Software:Adventure Island II

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Short description: 1991 video game
For the Game Boy game named Adventure Island II, see Adventure Island III.
Adventure Island II
North American cover art
Developer(s)Now Production
Publisher(s)Hudson Soft
Designer(s)J. Koyanagi
Programmer(s)Nobuyuki Shinohara
Artist(s)Katsuya Jittō
Composer(s)Miyoshi Okuyama
SeriesAdventure Island
Platform(s)NES, Game Boy, Gamate
ReleaseNES
Game Boy (Adventure Island)
  • NA: February 1992
  • JP: March 6, 1992
  • EU: April 23, 1992
Gamate (Kiki Inland)
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Adventure Island II[lower-alpha 1] is a 1991 platform game developed by Now Production and published by Hudson Soft for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the sequel to Adventure Island and the second game in the series for the NES. While the first game was an adaptation of Sega's Wonder Boy, Adventure Island II is an original work, as were most of the subsequent Adventure Island games.[3] A portable version was also released for the Game Boy in 1992, titled Takahashi Meijin no Bouken Jima II or Adventure Island outside of Japan.[4]

Plot

Master Higgins' girlfriend Tina, has just been kidnapped by the Evil Witch Doctor's persistent followers. Eight perilous islands are in control of the various monster minions, although four friendly dinosaurs will gladly ally themselves with those willing to brave the islands' dangers and defeat their common oppressors. Thinking of how grateful his favorite lady will be when he comes to her rescue, Master Higgins embarks on a daunting quest to get to his honey.

Gameplay

Screenshot of the first level, from the NES version

The rules of the game are the same as those in the original Adventure Island, with the main new feature being the addition of an inventory system. Before the player begins a stage, he can choose which of Higgins' animal friends to bring (if he has rescued any), as well as whether or not he should bring one of the stone hammers he has accumulated. Because of this, the player can no longer upgrade to shooting fireballs when he picks a second hammer. Instead, it gets added as a reserved hammer to the player's inventory.

The checkpoint system has been eliminated and if the player dies in the middle of a stage, he must restart from the very beginning. However, the stages are significantly shorter than in the previous game. When the player strikes a place where a hidden egg is located, it will play a different noise that will serve as an indicator of its location. The bonus zones are now accessed by picking up a key located inside these hidden eggs. Some of these keys will also transport the player to an item room or a shortcut to the next island. There are now underwater stages, as well as vertical-scrolling stages. When the player completes a stage riding a skateboard, he does not get to take it to the next stage like he could in the previous game. When the player completes a stage, he will be asked to choose one of ten spinning eggs that will give him a certain number of points. The player can now backtrack during a stage as well, but only up to a certain point.

The boss of each island awaits the player on a specific stage at the beginning. However, if the player is defeated while fighting a boss, the boss will move to another area, forcing the player not only to clear his current stage, but also another one in order to fight the boss.

There are four types of dinosaur friends that Higgins can ride. These animal friends are summoned when the player collects a playing card suit hidden inside an egg, and they include: A blue camptosaurus (summoned by a heart card) that attacks with its tail and can walk on ice without sliding; a red camptosaurus (spade) that can breathe fire and swim over lava until a certain point; a pteranodon (clover) that can fly over obstacles and drop stones; and an elasmosaurus (diamond), the only dinosaur that can survive in underwater stages (the others will be lost when used underwater) and can help Higgins swim faster.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGame3.5/5[5]
EGM7/10, 7/10, 7/10, 7/10[2]
Famitsu6/10, 7/10, 7/10, 5/10[1]
GamePro16/25[6]

Allgame editor Skyler Miller praised the game over the original, specifically its "improved graphics, a map screen, and most importantly, four dinosaur buddies for Master Higgins to ride, each with their own special ability".[5]

Other media

Adventure Island II is one of the video games featuring in the manga titled Cyber Boy, by Nagai Noriaki, Published by Coro Coro Comic and Shogakukan, from 1991 to 1993. Cover artwork for the packaging was illustrated by Shelley L. Hunter.

Notes

  1. ↑ Known in Japan as Takahashi Meijin no Bōken Jima Tsū (高橋名人の冒険島II; Great Takahashi's Adventure Island II.)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Famibo, Tofuya; Bucho, Mizuno; Morishita, Mariko; Taco-X (May 2, 1991). "新作ゲーム クロスレビュー Part2" (in Japanese). Famicom Tsūshin (ASCII Corporation) (130). 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Harris, Steve; Semrad, Ed; Alessi, Martin; Sushi-X (January 1991). "Review Crew". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Sendai Publishing) 4 (18). https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/dc9de403-27eb-440e-99a4-5388b5a542fd. Retrieved October 9, 2025. 
  3. ↑ "Review: Adventure Island II (Wii Virtual Console / NES)". 20 April 2011. http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/vc/adventure_island_ii_nes. 
  4. ↑ "Adventure Island Review - IGN". 2 December 2011. http://ca.ign.com/articles/2011/12/02/adventure-island-review. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Miller, Skyler. "Adventure Island II - Review". All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141115040040/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=1141&tab=review. Retrieved February 23, 2018. 
  6. ↑ Quan, Slasher (December 1990). "Nintendo ProView: Adventure Island II". GamePro: 110–111. https://retrocdn.net/images/9/90/GamePro_US_017.pdf. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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