/vr/ - Retro Games

>>9965857
You can do it anon. World 8 is a real hell however. It took me probably 4-5 hours to beat 8-2 and about 1h30 to beat 8-4.

As for the why, the answer is probably because it is an arcade port of an action game from the mid 80's and at the time Hudson had a reputation of challenging action games and trying to push people to get good at games. They held a SHMUP tournament all around Japan and were teaching kids to press buttons so fast anyone watching the video today would think it uses turbo. >>9964321
>>9964324

>>9965857
Because if you didn't make your games hard as shit then American critics would complain that it was too easy. Which is funny since 20 years later you had critics complaining games were too hard and too short (games SHOULD be hard and short)

>>9965857
It's only difficult because the controls suck and level design was in its infancy at the time

>>9965983
While this was true, I don't think it applies to Adventure Island. For one thing this sort of criticism only gained in popularity starting the late 80's, plus there was a 2 years gap between the release of the game in Japan and in North America, which hints at the fact that they really didn't think of a NA release at first and it only came after the game's success in Japan.

The 80's just were more hardcore

>>9965940
Their CEO at the time, Takahashi-meijin, was famous for his 16 shot. He challenged Mouri Meijin for a TV special https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGjcf0SjahA

>>9966034
hori shit

>>9965857
I think the second game is a little easier/more fun. It still feels like bootleg Mario though

Heck with how popular these NOAC's are becoming, Konami should release their own official one with the Adventure Island games on it

>>9965857
>Also what are some other 8-bit games that are way harder than their cutesy graphics let on?

Gimmick.
Literally everyone who sees it first time thinks it's a toddler Mario-like game and dismisses it. Then they come back and get their shit kicked.

>>9966262
>Konami should release their own official one with the Adventure Island games on it

They'll never do it, but I've reached a point where I would be happy to have a messy collection with ROMs and shitty emulator packed in, just to see Master Higgins again. Sigh

>>9966284
just get an nes, they aren't that expensive

>>9966492
I mean I wanna see a comeback of sorts, even if it's only a nostalgic collection re-release. Of course I can get NES or Famicom, or simply play on emulator.
But the world should be reminded of Adventure Island.

Meanwhile Wonder Boy still gets new games.

>>9966503
Well anon you'll be relieved to know that it is on every cheap NOAC in existence for some reason along with Contra and Turtles. But I see what you mean, it deserves a new game along with many other classic Hudson Soft and Konami titles. But Konami probably won't do that, at least not yet

>>9966284
Konami bought Hudson soft and they did it only to use Bomberman as a grave yard for old Konami IPs they don't want to use anymore.
They could make a Hudson soft collection and make some easy money that way, but I guess it's more important to just include Simon Belmont in a Bomberman game.

>>9965857
GIT GUD

>>9966503
Ah I see what you mean. Shame it's owned by Konami and that company is just a fucking nightmare these days; just an insane amount of wasted potential with the killer IPs they're sitting on. Pretty crazy how much Konami has fallen.

>>9965940
I'm gonna try again tonight. Now I'm stubborn so I'm for sure gonna beat it. I've had this and the next two games for ages now but haven't gotten around to playing them. This one at least really surprised me with its difficulty, I had no idea it would be so tough.

>>9968459
Unless you're really good at action game I don't think you can beat it in one evening, you'll probably want to take a week-end or keep the console turned on. Reaching world 8 shouldn't be that long, but clearing it is a different story and there are no warps.

>>9966032
It really wasn't a region specific thing, devs just really wanted to make their games hard back then. Personally I think it comes from the arcade, they might have had difficulty settings but even the easiest option requires you to put in a lot of skill and quarters into the machine. When home software took off they took that design philosophy with them.

>>9965983
That's what happens when you force inclusivity into a hobby for .2% of the players.

>>9965857
Very good game, but even with frequent checkpoints and infinite continues it can be frustrating in places. Lots and lots of platforming instant deaths; here's looking at you Red Planet.

>>9969661
Try Hard mode. I got filtered on Yellow planet because there's no fucking way to get past those centipedes in one hit. Or maybe i'm just that bad.

