 is SO MUCH BETTER.
Oh god! I had that nightmare of a game. I may have reached half the game. It was too hard for kids. This easily could have been a rival to Super Mario Bros if it had better main character design, music control and a little bit more easy(at least continues). And the ability to get rid of the skate board at will. Hated that thing mostly.
I got the 3rd too which was better but I felt it surprisingly too easy after being used to the abuse of the first.
Every time I get the skateboard is goes terribly for me. Even in the 3rd game.
Well when I was in K.G. I used to play this game but once i got adventure island 2 and 3 then i did not play this game XD very hard and genuinely I'm happy that a girl also like some nes games. All NES games provided me a golden childhood :') and I still play some selected games and I hope u may make ur reviews on " Shadow of the Ninja ", " Double Dragon 3 " , "Ninja Gaiden series" "Mighty Final Fight" , "Jackie Chan" and "Kick Master" and "Tokyuu Sherei Solbrian" . These were the golden games of NES era !!!
Ur review is awesome !!!! Totally love it
+Sanchit Malik Lots of girls grew up with NES games. I definitely want to play Jackie Chan at some point.
Thanks!
+Cannot be Tamed It's an honor that u think abt "Jackie Chan" and I wanna tell u that there're two best soundtracks; the first one appears in stage 01 just before the buddha boss of the stage 01( u will understand during stage 01) and the other soundtrack is in stage 02 part 02 ( ice cave ). The 1st track is my most fav :)
Thank You
I played AI2 alot. Someone should do some ukelele covers of the music from AI2!
I might do that! Loved the ideia.
a great summer game! ;)
Adventure Island is an official hack of wonder boy.
I have memories of playing part two I have seen super adventure Island II also but I did not even know there was a number one even if it sounds laughable
A woman gamer AND she's beautiful xx
There was only one gaming girl on our street. And she would let her go in her house, and she would play Island. I hated it so much. To me it was the anti-video game.
But if I find it somewhere, I will buy it. lol. Just for the memory,
rofl, those bosses are goofy as hell
I loved this game as a kid, but would probably throw a controller if I tried to play it now.
The first game suck but its sequels were alot better.
arcadesdudeTV I don't have Totally Rad in the collection, but I'll keep a look out for it.
Great review. Love retro games. Have a huge collection
Thats one of my favorite games. Its tough as nails, but a good play!
Cannot be Tamed Please review Hudson Soft's Jackie Chan Action Kung fu.....
Hey Pam, did you ever play Princess Tomato In The Salad Kingdom? That was an obscure Hudson Soft game that I actually really enjoyed as a kid.
I haven't
I'm not sure how it has aged, but it's a chill puzzle game with a story, on the NES.
There’s a code you can use and start your progress where you left off in the game over screen
But yes, this game is fkn hard!
This game is amazing and very difficult
Did you beat the game? This game is deceptively hard, it looks nice and friendly but really isn't. It took a good japanese player 23 hours(!) to beat this game(GameCenter CX)... (without the better weapon I might add)
No, I got to the 6th or 7th level.
I once read a nintendo power-type magazine which reviewed this game as "medium" difficulty. The reviewer obviously did not play it to the end.
my parents hated arcades and my brother and i were forbidden to get near one, the local farmacy that was a bit far and hidden downtown had this game on it, occasionally my brother and i would save some coins and play it for a little bit and when my mother asked where we were when we got home we would just tell her we bought band aid cus one of us or one of our friends fell hehehe good times. great videos btw keep them up :)
+fredygrind Ah, you had to sneak your video games in! Thanks!
When i was a kid i always thought this game called "Wonder Boy"... And i barely passed the 1st level LOL :)
They’re very similar games
Farthest I got was 8 1 back in a day. My best result is 7 4 currently... It gets crazy starting at world 7... I did beat Wonderboy in a day, because it has continues...
