New Adventure Island (TurboGrafx-16) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
432A playthrough of Hudson's 1992 action-platforming game for the TurboGrafx-16, New Adventure Island.
New Adventure Island was the fourth "proper" game in the Adventure Island/Takahashi Meijin series (Bugtte Honey not included), having been released between Super Adventure Island (SNES) and Adventure Island III (NES). This period was an interesting time for the series: whereas the numbered entries of the series steadily evolved between iterations (AI2 introduced world maps, an item system, and dino buddies, and AI4 became a Metroidvania), the first 16-bit entries hedged far closer to the original game's style.
Like Super Adventure Island, New Adventure Island rejects the additions made by AI2 and goes back to basics. Worlds are split into smaller stages with checkpoints, and the main focus rests on how to make it from point A to point B within the time limit. Our chubby islander hero still must gorge himself on whatever flying fruit he finds in order to keep the time going - if that bar drains, you die.
Of course, trying to thwart your attempts at speed-platforming across random tropical locales is a wide assortment of enemies, some of which are brand new, while others return from previous installments. The usual suspects are all here - bug-eyed snails, flying swordfish, and flower-loving foxes are present and accounted for, but there are some unique new additions to. I loved the occasional giant enemies (like the snail that launches snails) and the boss monsters that, while similar to the ones in AI1, differentiate themselves with their own new powers and attack patterns.
Though you dont get your dino buddies this time around, the normal weapons are here. From eggs you'll be able to find boomerangs, axes, spears, and occasionally fireballs, but these aren't the only things you'll find. If you're lucky, you might hatch a 1up, an invincibility fairy, or a bottle of milk. If you aren't, well, that evil eggplant is still lurking about, ready to make your life absolutely miserable.
New Adventure Island is really a fantastic game. It takes all of the elements of the original game and refines them into something that transcends its inspiration. The difficulty level is far more reasonable on the Turbo's game, though it is still quite challenging, mainly thanks to how the controls feel familiar but aren't saddled with the looseness of AI1's controls nor the awkward imprecision of SAI's controls.
The graphics and sound are excellent, as well. While the soundtrack doesn't hold a candle to Yuzo Koshiro's "tropical techno/dance" music in SAI, the tunes are light and breezy and far more refined than you'll find in the NES games, and while New Adventure Island mighy lack the impressively huge sprites from Super Adventure Island, the game's speed and fluidity more than make up the difference.
I've often thought that Now Production was a criminally underrated development studio, and this one really shows that no matter the platform, they certainly had the talent to deliver. Of course, the Turbografx-16 was a criminally underrated platform (in the west, at least), so at least they matched up there. I guess.
Of the Adventure Island games taken directly from the WonderBoy mould, I think I'd have to list New Adventure Island as my favorite. It might not be as iconic as the original NES release, nor might it be as technically impressive as the Super 'reboot,' but it is the best balanced of the bunch, and personally, I find it to be the most fun.
And where else are you going to find cutscenes of Master Higgins bustin' sweet moves like he's Napoleon Dynamite between stages?
(Is it just me, or does Master Higgins' belly during the hula dance make him look suspiciously like Karnov?)
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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