Also you can softlock yourself if you're going to ice planet without having a certain character rescued; always thought it was an overlook.

>>9966034
Takahashi-meijin can split a watermelon in half with his technique.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPaM49ZNBTk

>>9965857
Alright OP I have a counter to your theory. What if the game is not that difficult compared to other NES platformers like the Ninja Gaiden games and Japanese SMB3? I played the latter recently and got filtered hard early on. It's very different from the US version

>>9970013
So, the CEO of Hudson’s secret was that he had the Hokuto no Oyayubi?

>>9970043
In my opinion I'd rank Adventure Island as harder than Ninja Gaiden 1 and 2, but not 3.

>>9970043
Your theory is wrong. I have beaten more than 300 NES/Famicom games and Adventure Island is easily in the top hardest games I've beaten on the system alongside 1943.
As a general rule, if a character-based game was made after 86, then it can not be part of the hardest games on the system. Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania, Mario, Street Fighter 2010, etc those are nothing.
As far as I'm concerned the hardest games on the system are SHMUPs, racers, and games made before 87 in general.

>>9970760
Yeah, shooters like Starship Hector (I think that's the name) are nuts.

>>9965857
What I wanna know is, does he also hold the record for fucking the most Tinas?

>>9971271
I don't think so anon.

>>9971307
>Takahashi/Higgins hauls ass all the time but no Tina wants to sleep with him even after marriage.
>Wonder Boy saves a Tina once and she instantly spreads her legs to make him a Wonder Dad.

>>9966279
It's amazing how you can immediately tell who actually played it for more than five minutes and who wrote it off right out of the gate.

>>9971369
The "only 5 levels" thing ticks me off, why would he make up a random number of levels?

I think he probably got a beta version.

>>9971369
Holy shit what absolute retards

>>9971345
wow, dude is living the dream.

>>9971345
This pretty much confirms that they're the progenitors of the Monster World kingdom, right?

>>9965857
Unironically fantastic level design. Ratchet scrolling when done right fucking rules.

>>9971345
>>9971561
>So much sex that you spawn a little population.
GodDAMN.

>>9971345

>>9970760
1943 is considered to be one of the top hardest games on NES? Wew, then I should be proud of beating it recently.

Its difficulty partially comes from shittyness of the port. Final stages are nearly unplayable due to poor optimization, NES can't handle so many sprites and the game turns into slideshow. Ironically, this also can save you, as you have more time to react and kill waves of enemies.


Adventure Island is brutally difficult, but all obstacles in the game are placed very well and test your skill.
Except that fucking bat.

>>9965857
If you want something a bit easier give Spelunker for Nes a try.

OP here, I am going to rip my balls off and throw them at my CRT.

I want to find some time to give this game a fair shake, but from when I last played it mainly the thing that hurt was the loss of progress after a game over. idk but having to go back through these really long and horizontal levels feels like such a chore. Not to say the level design is boring or anything, Higgins’s physics do match with the long levels quite nicely and make for a fun take on the Mario formula, but a “start back at the beginning” system really does not fit this game in particular and did demotivate me to keep going pretty badly.

>>9973145
There is a continue system, it's only hidden because that's what games did at the time

>>9973154
As soon as I read this I immediately jumped to read the manual and my suspicions were confirmed, I feel like a huge dumbass now. I remembered that Milon’s Secret Castle did this, and it turns out Adventure Island also has a continue code only explained in the manual. I suppose that’s nicer than forcing you to buy a guide to find out about it, but at that point wouldn’t it have just been easier to just put a continue option on the menu? Wonder if any devs other than Hudson pulled this very specific trick, cause I don’t really recall anybody semi-hiding things like this.

>>9973192
>Wonder if any devs other than Hudson pulled this very specific trick, cause I don’t really recall anybody semi-hiding things like this.