I always felt like this game was someones attempt at Marios Cousin on crack. I enjoyed it myself. But it did feel like they were trying to both capitalize, and somehow..... improve of the Mario games while throwing in their own take on it. Not a bad idea. But..... I agree. Maybe a little too much thrown at you at once comparitvely.
Wonder Boy clone from the Sega Master System a year or two earlier. Wonder Boy colors look much better too.
This is a remake, or something, of Wonderboy for the Sega Master System.
Great review :) btw if u have time u should try the 2nd and 3rd sequel of the game :)
nice review. ive never been a fan of this game or had any desire to own it cause of the reasons you mentioned and im a fan of 'hard' games but the no continues thing is a bit too much of artificially hard aspect for me. i think some of the sequels are better though. its also interesting the games a rehash of the wonder boy series but what evs. maybe some time youll get to those other two games. think you'd dig rock n cats. guardian i have mixed feelings about but i get its charm. ever play puss n boots. weird game but i think id rather play that over this first adventure island. least its short and easy.
BenevolentDick I really don't understand the point of the hidden bee to let you continue - it seems like that should just be a part of the game. It's a strange way of gating or extending the gameplay. I'm sure I'll get to TGL and RK soon, I wanted to play all 3 games I put up for vote. I have not played Puss n' Boots, but I do really like shorter Nintendo games.
I played 1 and 3(as a kid) AD1 is on my list of non beated games :( AD3 instead was too easy XD or maybe I was already got used to masochist difficulty XD also 3rd had rideable dinosaurs... before Yoshi. Coincidence?
Nice
I'm giving a try to this game for the first time and I found no continue feature which I thought it was insane. Later I also checked the manual and noticed there was a continue option that activates finding a secret bee inside an egg and then pressing the DPAD and START during the main screen. What a bunch of bullsh*t!
It’s so stupid. I hate when such essential things are gated behind having to find some secret.
@@Cannotbetamed1 Yeah. Please review Adventures of Tom Saywer on NES
i was wondering about the gameplay
I remember playing this game. It's was hard but I already beat this game.
I'm wondering if some made a Metal Cover for the music of this game :P.
cool..it was a wonderboy reskin basically
Adventure Island 1 is flawed - in particular the eggs and their rewards are too much of a guessing game in the later worlds - but I do think games like this need to be understood in the context of their day to help understand their design philosophies. You see this talked about a bit in the GameCenterCX episode, but the Hudson Bee being an easy to find secret - but a secret all the same - wasn't just to make the design more obtuse and difficult for difficulty's sake, but instead designed encourage players to just...play the game and just see how they do. It's not a design decision that makes much sense nowadays, especially for people that want continuous forward progression, but there is a logic to it, of playing and sharing secrets over brute force completion. And, of course, once you have the bee, you have infinite continues, and can use your lives to power through the checkpoints and learn each section. In that sense, the game does play fair with you. The remaining secrets in that context are more like schoolyard secrets than anything essential.
Not to mention, the difficulty is better thought out and tested than a lot of "hard" NES games, in the sense that its repeating structure really does train you to incrementally learn the layouts and get better. Consider 8-3 and the infamous "3 bats" Before you even reach that level, you still have a variation of the stage where only every other platform drops, then afterwards every platform, then finally every platform with the bats. If this was the first time hitting the sequence, it would be an absolute wall. But knowing the structure of platforms, and anticipating that there's going to be some extra step to fuck you up, 8-3 ends up building a little suspense even before you know what's coming. And this is true throughout the whole game. This design also has the advantage of helping the player learn or identify secrets from earlier stages to use in later stages in many cases. Obviously this is not a perfect thing - repeating level structure is still at best a dated way to construct a challenge or theme - but the fact that it is done in such a deliberate way does make me more inclined to forgive or even appreciate it. Hell the fact that every challenge did feel so deliberate and playtested is probably the reason why I beat it, despite being a very precise game to win.
I could not beat any of the first 3 games, they are wayyy too tough! I'm thinking about going back and trying my hand again.
