Game Debate #50: Adventure Island

[Reed Rothchild | 9,510]

[Gloves | 11,761]

7.

I much prefer AI2. 3 slightly less than 2.

[Hammerfestus | 3,823]

9.  One of my favorite games on the system.

[DefaultGen | 5,400]

7/10. Challenging platforming and easy bosses. My favorite combination as a Ninja Gaiden fan! I think the falling platforms in 8-3 are a little excessive even for a challenging NES game. The end of this game is balls hard. Maybe not the hardest NES game, but it's the hardest one I can actually beat.

[AstralSoul | 502]

I never understood the hype behind this series. I've played them all, partly out of curiosity and partly because I kept hoping at least one entry in the series would allow me to see why it's so loved but I just don't. You run automatically and collect food to keep going and...that's pretty much it? I dunno. 4/10

[mbd39 | 2,017]

It's a 10. One of my favorites even though I only beat it once.

 

[mbd39 | 2,017]

5 minutes ago, AstralSoul said:

I never understood the hype behind this series. I've played them all, partly out of curiosity and partly because I kept hoping at least one entry in the series would allow me to see why it's so loved but I just don't. You run automatically and collect food to keep going and...that's pretty much it? I dunno. 4/10

How far did you get int he first Adventure Island? It gets extremely challenging later on.

You might as well describe Mario as you run to the right and collect coins and mushrooms and that's it.

Doom you run around and shoot stuff and that's it.

And you don't "run automatically." What?

Edited May 20, 2021 by mbd39

[cj_robot | 540]

Yeah, I'm not a fan of this game. I thought it was fun for a little bit, until I really tried to play through the whole game. There's not nearly enough variety in the levels to entice me to spend a whole hour playing through this one. It just gets very repetitive and tedious way too quickly for me. It's fun in short bursts, but that's about it. I like the sequels a lot more.

4/10

Edited May 20, 2021 by cj_robot

[Reed Rothchild | 9,510]

It's alright.  Can't say I wouldn't rather play like 1,000 other games, including every sequel.

[AstralSoul | 502]

13 minutes ago, mbd39 said:

How far did you get int he first Adventure Island? It gets extremely challenging later on.

You might as well describe Mario as you run to the right and collect coins and mushrooms and that's it.

Doom you run around and shoot stuff and that's it.

And you don't "run automatically." What?

I meant more like there's zero exploration you're just running to the right the whole time, you're right it's not automatic, for some reason I remembered that part wrong, but because that's all you're doing I'm just holding down right on the d pad the whole time. No idea how far I got, I didn't beat it but I got a decent ways in. Comparison to Mario is extremely basic because in most Mario games there's exploration and things to find, Adventure Island is platforming at its absolutely most basic. And Doom again there's strategy and exploration in addition to running and gunning. I'm not even knocking Adventure Island as a bad game, I'm sure people do love the simplicity of it. I just don't.

[mbd39 | 2,017]

2 minutes ago, AstralSoul said:

I meant more like there's zero exploration you're just running to the right the whole time, you're right it's not automatic, for some reason I remembered that part wrong, but because that's all you're doing I'm just holding down right on the d pad the whole time. No idea how far I got, I didn't beat it but I got a decent ways in. Comparison to Mario is extremely basic because in most Mario games there's exploration and things to find, Adventure Island is platforming at its absolutely most basic. And Doom again there's strategy and exploration in addition to running and gunning. I'm not even knocking Adventure Island as a bad game, I'm sure people do love the simplicity of it. I just don't.

There are hidden areas and secrets in Adventure Island, actually. It's not just run to the right.

And the platforming is basic, but very challenging. My kind of game. I tend to prefer basic stuff. The original SMB is my favorite.

 

 

[AstralSoul | 502]

2 minutes ago, mbd39 said:

There are hidden areas and secrets in Adventure Island, actually. It's not just run to the right.

And the platforming is basic, but very challenging. My kind of game. I tend to prefer basic stuff. The original SMB is my favorite.

 

 

I'll have to give it yet another try then, I really had no idea there were secret areas. It didn't come off as a game with any real substance to me so I guess I figured there wouldn't be anything to do but collect food and run to the right. And again not bashing it as much as just stating it's something I don't particularly enjoy and likewise with the original Super Mario, it's my least favorite in the franchise because you're basically just running to the right but there's even a lot more variety in SMB than adventure island. I guess when a game is simple in design I go looking for more substance but fail to realize what people love is the simplicity.

