Super Adventure Island
Master Higgins battles Dark Cloak to save Tina from stone.
In 1992, Produce! developed and Hudson Soft published Super Adventure Island for the SNES. This platformer was the series’ first Super Nintendo title, released between Adventure Island II and Adventure Island 3 on the NES. Yuzo Koshiro composed its soundtrack. A separate 2004 mobile game sharing the name is a remake of Wonder Boy: Monster Land.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Produce!
- Publisher
- Hudson Soft
- Composer
- Yuzo Koshiro
- Series
- Adventure Island
- Platforms
- Super Nintendo Entertainment System
- Genre
- Platform
- Modes
- Single-player
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Master Higgins had kept peace on Adventure Island and won the affection of Tina, called Jeannie Jungle in English materials. While stargazing with her one night, the sorcerer Dark Cloak turned Tina into stone and fled to Ice Mountain. Higgins sets out across five stages, each with four areas, to defeat Dark Cloak and restore her. The first three areas of each stage are obstacle courses ending at a goal ball, and the fourth area is a boss battle.
Gameplay
The game retains the core rules of the original Adventure Island but with improved visuals and audio from the SNES. Higgins has no dinosaur companions, unlike in Adventure Island II. He can choose between a stone axe, thrown left or right, and a boomerang that can be aimed in four directions. Picking up the same weapon repeatedly increases the number of shots to three, and a fourth pickup turns shots into fireballs that destroy stones; switching weapons preserves the fireball effect until a life is lost. Higgins can crouch and perform a super-jump, but cannot run faster. He must collect fruit to keep his life bar from depleting, and can ride a skateboard for faster travel.
Reception
Famitsu reported first-week sales of 19,562 copies and lifetime sales of 127,961 copies in Japan. Micom BASIC Magazine ranked it fourth in popularity in April 1992, and Super Famicom Magazine readers gave it a 21.3/30 score. Critics gave average reviews: Clayton Walnum of VideoGames & Computer Entertainment noted the swapped shoot and jump buttons made controls frustrating. Super Gamer praised the graphics but criticized gameplay. Brett Alan Weiss of AllGame liked the visuals, varied soundtrack, and challenges but faulted slow movement and limited jumping. Complex included it on a 2018 list of best Super Nintendo games.
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