Yes, it was a thing of its time. Ghost'n' Goblins and Rad Racer on NES do the same thing (minus having to pick up an item for it).
Visible continues in console games wasn't a standard yet, and at the same time the gold standard in games at the times were the arcadce, so I suppose having to press a button combination was a way to simulate inserting a coin in an arcade machine

>>9973221
Now I don’t know about Rad Racer/Highway Star because I have barely played it, but Ghost ‘n Goblins definitely has a continue option on the menu after getting a game over, and even Makaimura on the Famicom doesn’t do the same thing because while it does force you to use a code to continue I can’t seem to find it in written anywhere in the manual. Just to clarify in case you did not get exactly what I was talking about, I’m not just talking about games requiring codes to continue, plenty of games did that, I’m specifically talking about games requiring codes to continue AND including them in the manual.

>>9973253
Rad Racer has it in the manual yes

>>9971345
>>9971710
What gets me is the leads look the same age in this ending image as they do in the main game. In other words... they're just getting started.

There are like two or three jumps in this game that turn from 'pretty fun but hard as fuck'-tier to 'I'm gonna beat this one time and then likely never play it again'-tier.

>>9965857
Don't know if it's difficult, but it's definitely boring and repetitive as fuck.

Hokay finally beat it. Holy shit after world 7 it honestly just starts to feel like a troll game - like you can almost hear the developers laughing at you "hurr durr you didn't see the fish coming, huh XD?" I probably played too long without taking a break so I'm feeling a bit sour about it even after beating it, but the combination of the difficulty, the samey-ness, and the mediocre music really ground me down. Glad I beat it, but yeah, I won't be coming back to this one for a long, LONG time. 6/10.

>>9970043
>Japanese SMB3
I've been alive on this planet for two and a half decades and only now am I learning that the JP release is basically hard mode. What the fwark...

>>9971561
Which is hilarious when you find out the fates of Shion and Pupurapil after MW V

>>9973192
>Wonder if any devs other than Hudson pulled this very specific trick, cause I don’t really recall anybody semi-hiding things like this.

There's a continue option after game over in SMB1. Press A+Start on title screen.

>>9974005
I did know about that one, but it does not seem to be anywhere in the manual, so I don’t think its the kinda situation I’m talking about. I do find it curious that it exists at all though, since I believe in an interview Miyamoto explained warp zones as being intended to basically act as a continue system, I might be braindead and misremembering though.

>>9973541
Honestly from the little Adventure Island I did play, that does sound like the turn I thought it would take, still want to try it for myself though. At least I’ll get some pride from treading through level designer bullshit

It was? I never beat it but this was legitimately the only NES game i played as a kid where i didn't get stuck in level 2.

>>9974563
It's one of those games where the difficulty ramps up like crazy on the last few rounds. Or maybe you're just the best ever.

>>9973541
>I probably played too long without taking a break so I'm feeling a bit sour

Don't be. It IS a troll game, but it's crafted perfectly in that way. Although, I'd say the trolling begins much earlier than world 7, more like world 4 or so. I just remember how in one of earlier stages, you encounter a frog sitting backwards, see a hill and think like "OKAY I know what you did here" but you have like, no choice. You HAVE to step into the trap by yourself.

It's beautiful and I honestly can't get mad at devs for this, so instead I laugh with them.
Putting shit like unavoidable fire or cobra at the edge of platform which turns out to be a decoy giving you bonus points is honestly hilarious once you learn about it.

>>9965857
First of all, fuck the skateboard, don't even mess with the skateboard. Don't rush. Go at a steady pace trying to get every piece of fruit. You don't have to get every piece of fruit, but you should try to. Do that, get a feel for the mechanics of the game without stressing out, and things like tricky jumps and what to do at the bosses will start to make sense.

>>9975148
>fuck the skateboard, don't even mess with the skateboard

There is actually some tricky stuff you can do with it, if you'll manage to get fairy or eggplant with you to the goal, you'll get 1up or 5000 points (which would bring you close to getting 1up). It is only possible in few stages if you'll have a skate, otherwise you won't be fast enough.

And of course, using it in later stages equals death, but hey, maybe there is an ultra pro who beat the entire game on wheels.

