| Adventure Island IV | |
|---|---|
 Cover art bySusumu Matsushita[1] | |
| Developer | Now Production |
| Publisher | Hudson Soft |
| Series | Adventure Island |
| Platform | Family Computer |
| Release |
|
| Genre | Metroidvania[2] |
| Mode | Single-player |
Takahashi Meijin no Bōken Jima IV[a] sometimes referred to asAdventure Island IV, is a 1994video game released byHudson Soft for theFamily Computer.[b]
The game followsTakahashi Meijin[c] in his quest to rescue his dinosaur companions, who have been kidnapped by a mysterious entity.Adventure Island IV add new gameplay elements to the series. Instead of a series of explicitly separate stages, it features a complex scrolling map connecting its various levels.[10] The player progresses through these levels by solving puzzles, using various items, and defeating theboss enemies.
The sales department at Hudson Soft suggested that the company create a new game for the Famicom. They believed it could potentially perform well, as games for the system were still sold in the Japanese market. This led to the development of a newAdventure Island game, as the company felt it would require the shortest amount of development time.Now Production, who developedAdventure Island II (1991) andAdventure Island 3 (1992), created the game. Upon its release in Japan on June 24, 1994, the game became the final licensed title for the Famicom.Takahashi Meijin said that of the 36 titles that Hudson Soft released for the Famicom,Adventure Island IV sold the least amount of copies.[11]
A mysterious entity appears and kidnaps Takahashi Meijin[c]'s five dinosaur companions, who are recurring characters in theAdventure Island games. Meijin sets out to rescue them.[10]
Meijin navigates the game world by moving forwards and backwards, as well as jumping. He can interact with elements in the environment, such as by climbing trees and entering doors. He also uses a wide variety of items to interact with the world. Some of these items are used as weapons, such as boomerangs and spears.[12] while others, such as the water gun, are used to solve puzzles and progress through the game.[2] Items can also assist with exploration- for example, a compass that lets you see your location in a 3D map.[12]
Adventure Island IV features variousboss enemies. Defeating them allows the player to rescue one of the kidnapped dinosaurs and open paths to traverse to new areas.[1][10] The game has players explore areas with a complex map connecting areas with no explicitly separated stages.[1][10] The game features a life gauge, which allows Takahashi Meijin to take more than one hit from an enemy. Meijin collects fruits, hearts, and faeries scattered throughout the game. After collecting a certain amount of fruit, it will restore part of his life gauge.[12] The life gauge can also be expanded by collecting two fragments of a heart container.[10][12]
Adventure Island IV is part of theAdventure Island series of video games that began withAdventure Island in September 1986. The series was popular enough to produce sequels and spin-offs for theNintendo Entertainment System,Game Boy,TurboGrafx-16 andSuper Nintendo Entertainment System.[1]
Despite the newer consoles being released, games for theFamicom[b] were still commercially available in Japan in 1994. The sales department atHudson Soft suggested releasing a new game for the system, as they believed it still might be able to perform well. Hudson Soft felt anAdventure Island game would require the shortest amount of development time. It also wouldn't use any intellectual property that Hudson Soft didn't already own, avoiding copyright issues that would make them unable to make a game based off of properties likeNinja Hattori-kun orDoraemon.[11][13]
Hudson Soft hadAdventure Island IV developed byNow Production. Now Production had previously developed Famicom games such asSplatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti (1989) forNamco andYo! Noid (1990) forCapcom.[14] They had also previously createdAdventure Island II (1991) andAdventure Island 3 (1992) for Hudson Soft.[14]
Adventure Island IV was released on June 24, 1994 for theFamicom.[1][15] It was the final official release for the Famicom in Japan.[1]
Takahashi Meijin, who worked for Hudson Soft between 1985 and 2011, said that of the 36 titlesHudson Soft published for the Famicom, this game sold the fewest copies.[11][13][8] He further explained that when orders for the game began in March 1994, the number of Famicom cartridges on shelves had decreased, and the amount of orders were low.[16] Meijin later said in interviews and blog posts that sales were just "a few tens of thousands", less than 20% of whatAdventure Island 3 had sold.[13][17] He said these low sales led to the game being priced highly later on the second hand market.[13]
Adventure Island IV was re-released on January 19, 2006 for theGame Boy Advance in Japan as volume six in theirHudson Best Collectionvideo game compilation series.[18][19] This release also included the first threeAdventure Island originally released for the Famicom.[18] An English fan-translation of the game was released asAdventure Island IV.[2]
A reviewer inElectronic Gaming Monthly said thatAdventure Island IV had better graphics than any previousAdventure Island game for the Famicom. They also claimed was the best game in the series for the console.[20]
GamesTM coveredAdventure Island IV in a retrospective on the history of theMetroidvania genre. They compared the game toSuper Metroid (1994), finding many close similarities between the titles. They praise the game for its multi-functional and well integrated items, as well as the ways they allow the player to interact with the world. For example, the game contains a water gun item that is used to defeat enemies, put out fires, and revive plants to use as bouncy platforms.[2] Kevin Anderson ofGameSpy said the game was closer than ever on getting the gameplay right with theAdventure Island series, noting innovative boss battles and a pseudo-3D map display.[10] He said the game still has room for improvement; in particular, he criticizes that the game having more than one or two uses for some weapons and that the choice of a dinosaur partner only became important towards the end of the game. He concluded that the game "remained an innovative 2D platformer".[10]
