So I had an idea earlier when watching a video from Retro Game Corps on YouTube. I have this library of games on my computer, including many classics from decades ago. I have a Retroid Pocket 3+, which is such a great device, and plays a multitude of games so well, all the way up to things like some Gamecube and PS2 games, though I tend to stick with the older, and handheld stuff on the device. I know the Retroid Pocket 4 Pro is out, and its ability to play the entire library of Gamecube and PS2, especially upscaled is so impressive. However, it is already mid-August, and I do have a Steam Deck for the heavier stuff. So I think I will wait for early 2025 to see if Retroid announces a Retroid Pocket 5/Pro. They seem to be upgrading chipsets every year, so for now I can wait. I am excited to see if a hypothetical Pocket 5 Pro can play OG Xbox games well. But back to my idea; I have all of these older, not long games, especially on things like the 8, and 16-bit generations. The Daijisho front-end that I use on my Pocket 3+ has a very handy function for each individual system, marked as “random”. It doesn’t blindly load me into a game, but it shows me a random game I have loaded, and I can play it. I think this is something worth exploring, exploring old libraries and just taking myself back to the ye olden times of 1985-roughly 2008? That sounds right. In any case, this sounds like a fun little project, so let’s get to the first thing.
Adventure Island 2 (NES, 1991)
Developer: Now Production
Publisher: Hudson Soft
I feel like this is going to be a regular event for the oldest games I play in this little endeavor; I have no idea what the story of the game is. I had to go to Wikipedia to see what it is. My guess is that the entire story of the game is contained in the instruction manual, which is something I also want to build a digital collection of. So without that explanation, I have a…grass-skirt wearing dude with a baseball cap riding skateboards, throwing stone axes and riding dinosaurs. I definitely played this game as a child, probably renting it from Blockbuster way back when.
This is a very competent game, with fun mechanics, and the physics are consistent and easy to learn. Some of the dinosaur companions you ride can feel a bit slippery, but they have the added bonus of giving you a chance to be struck by an enemy and not die. While dying is almost too easy to do, due to not being on a dinosaur results in one-hit kills, you never feel like the game is going out of its way to be cheap. The game has a continue system, and really, save states solve everything when it comes to old-school chicanery.
The levels are not particularly imaginative, with contemporary NES games doing far more in the level-design space by the early 1990’s. Fortunately, the levels are short, and meet the bare-minimum standard for being varied enough. The worst type of levels are the swimming levels, which if you don’t at least have the axes at the ready, you can feel pretty weak and slow. I did enjoy the vertical levels, as the enemy placement seemed more like a puzzle piece, and less of a way of killing you.
There appear to be warps, I triggered one by accident, but I have no clue what I did, or if it is repeatable. This game clearly took a lot of cues from the standard-bearers of the NES library, and it is definitely good, but not great. Is it worth this series being re-released on something modern, thinking that people would pay real money for it? No, but if you know how to use RetroArch, it is totally fine as a time-filler, and a great example of how the NES really ran the gamut of some of the best games ever made, to some unplayable messes. This game sits somewhere right above the middle, and I look forward to seeing if future entries appear in my random list.
Should you play it?: Yes, it is easily accessible, especially if you’re willing to ride those high seas. I cannot imagine this game is expensive at a retro-games store either, or something like eBay. (Edit: This game was apparently also available on the 3DS E-Shop, at least in Europe, obviously not anymore as that shop closed down.)
Ray Knows Nothing 