Save states help
As someone who grew up here in Australia, where the sega master system was just as popular, perhaps even more so, as the NES, this looks like a store-brand copy of Wonderboy on the Sega Master System, which is what I had as a child. It's no coincidence, as my understanding is that they are basically the same game, but with some things altered, such as the name and the main player sprite. The music in this sounded a bit weak compared, and the colours looked a bit washed out too, although some of the levels looked pretty close to Wonderboy. I never completed that game either, for the same reasons as you stated, even back in the day, although I do remember that my brother and I managed to make it a fair way through eventually. Is there any chance you could try Wonderboy on the Master system to give your honest comparison?
Maybe. I've never reviewed a Master System game.
I'm sure you already know this, but just in case you are not aware of it, the mega drive (sorry, Genesis there?), has a full master system in it, with only a simple adapter needed, such as the Power Base Converter, known as Mega Adaptor (メガアダプタ) in Japan, Master System Converter in Europe and Adaptador Para os Jogos Master System in Brazil, or there are 3rd party alternatives. If you know anyone handy with a soldering iron, it's even easy enough to get a simple adapter for the cartridges made.
There is also the everdrive route, which may be easier if you've got one of those, but I understand some people prefer the real hardware.
Anyway, I'd really appreciate it, as it would be interesting to contrast your experiences of the NES against the MS library, and if you go the mega drive/genesis compatibility route, you wouldn't have to use the original master system control pad, which to be honest had a pretty terrible directional pad.
Adventure island basicly is a shameless copy of the Wonderboy series. Since Sega (not sure if im talking truth im not Googling) owned the rights to the Wonderboy name so Nintendo could not port it directly. That's why it looks so similar, only the name and some mechanics where changed as well as the appearance of the character.
Master system has some awesome games though.. I own a Master system and it is a lot of fun.
Sega only owned the name, Westone (the independent company that developed the Wonderboy games) allowed Hudson Soft to basically port the original Wonderboy game under a different name with different characters on NES with the game still being licenced under Westone. Hudson Soft later developed sequals based on the same gameplay from Wonderboy 1/Adventure Island 1.
at 0:06 How come you're shooting backwards while facing forward?
Someone needs to make a romhack where you are the real Higgins from from Magnum, P.I. killing the cast of Magnum, P.I. , You would use the dogs from the show as a weapon.
lol
Wow
Fun
This is definitely a tough game. I remember sitting up waaay too late in grade school with my buddy Stan figuring out how this goes, switching off and on :P
Yup, this game was most fun back when two-player meant, "Well, we'll trade off on lives!" Made it more appealing when you got/lost your turn every few seconds, and eventually progressed to minutes XD
Phillip Roberts It's usually more fun to play with a friend, I used to do that with Felix the Cat.
the 2nd is my favourite review please adventure island 2
You should try Wonder Boy for the Master System. Its essentially the same game as this, with different character sprites, music, and slightly different gameplay. Both games were created by Westone, but Wonder Boy is superior.
Phantasystar77 Master System is the one Sega console I don't have.
Cannot be Tamed it's worth looking into, Power Base Converter for your Genesis or just grabbing the console itself. Wonder Boy is definitely preferable over Adventure Island. If you liked the core mechanics and gameplay but don't want all the secret hudson illuminati shenanigans, Wonder Boy is the version for you!
someone may have done a comparison video about it, too :)
The sequels are much better. They have a stage select code, dinosaur friends, shorter levels and a boomerang to choose with the axe. This game does several things right, but it has not aged well. I've never been a fan of games that need you to enter a code to continue.
Humble beginnings. You've grown in confidence or maybe you started doing multiple takes for each video. I've wondered if youtubers do the latter...
I've always done multiple takes.
Nostalgia pura
I was good at this game. Don't remember if I beat this game. But very good nostalgia factor.
personally oodly enough iliked the challenge of it lol and tgis is comming from somebody who likes elevator action it has nastalga factor for me as well
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