Takahashi Meijin no Bouken Jima
高橋名人の冒険島
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This article is about the 8-bit Nintendo game. For other pages, see Takahashi Meijin no Bouken Jima (disambiguation).
Takahashi Meijin no Bouken Jima (高橋名人の冒険島) is a platformer for the Family Computer developed and published by Hudson Soft released on September 12, 1986 and released as Adventure Island for the Nintendo Entertainment System on September 5, 1988.
Gameplay
The player plays as Hudson executive Takahashi Meijin (renamed to Master Higgins in the NES version) as he traverses through the titular Adventure Island. There are 32 stages, divided into 8 areas. Takahashi dies through contact with enemies, fires, pits, and water, as well as when his "health gauge" (more accurately a timer) drops to zero. This gauge goes down over time or when he trips on a rock, and can be replenished by collecting the fruits that spawn throughout the level. Takahashi can collect various items throughout the game. Apart from the aforementioned fruit, most items are found in eggs that appear in different parts of the level.
| Item Image | Item Name | Item Description |
|---|---|---|
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Stone Axe | Can be thrown at enemies and eggs, only 2 can be on screen at a time. Thrown straight before falling. |
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Skateboard | Allows Takahashi to move faster, but cannot come to a halt. Counts as an extra hit before death. |
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Milk | Fills health gauge. |
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Flower | Doubles points of stage fruit. Originally a mushroom in arcade version. |
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Honeygirl Fairy | Grants temporary invincibility, similar to the star in Super Mario Bros.. |
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Eggplant | Massively decreases health gauge, gives extra points upon stage clear. Originally a small grim reaper in arcade version. |
There is also a pot hidden in each stage that increases bonus points at the end of the level.
At the end of each level, Takahashi fights the boss. The boss has a different head each time. The boss is beaten by hitting the head with an axe. After a certain number of hits, the boss gains a new head and flees to the next area. At the end of the final area, he is defeated and the game ends.
Origins and Other Ports
Bouken Jima is a port of the arcade game Wonder Boy, developed by Westone (known at the time as "Escape") and published by Sega on March 3rd, 1986. While Sega held the rights to the Wonder Boy name, Westone had the rights to the game itself. Westone worked with Hudson to port the game under a different name, replacing the main character with Hudson spokesman Takahashi Meijin. Hudson retained the rights to the Bouken Jima name and continued to release sequels more similar to the original, while Westone continued to work with Sega on sequels to the original Wonder Boy.
Wonder Boy was brought to all of Sega's 8-bit machines, first on the SG-1000 and then later on the Mark III. 4 years after it's original arcade release, it was brought to Sega's Game Gear handheld. Wonder Boy was also brought to a number of home computers by Activision.
Sales
| Issue no. | Ranking | Units sold |
|---|---|---|
| #10 | 1st | 5,366 |
| #11 | 2nd | 2,036 |
| #12 | 1st | 2,324 |
| #13 | 2nd | 1,850 |
| #14 | 12th |
