Atlantis no Nazo
アトランチスの謎
Japan Japan Japan Japan JapanAtlantis no Nazo (アトランチスの謎) is a side-scrolling platform video game developed and published by Sunsoft and released for the Family Computer on April 17th, 1986 in Japan. A localized version under the name Super Pitfall II was planned to release for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America around 1989 published by Activision but was never released.
Gameplay
The game plays as a side scrolling platformer. The player plays as an adventurer, named Wynn, armed with throwable dynamite. Wynn start with 7 lives, but dies in one hit (with no continues). Wynn has a stiff jump and a constant movement speed (no running). The game starts in zone 1 and allows traversal through many alternate routes and secrets to get to the final zone. These alternate paths are often cryptic and/or completely hidden (a map of alternate paths and secrets can be found here). Throughout all 101 zones, various enemies are encountered, which can usually be taken out with dynamite. Zones get progressively harder, with later levels obscuring the view of the stage itself. Each zone also has a rather strict timer, a number counts down from 999 and once the timer runs out in a zone, the player loses a life.
| Enemy Image | Enemy Form | Enemy Description |
|---|---|---|
 |
Bat | Flies high up towards the left or the right, and drops poop. Contact with dropped poop is deadly. |
 |
Hermit Crab | Moves slowly, hides in it's explosive-proof shell when threatened. |
| Caterpillar | Moves quickly. | |
 |
Fish | Jumps out from the bottom of the screen. Similar to the fish in Super Mario Bros. |
| Scorpion | Stands still, deadly on contact. Takes 3 hits to kill. | |
| Mummy | 3 bombs to kill, sometimes shoots fireballs. | |
 |
Bee | Slowly homes in on Wynn. |
| Merman | Shoots fish. | |
| Slime | Can jump to the ceiling. | |
| Skeleton | Crawls out of the ground and jumps. | |
| Demon | The final boss. Shoots fireballs. Cannot be killed with Wynn's dynamite. |
Legacy
While western reactions to the game have been less than positive, in Japan the game is remembered rather fondly. It's also remembered for its absurd difficulty.[Source?] The game gets modern re-releases fairly often, most recently on the Famicom Classic Mini and included on the Nintendo Switch Online service.
Sales
| Issue no. | Ranking | Units sold |
|---|---|---|
| #0 | 5th | |
| #1 | 6th | |
| #2 | 5th | 1,092 |
| #3 | 10th | |
| #4 | 15th | |
| #5 | 20th | |
| #6 | 26th | |
| #8 | 27th |
Gallery
The Famicom box art.
The Famicom cartridge.
Ad for Atlantis No Nazo in the April 18, 1986 issue of Family Computer Magazine.
The commercial for Atlantis no Nazo.
