Goonies II
System: NES
Release Date: November 1987
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Genre: Action Adventure
Konami is back in action with the Goonies II on NES. This is an action adventure title that I can describe best as obtuse. This may not earn me very many friends, because I seem to recall this game being beloved, but there is absolutely no way anyone beats this game without a walkthrough. I mean I guess if it’s 1987 and I just got this for Christmas, I’d be making maps and hitting every pixel of every room, but yikes… Maybe the transceiver helped a lot. I’ll never know.
You’re Mikey from the Goonies. You need to save six other Goonies and then Annie the Mermaid from the evil Fratelli family. You’re equipped with your yo-yo and the hope of finding more items in the mansion. And you do find more items. From the hammer, which you need to open up areas in walls. To the ladder, which you need to scale up or down through holes in the ceiling and floor. To the diving suit, which you need to swim through water.
Mikey gets stronger as he saves his friends, culminating in eight life bars. He also finds bombs and molotov cocktails which give powerful explosions to defeat stronger enemies. You run through the platforming sections until you find a door. Then you’re in a first person perspective in rooms. You can move to a different room, hit a wall, take an item, or use a tool. Hitting a wall with your fist and with your hammer will produce different results, so if you’re doing this blind, good luck.
Mikey traverses the Fratelli mansion, the cellar, the ice caverns, normal caverns, a rickety bridge, a lava area, and an underwater labyrinth. He needs the different tools to successfully make it through these levels, with the hyper shoes and jumping shoes being much beloved once you find them.
Graphics: 1.5
The graphics are kind of rough.
Sound: 3.0
The music, on the other hand, is very catchy and a highlight of the title.
Gameplay: 2.5
Mikey is satisfying in the way he controls. Getting powerups that make you stronger is nice.
Difficulty: 1.0
I don’t care for the difficulty because it is based off of being obtuse to get into. Having to hit the correct spot on the wall is annoying.
Fun Factor: 1.5
I think I only had the fun I had because I used a walkthrough. Otherwise, I would have quit early and washed my hands of helping the Goonies.
Overall Grade: 1.9
The Goonies II earns a C. It’s an alright game. Good luck if you try to play it blind, I wouldn’t do it.