>>9966034
I was always a really good button spammer. It's all about tensing your arm and using the sheer vibrations of the body to press the button indirectly. Consciously trying to move the thumb or finger up and down will always only be half as fast.

>>9971345
>bluehair gets kids instead of cats
Beyond Based.
>>9975156
Where is that image from?

>>9971345
Judging by how monsters are looking directly into their windows, they live inside an actual shelter, unable to ever get out. Number of kids simply means they have to repopulate humankind, to have a chance of survival and becoming able to reclaim outside world one day.

>>9973328
If the game happens when they are in their teens, then they'd be in their mid 20s at most. Which would explain both how they still look the same (you don't start getting fatter until around that time), and how they have so much libido to fuck nonstop.

>>9975660
They buried the hatchet if the other ending photo is any indication.
I think the bad guy sorceror king is supposed to be human, so the game is just a massive primal dick fight over reproductive resources, the monster enemies are just goons of the self-proclaimed king and working to secure his queen, but Wonder Boy beat the odds and so his reign didn't last.

Anyone ever play the MSX version of Adventure Island, released simultaneously with the Famicom version?
It's shorter but it's actually more its own game with different level layouts and a few different enemies. The bizarre thing about it is that it has renditions of the Wonder Boy music instead of the replaced Famicom/NES Adventure Island tracks. I feel they got that backwards but w/e.

>>9965857
The game cost the equivalent of 110 dollars back then, zoomy. We didn't want a game that could be easily beaten.

>>9971561
>>9975804
How different would the kingdom have turned out if the bad guy crushed Boy's skull beneath his heel and he was the one who got to voraciously reproduce with Tina instead?

>>9971345
>all those anons saying attaboy
>meanwhile he looks like he's in utter pain and misery
Takahashi won.

>>9976174
Takahashi will never know the joy that a child's smile can bring.

>>9965857
The original is unironically way too hard to be fun, it's why I vastly prefer New Adventure Island. It knocks the difficulty down to high but sensible levels (basically the kind that makes you go "holy shit one more try and I got this" instead of pure rage-inducing) and adds a ton of variety on top with new environments, enemies and stage gimmicks.

>>9965857
Me and my bro playing this game at like 8-10 years old had no idea why sometimes you could continue and other times you couldn’t. I was filtered by it. I think I made that level 7 jump once and was so fucking nervous I lost to the boss. This was the kind of game you parents would catch you leaving the nes on all night. We used to cover the red dot with shit and they would still catch us cause we would try to creep around and play at like 3am in the fucking basement where they never went. They still caught our stupid asses cause one of us would have to go upstairs for the flintstones push pops and made too much noise. I’m looking at you little bro.

>>997629

Replying to myself. I actually think it was 8-2. I just watched a speedrun of it and everything looked familiar including the level that looks like a bunch of teeth. I thing I lost it in 8-3 or 8-4. Damn I was very close.

>>9966262
Alright I take back what I said about these games being bootleg Mario. I actually find the second game quite enjoyable and possibly better than Mario 3, or at least the awful Japanese SMB3

People didn't need to know the continue trick because most people played these on 1000-in-1 famiclones where you had entries starting from basically every level with any combination of powerups. Like you had Final Adventure Island 1 to 8 which started you on stage for of any of the levels with a skateboard and the fire shot.

>>9973872
?

>>9976291
memories of pure SOVL

>>9977076
I owned several multicarts containing AI1 in my childhood and never saw anything like that.

I do remember some kind of trick with infinite lives, though. You could glitch out the counter, and after losing your last "normal" life, it would show random graphic from the tileset for lives. You could have "Tina" lives for example.

I don't remember how did I achieve this, though.

>>9965857
Why do Americans play adventure island when wonder boy exists?

>>9971369
Regardless of their reasons they were right about Mr Gimmick when scor8ng it so lowly. Mr Gimmick deserves that score for its ice level controls.

>>9975103
Funny enough I actually went back and beat it again and had a lot more fun the second time around. I can see how some people might like mastering it enough that you can just stroll through the levels without pause but I can't say I enjoy it enough to go that far with it.