[mbd39 | 2,017]

2 minutes ago, AstralSoul said:

I'll have to give it yet another try then, I really had no idea there were secret areas. It didn't come off as a game with any real substance to me so I guess I figured there wouldn't be anything to do but collect food and run to the right. And again not bashing it as much as just stating it's something I don't particularly enjoy and likewise with the original Super Mario, it's my least favorite in the franchise because you're basically just running to the right but there's even a lot more variety in SMB than adventure island. I guess when a game is simple in design I go looking for more substance but fail to realize what people love is the simplicity.

 

Ninja Gaiden is basically run to the right and slash. Contra is run to the right and shoot. Both of those are in my top 5 NES.That's the kind of game that I tend to prefer.

 

 

 

[Strange | 1,700]

I don’t know what to say other than I like it. Easy recommendation for NES fans. 8/10 for me

[AstralSoul | 502]

13 minutes ago, mbd39 said:

 

Ninja Gaiden is basically run to the right and slash. Contra is run to the right and shoot. Both of those are in my top 5 NES.That's the kind of game that I tend to prefer.

 

 

 

Again nothing wrong that, just games I don't prefer since I'm not a huge fan of either of those either. 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,510]

I'd say Adventure Island is simpler than all of those games...

It doesn't have to be a bad thing.  Some people like that.  I generally lean away from it.

[MegaMan52 | 2,441]

NES original: 7/10

GameCube remake: 8/10

Not bad. I think it is an even harder game than Battletoads and Silver Surfer, and is quite possibly the most difficult game I have ever played (the later levels in particular are brutal). I kind of dislike that Master Higgins is almost completely vulnerable, but at least there's the Skateboard and Helmet for a little bit of protection (and, of course, the sequels have the Dinosaurs). The music is pretty memorable, especially the music tracks for the first two levels. It is a reasonably good game, and i still play it occasionally, but I prefer Adventure Island 2.

I really like the GameCube remake that came out in Japan, and the fact that it is more than just simply a graphics and sound update. It has some different levels, more music, and is somewhat easier than the NES version while still providing the hard difficulty that people expect from this series. The unlockables are great: It has an option to change the soundtrack to the NES version, the Hudson Shooting Watch (which itself has unlockable modes), sound tests, and commercials for the first three Adventure Island games (including the American commercial for Adventure Island 2). My only complaint is that World 8 only has 1 level in this version.

Edited May 20, 2021 by MegaMan52

[Kguillemette | 1,543]

Never cared for it. I just find it unexciting.

[Webhead123 | 675]

This one is pretty strongly nostalgic for me, as it was one of the first NES games I can remember playing other than SMB/DH. That said, I never actually owned it and never really spent a great deal of time trying to get better at it, so I'd be surprised if I've made it past Level 3. The NES sequels seemed to get a fair bit of coverage in Nintendo Power and I always remember wanting to play them...but it never happened until much, much later in life. I did play one of the Game Boy titles, though, and I remember thinking it was pretty good. Still difficult...but good.

Super Adventure Island, on the other hand, is equally nostalgic as the third SNES game I ever played (after SMW and F-Zero, of course) and I always found the difficulty in Super to be a lot more easy-going. That game I'd rate the highest of the series that I've played so far, although I haven't played them all.

If I'm being honest with myself, the original is only a 6/10, even if some overall nostalgia has me wanting to give it a 7.

Edited May 21, 2021 by Webhead123

[JamesRobot | 5,786]

So good.  I can't beat it without the continue bee though.  Some of my favorites but had to knock it down to a 9; it's just a bit too repetitive. 

[AstralSoul | 502]

57 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I'd say Adventure Island is simpler than all of those games...

It doesn't have to be a bad thing.  Some people like that.  I generally lean away from it.

Simplicity is not a bad thing at all but I guess every time I played one of these games I was expecting more than what I got. I get bored easily with simple games myself.

[Brickman | 3,982]

7/10. A fun game but I like the sequels more and I wouldn’t rush to play this game over other platformers on the system.

[mbd39 | 2,017]

25 minutes ago, JamesRobot said:

So good.  I can't beat it without the continue bee though.  Some of my favorites but had to knock it down to a 9; it's just a bit too repetitive. 

This positive comment confused me for a moment because I thought you already trashed the game. I had you mixed up with cj_robot.

 

[JamesRobot | 5,786]

27 minutes ago, mbd39 said:

This positive comment confused me for a moment because I thought you already trashed the game. I had you mixed up with cj_robot.

 

I'm sure we all look the same to you.

But yeah, lots of nostalgia for this title.  Seemed like everyone had it when I was a kid.  Not one of my original collection but I made sure to get it early on in high school. 

[Murray | 2,447]

Two words. Pot Bonus.