Wonder Boy is really where it all started. Developed by Sega and Westone for the arcade, the game was a fast-paced platformer starring some boy, presumably wonderful, trying to save his girlfriend from some monster, and doing so shirtless in a kilt made of leaves. Now that takes some brass balls.

Wonder Boy plays as a platformer designed to eat your quarters should: it is very challenging. A lot of that challenge comes from the slipperiness of the character, a one-hit-kills-you design philosophy, and especially a strict time limit. Oh, no, there is no countdown ticking away in the corner of the screen. Instead, you have a "hunger meter" which slowly drains away unless you can keep feeding Wonder Boy fruit.

The title did well for Sega, and Wonder Boy became one of their mascots, enjoying about the same level of popularity as Alex Kidd (who?). But interestingly, Sega only owned the rights to the character and the lore of the game. The level design, the gameplay, the code, all of that belonged to Westone, who decided to team up with Hudson Soft to create an NES version of the game. The character still wears only a bunch of leaves, still uses the same weapons, still has to satiate his hunger with fruit, except that this time, the hero is not the blonde and lean Wonder Boy, but instead a chubby guy with brown hair and a cap, named Master Higgins after Hudson Soft's spokesperson in Japan. He looks nothing like him.

The games are almost identical, except that most people would agree that Adventure Island looks much worse.

So, you can chose whichever version you like (both are 500 pts on the Virtual Console) and start playing and discussing (and possibly cursing!).

Thank god for infinite continues...

edit - As Roykoopa suggested, why not add either Wonder Boy or Adventure Island to your collection, and indicate you are currently playing it?


List of Awesome:
ludist210 (finished Wonder Boy)
anon_mastermind (finished Wonder Boy)
nate38 (finished Wonder Boy)
RoyKoopa64 (finished Wonder Boy)
X‑pert74 (finished Wonder Boy)
Zero (finished Wonder Boy)
TriforceBun (finished Adventure Island)

Guillaume (finished both Wonder Boy and Adventure Island)

URL to share (right click and copy)

Hey, I'm the custodian of the List of Awesome, don't go over my head! lol

Congrats Zero.

Now beat Adventure Island!

And I still think Triforcebun should play through it. It should prove pretty easy after AI, and it feels lonely here at the top...

Look who bumped this thread! The guy who finally beat Adventure Island after 25 years of trying last night!



Yes, I used save states. I'm not a glutton for punishment like Gui.

My problem as a kid was time...the farthest I ever got was 6-4, and I always died, started without an axe, and had a hard time getting back to one. I can finally put this one to rest for good. Maybe I'll try AI2...I heard it's better.

@ludist210

Whooooaaa, nice job beating one of the hardest ga--

ludist210 said:

Yes, I used save states. I'm not a glutton for punishment like Gui.

What the--? Save states! I demand an asterisk by your name!

Save states would make AI much more manageable, I'd think, since a big part of the game's challenge comes from the penalty of losing your axe after dying. Of course, that wouldn't make 8-3 any easier...

This thread was fun to read through again. Lots of painful memories.

@TriforceBun

Hey! I still beat the game, which is a feat. I tried for years to do it legitimately, but I just couldn't do it. I'll take an asterisk.

8-3 was a headache. So was 8-2, but I think 7-1 gave me more problems than any other stage, and I actually had to take a death to finish it properly because I was out of stamina right at the end of the level (and there wasn't enough fruit to sustain me long enough to reach the goal no matter how fast I ran). It was one of those stages where it went more than a checkpoint before it gave me more fruit.

But yeah, done. For good. Finally!

Yeah, I'm just pickin' on ya. The game's a major pain either way--reading back through this thread, I think I'd actually have an easier time beating Ninja Gaiden again than AI1.

One of these days, before I get all old and my reflexes get shot, I need to finish the hardest NES game I know of: Battletoads.

@TriforceBun

I've actually finished both Ninja Gaiden and Battletoads legitimately (Battletoads multiple times). They were much easier than Adventure Island for me.

I haven't played Adventure Island at all since I was a kid, and I don't remember much of it apart from finding it pretty fun. Wonder if I could find a cartridge for a decent price over here these days.

My childhood friend who had the game thought it was all about Iceland, due to the fact that 'island' is how we spell Iceland in swedish. I think it took him close to a year to realize that Icelandic life doesn't involve a lot of semi-nude skateboarding and axe throwing. We may or may not have helped feed this delusion.

Incidentally, his dad was for similar reasons initially under the impression that Alien was in fact a horror movie about an interstellar moose, but that's another story.

@ludist210 Even with save states... congratulations

@TriforceBun I really want to play Battletoads someday. I've never played it once, but I would like to challenge myself with it at some point. I've already beaten other challenging NES games like Ninja Gaiden I and II and whatnot, so it would be cool to finally see for myself what Battletoads is all about.

@X-pert74

The problem with Battletoads is that it has limited continues, like Ninja Gaiden III. It's also twelve stages, and each one plays differently than the last. It goes typical brawl stage to vertical scrolling stage (with pauses) to speed bike stage to side-scroller to surfboard stage to climbing snakes above spikes of doom stage...it isn't easy to progress even if you know where the warp zones are (they can get you from stage 3 to 8 relatively quickly). Plus if you're playing co-op, you literally can't pass stage 11 without the second player dying.

I've beaten it in a straight playthrough of all stages and warping...warping is quicker and easier (in theory), but you do get a lot of chances for extra lives in a straight playthrough.

TL:DR, play Battletoads is hard. Play it with a Game Genie.

This discussion got me thinking about whether there's been a "What's the hardest game you've beaten?" thread on Negative World. I feel like I'm sure I remember one, but can't find it searching.

I have this game for NES, I got it confused with the sequel which I have vague memories of playing and liking at someone's house. Man was I disappointed to find out it wasn't what I thought, especially since this game is so unenjoyable.

This reminds me, I never did get Adventure Island 2. I wonder what it goes for these days...

ludist210 said:

@TriforceBun

I've actually finished both Ninja Gaiden and Battletoads legitimately (Battletoads multiple times). They were much easier than Adventure Island for me.

I walk away impressed and jealous. One of these days, Battletoads...

I remember not actually being STUCK at any one part, but making gradual progress over, like, a week. The furthest I got was some pipe stage (level 9) before I started giving up. I kinda wish more of the game was a beat-em-up instead of slippery, instant-death platforming.

Mop it up said:

I have this game for NES, I got it confused with the sequel which I have vague memories of playing and liking at someone's house. Man was I disappointed to find out it wasn't what I thought, especially since this game is so unenjoyable.

This reminds me, I never did get Adventure Island 2. I wonder what it goes for these days...

Probably not a ton since it's up on the 3DS VC for five buckaroos. It's pretty good, albeit more basic and simple than I remember. But better than the first for sure! Dinosaurs!