Adventure Island II
System: NES
Release Date: February 1991
Developer: Now Production
Publisher: Hudson Soft
Genre: Action
It’s an island hopping journey to save the girl in Adventure Island II! Master Higgins is back and this time he needs to save Princess Leilani’s sister Tina from the Evil Witch Doctor. This time, eight islands stand in the way of you saving your girl. So grab some axes, mount a dinosaur or four, and make it through the peril!
Levels are simply enough a run to the right affair. Each individual level isn’t very long, but you have a gauntlet of them in front of you. Higgins will be doing a bunch of jumping around with a stupid look on his face. Enemies will appear in fixed spots and may be dangerous. They all need to be passed by safely, unless you have the throwing axes, then you can kill most of them. Getting hit is an immediate death, so you totally want to avoid that. It’s also important to grab any fruit or vegetables that you come across, as they replenish the vitality meter at the top of the screen. If that runs out, you lose a life and have to start again. If you’re really fortunate, you’ll find some meat that completely fills your gauge. If you get the eggplant, you’d better be running an impeccable speed through the level, or you will die.
Other than throwing axes and the skateboard, which roll over from the original title, there are four different dino pals that you can come across and call upon to help you. My favorite, the lightning dinosaur, craps sparks that kill enemies and destroy pesky rocks on the floor. There’s a fire breathing dino who, as far as I can tell, also kills bad guys that you come across. A plesiosaur makes traveling underwater slightly quicker. A pterosaur allows you to ride them in the sky, but I think eats vitality much more quickly. If you have any of these things in stock, you can choose a dinosaur or throwing axe to start each level with. I was very conservative with their use and ended up with a lot extra when I finished the journey.
There are hidden eggs strewn about the levels, which you can find if you’re diligent in throwing your axes. I found two different outcomes, either the chance to skip the island you’re on, or a trip the clouds for a bonus area. The manual is forthcoming about continues and stage select, but I didn’t find the Hudson Bee to allow this power. The end of each level puts you in an egg room where you can earn points or find a 1up. I’m pretty sure you get a free life after every 30,000 points, too. Some levels were nicer than others, but by the end, I was really unhappy any time volcanoes or lava showed up.
Before each level, you’re shown an overworld map and can see where the boss of the island will be. Reaching them puts you in a level you must beat before facing off against them. If you happen to have a dinosaur, they will act as a second and attack as you do. Each boss has an explotable pattern of movement. I really had no trouble with them, outside of some BS hits. The final boss was pretty easy, too, I took him down even with a malfunctioning controller.
Graphics: 2.5
Everything looks pretty good, but I noticed some flickering.
Sound: 2.5
The music and sounds are repetitive and not very impressive.
Gameplay: 3.0
Everything works smoothly, but despite the dinosaur additions, there isn’t much depth.
Difficulty: 2.5
Many of the levels are full of the BS when it comes to instant death, enemy placement, and moving platforms. I hope you find the bee if you play this legit.
Fun Factor: 3.0
You should be able to get through this in a couple hours and lives are forthcoming, just don’t get too cocky and you should be alright.
Overall Rating: 2.7
Adventure Island II earns a B-. This is more of the same from the first title, but much better. This is the one you want to play.