Bob's Retro Reviews



Hudson's Adventure Island

Takahashi Meijin no Bōken Jima, 高橋名人の冒険島, Master Takahashi's Adventure Island, Adventure Island
Hudson's Adventure Island Title Hudson's Adventure Island Screenshot

Platform NES Year 1988
Publisher Hudson Soft Developer Hudson Soft
Region NA Language English
Tags Action, Platformer, Single Player, Arcade Conversion
Related Adventure Island II 
Platform NES
Year 1988
Publisher Hudson Soft
Developer Hudson Soft
Region NA
Language English
Tags Action, Platformer, Single Player, Arcade Conversion
Related Adventure Island II

The first in a series, Hudson's Adventure Island has you playing as Master Higgins through 32 stages where you can run, jump, and pick up items. By default, you cannot attack enemies but some items will give you that ability. Other items allow you to move quickly, gain invincibility, or have your life drained. There are boss battles at the end of each of 8 worlds
 
Good Bad
  • Simple gameplay loop
  • Can be fun with practice
  • Incredibly difficult
  • Jumping high requires momentum
  • Requires running all the time
  • Lots of repeated enemies
  • Stages look very similar
  • Constant life drain
  • Bad item placement
  • Slippery platforming
  • Doing badly makes the game harder
  • Negative items
Good
  • Simple gameplay loop
  • Can be fun with practice
 
Bad
  • Incredibly difficult
  • Jumping high requires momentum
  • Requires running all the time
  • Lots of repeated enemies
  • Stages look very similar
  • Constant life drain
  • Bad item placement
  • Slippery platforming
  • Doing badly makes the game harder
  • Negative items
 
5 With odd physics and an unfair difficulty, this is a difficult iteration of the game to recommend as it's sequels do everything significantly better.

Hudson's Adventure Island Screenshot 2 Hudson's Adventure Island Screenshot 3

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