Super Adventure Island II Game Sample - SNES/SFC
20Okay gang. Without going into too much detail, "Adventure Island" and "Wonder Boy" are sort of sister series with no direct connection to each other but share numerous similarities in their core gameplay. This is because "Adventure Island" was originally an adaptation of "Wonder Boy" from the Arcades for Nintendo's consoles as Sega owned the rights to the WB name but Hudson paid for the rights to adapt the game under the AI namesake and others (from the original developer, Escape, to circumvent copyright). So, WB is Sega (generally) and AI is Nintendo (generally) but they kinda do their own things and there are even more odd variants such as "Revenge of Drancon", "Turma da Monica na Terra Dos Monstros", "Bikkuriman World", "The Dynastic Hero", etc... yeah. Weird copyright issues aside, WB started to distance itself from AI by becoming a series of Action RPGs while AI was largely a series of linear platformers.
The two exceptions to this are "Takahashi Meijin no Bouken Jima IV" (Adventure Island IV, which remained Japan-only for the Famicom) and Super Adventure Island II, a semi-uncommon game that was meant to be the last game in the series (though there would come at least one remake and one reboot of sorts). Co-developed by Make Software and Hudson between 1994 and 1995, "Super Adventure Island II" switches things up and, while a bit rough in some spots, makes a case for itself as one of the system's more ambitious quests (though it still manages to be quite short). While unique in and of itself, it draws a lot of similarities with games like "Wonder Boy in Monster World" and has pronounced Action RPG elements with exploration (complete with backtracking), gear and optional secrets, among other things (some would refer to it as a "Metroidvania"). In the game, our great hero, Master Higgins, is travelling with his wife Tina when they get swept up by a storm and both gain amnesia. During this time, Tina is found by the king of "Waku-Waku Island" and they fall in love, with Tina slated to be engaged to the king before she is kidnapped by baddies. Higgins makes his way to the castle where he learns of Tina's fate and agrees to rescue her on the king's orders as he feels she will help him regain his memories.
While running, jumping and beating weirdos is part of Higgins way of thwarting his enemies' usual M.O., his skillset has been adjusted to solve puzzles, cast magic and utilize various weapons and armor besides the stone axe or fireball. Higgins can explore many areas and must find many different items needed to progress or upgrade his arsenal with new skills. Swords, Knives, a Shovel, an Axe, special techniques to stab above or below (think Zelda II) and other goods will round out the experience as you explore different islands, earn money, find secrets and even gamble (which is optional at Curly's Casino). Most enemies are on the pesky side until you acquire a powerful upgrade that is usually in the area and there is a world map where frequent random battles take place (also think Zelda II, they're short side scrolling segments) and bosses usually require a certain pattern or gimmick before you can overcome them. Higgins, as usual, is a tad bit funky to control but performs well overall within the confines of this game.
In the audio / visual department, the game is a small step backwards from the first SAI (which isn't too surprising given the increased scope of the game and the original having tracks from the legendary Yuzo Koshiro), particularly in the visuals (some assets feeling a little under-developed), but it's still serviceable. Susumu Matsushita's character designs are still a welcome breathe of fresh air, but it would've been nice if they could've translated a little better in-game, which was certainly possible given the system's capabilities. Most areas are pretty straight-forward and easy enough to navigate and while the game is fairly linear, there's enough meat on the bones to warrant tracking this one down. The game was later released for Nintendo's Virtual Console service for the Wii. Overall, the game is pretty fun!
This is a video showing the game in action. Enjoy.
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