The Goonies II (NES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
1,979A playthrough of Konami's 1987 NES game, The Goonies II.
If you find it strange that there is a Goonies 2 but no Goonies 1, I wouldn't be surprised. The NES version was only released in Japan for the home system. It did, however, see some exposure in North America as a Playchoice-10 arcade game, Vs. the Goonies.
The Goonies II, unlike the original, is more of a adventure game than a straight platformer. It's far closer to Metroid and Castlevania II in it's general setup. It gives you a massive world, and you have to explore and find items to open up new paths as you search for the six kidnapped Goonies and a mermaid (?!) named Annie. It also feels a lot like Dr. Chaos in how entering a subspace gives you a first-person 3D view that you have to interact with to find hint-giving NPCs, secret items and passages, and warps to other areas.
I had this game as a kid. I remember being so disappointed when I got home and started playing it - it didn't really grab me, and there was never any clear sense of progression that I could make sense of, so I put it away and never really bothered with it. Years later, waxing nostalgic on games I had as a little kid, I figured I'd try it again. Being a bit older I was able to better make sense of it, and got really into it. As a 7 year old, I barely had the patience to get the third Goonie, but when I tried it as an almost-adult, I played it over and over until I finished it. I loved it, and was really glad I had rediscovered it. It's still really fun and incredibly challenging on your first time through. It's cryptic beyond belief and doesn't give up many hints without putting you hot to the fire.
It's also got a few fantastic and unlikely Konami references in it. You can get a transceiver early on (Metal Gear! Sweet!) to communicate with the others that almost always beg you to save them from death in dark, hysterically-stilted Engrish. My favorite still has to be, "This is Stef. A shark is attacking me." Sounds urgent, Stef. I'll get right on that.
Sometimes you get Konami on the line giving you some encouragment, which is cool and reminds me of Snatcher. You can also find Konami-Man (who originally appeared with Mikey in Wai Wai World) to refill your life unless you piss him off, and the first area's music is a sweet Konami rendition of the Cyndi Lauper song "The Goonies R Good Enough". The game's soundtrack really isn't my taste, but that first song kicks ass. So, could things possibly get any cooler? Well...
There's also an epic bit where you have to (in first-person view) slam some old woman in the face (fist or hammer, your choice) several times until, begging for her life, she gives you a candle to get you to stop. The candle is a pretty important item, and this is the only way I know of to get it in the game.
Wow Nintendo, so much for your stand against violence against women. I have a sneaking suspicion that the makers of The Human Centipede 2 were somehow inspired by The Goonies II. If you've seen it, you know exactly which scene I'm taking about.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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