Adventure Island 3 is the last game in the series that I’m going to be covering. It was released in 1992 in Japan and North America, and Europe got the game on the Game Boy. For some reason, it was released as Adventure Island II on the Game Boy.
Like any good series of media, Adventure Island eventually went into space. Well, it would be more accurate to say that space came to Adventure Island, as aliens are in this game. There are also other features that make this game better than the previous two.
This is a very fun game. Hudson and the developers have done an excellent job of making improvements to the basic formula of these games. While Wonder Boy went off in a totally different direction, Adventure Island kept to the same formula and made things a little better each time.
TLDR: Great Graphics and Wonderful Gameplay.
Narrative
I’m starting to feel a little bad for Master Higgins at this point. The guy has saved two princesses, and both have basically told him to piss off. Now, he has to save Jeannie Jungle, who aliens have kidnapped.
So, you have to save Jeannie Jungle. Who the heck is she, and why is this Master Higgins problem? Also, what exactly is the Aliens’ plan? I guess none of that really matters; I just find it to be funny. Oh, there are also five dinosaur buddies for you to ride in this game. The manual gives a short dialogue to introduce them (Link).
For a game like this, the story is fine. In 1992, I wasn’t expecting anything to be all that involved. This is a side-scrolling platformer, and no one was really expecting anything serious in terms of a story.
Gameplay
The gameplay isn’t too different from the other games in the series. Hudson made minor tweaks to it, but nothing was drastically changed. The controls are good, there are more power-ups, and a few more enemies.
The game added a few more weapons and power-ups. It is a natural progression that I like quite a bit. Adventure Island didn’t make any drastic changes to the core idea of the game, which is something that I really appreciate.
This game removes backtracking. You could do this in the previous game, but it has been removed here. I’m not a fan of it being removed.
The continue option is back. This is something that I like a lot. Normally, you get three lives and a few continues. With Adventure Island 3, you have unlimited continues, which is a feature that I wish every retro game like this had. It is a little annoying to have to start from scratch every time I die.
There are enough changes to the gameplay that I can say that this game is better than the previous one. The developers added some new things while keeping what worked in the other games. You can point out that the game didn’t try to significantly improve the game, but I don’t have a problem with that. I liked the gameplay in the first two games, and I think things got better with each new entry.
Visuals
Adventure Island 3 looks very good. The graphics aren’t too different from the second game. Given that this game was released a year after the second game, I can understand that there wasn’t a significant improvement in the graphics.
The character sprites look great. They’re basically the same as the graphics in the second game, but they have some different characters, which is nice. The aliens look good.
The world map and stages look very good. I like the little cutscenes in the game. Level design is still pretty basic. With a game like this, you don’t need anything amazing, but things are a little too basic for me. It would’ve been nice if Hudson tried something new.
The graphics are still bright and colorful. Everything looks nice with this game, and I’m glad that they kept the cartoonish approach to the game. Graphically, things aren’t all that different from the last game in the series, which I don’t have a big problem with. I’ve liked the graphics in all of the games.
Reviews at the Time
The reviews are what you should expect. Much like the second game, the review scores stayed about the same. They started high and stayed that way.
Nintendo Power did give review scores for the game, but didn’t give any explanation for why those scores were given. The four scores were 3.3, 3.8, 3.4, and 3.3/5. This means it is an above-average game.
GamePro gave the game a 15/20. While they liked the game, the reviewer called it more of the same. They called it “nearly identical to it’s forefathers.”
The review score did improve a little over time. Interestingly, Hudson was able to make minor tweaks to the basic formula of the game and still have success. They didn’t go crazy and reinvent the wheel, which is something positive to mention.
8.5/10. This is an improvement on the previous game in the series. Adventure Island 3 is a very good sequel, and I’m glad that it went in a different direction. I’m not sure what they did with the fourth entry in the series, and for whatever reason, Hudson gave up on the series.
Pros
- Good graphics
- More weapons and power-ups
- Great Controls
Cons
- No backtracking
- Lack of checkpoints
Conclusion
Adventure Island 3 is a very good NES game. The graphics are great, the controls are very good, and the gameplay is fun. This is an improvement over the previous game in the series.
Hudson and the developers did a great job of making this game feel a little different. They made slight changes to the gameplay, which improved on an already good game. If there was one thing that I could complain about, it would be how the series didn’t really try anything new. It stuck to one formula.
This isn’t the only game that did this. There are plenty of instances where companies made minor changes to their base game in the sequels. Not all of them were sports games. With Adventure Island, Hudson had a game that didn’t need to be changed much.
If you liked this post, please check out my other posts about NES games, such as Ikari Warriors III or Adventure Island II.