My Adventure II review

[accousticguitar]

Adventure II

 

This is a fun game to play. I find myself wanting to play it more, which is the sign of a good game. There are many game variations to choose from, and the graphics are fantastic. The game rankings at the end are a nice touch. In this review, I am chiefly comparing Adventure II to the original game.

 

This game is not perfect. The castle doors don’t lock, so you can’t lock the troll in the castle. In fact, you can’t even capture the troll like you could the bat. There are a few glitches in the game. I have been stuck (unable to move) twice in the dark kingdom. A tree branch caught me once, but I was able to wiggle free. Another time, I moved from one screen to another and landed in a rock fence. I was stuck for good that time. I also saw the minotaur floating (not walking) across the screen, and he was a strange color. Probably the worst thing you have to contend with in this game is the controller. The 5200 controllers make it difficult to enjoy any game. If only I could play this game with my trusty CX-40!

 

The secret to the early levels is to kill the dragons first. Once they are out of the way, it is not too difficult to win the game. The troll is a nuisance, but he is not nearly as aggravating as the bat. He is slow enough that he can usually be avoided. He does follow you around the entire game, which is irritating. The minotaur is a nice addition since he changes the hedge mazes if he catches you. If you don’t like the maze he changed it too, simply let him catch you again. Once you get to know the mazes, it really isn’t a problem to be caught by the minotaur.

 

The best addition to this game is the many game variations available. The programmer must have spent a lot of time on this. There are 22 different levels to choose from, and they all have different mazes, strength of dragons, troll and minotaur involvement, and even some random mazes. This helps keep the game interesting, and no matter what your skill level is, there should be a level that is right for you. When you get tired of the standard mazes, some of the levels have alternate mazes.

 

There are no catacombs in Adventure II, which are mazes where you cannot see where you are going. This is the best subtraction from the original Adventure, in my opinion. I never liked mazes where you can’t see where you are going.

 

The worst addition to Adventure II is the music. This is a minor point, but part of the atmosphere of the original game was attained by the lack of music. The only sound effects were the picking up and dropping of objects and, of course, the encounters with the dragons. Less would have been better here.

 

The worst subtraction from the original game is the randomness. Having to search the entire kingdom for a single item was a great part of the fun of Adventure. Sadly, this is lacking in Adventure II. You pretty much know what kingdom to look in when you need to find an item. Not only that, but you go to the castles in the same order every time in every game. I know this is a larger game, but it is not so large that the randomness needed to be eliminated. To leave it in would have made a much better game. This aspect is so important that my final rating drops one grade level due to the lack thereof.

 

The power-ups are an interesting addition. It is nice to be invincible for a short period of time, and the speed power up is also good. The problem is, once the speed wears off, it seems like you are crawling along incredibly slowly. It would be nice if you could choose your speed for this game like you can on an emulator. When you get to the higher levels, the power-ups become an important part of the strategy to win the game.

 

If you want a challenge, play the special levels. The dragons regenerate. When I read that in the manual, I figured I would have a few minutes at least before the dragon came back to life. Much to my surprise, the first time I killed a dragon I didn’t even get off the screen before she came after me again. Since the dragons are basically immortal, you need to utilize the power-ups along with your sword to bring the chalice back to the Seashore Kingdom castle.

 

Here is the point where I begin to draw from an Adventure hack by Yorgle called “Misadventure.” This hack is unfinished, but it has some qualities which greatly improved on the original game. (Please Yorgle, finish Misadventure!) Although the number of screens is sufficient, Adventure II could benefit from a couple more castles, a couple more dragons, and more randomness. It would also be nice if the dragons were all as strong as the strongest one, because they are kind of easy to kill.

 

Although this is a great game, I give it a “B” due to the lack of randomness. There are some great additions to this game which I would never have considered putting in if it were mine, and some good subtractions too. The many game variations and levels somewhat offset the predictability of the game, and the special levels are quite challenging. All in all, this is a game worth having. If you don’t have it yet, I recommend that you buy it. It takes guts to try to improve on the greatest game ever made. This is a great effort to improve a great game. What is the lowest ranking anyway? Is it “duck food” or “square meal”?

[Gregory DG]

The worst subtraction from the original game is the randomness. Having to search the entire kingdom for a single item was a great part of the fun of Adventure. Sadly, this is lacking in Adventure II. You pretty much know what kingdom to look in when you need to find an item. Not only that, but you go to the castles in the same order every time in every game. I know this is a larger game, but it is not so large that the randomness needed to be eliminated. To leave it in would have made a much better game. This aspect is so important that my final rating drops one grade level due to the lack thereof.

Is this true for every level? I've only played through the first three.

[accousticguitar]

The worst subtraction from the original game is the randomness. Having to search the entire kingdom for a single item was a great part of the fun of Adventure. Sadly, this is lacking in Adventure II. You pretty much know what kingdom to look in when you need to find an item. Not only that, but you go to the castles in the same order every time in every game. I know this is a larger game, but it is not so large that the randomness needed to be eliminated. To leave it in would have made a much better game. This aspect is so important that my final rating drops one grade level due to the lack thereof.

Is this true for every level? I've only played through the first three.

As far as I can tell, yes.

[Lord Helmet]

The worst subtraction from the original game is the randomness. Having to search the entire kingdom for a single item was a great part of the fun of Adventure. Sadly, this is lacking in Adventure II. You pretty much know what kingdom to look in when you need to find an item. Not only that, but you go to the castles in the same order every time in every game. I know this is a larger game, but it is not so large that the randomness needed to be eliminated. To leave it in would have made a much better game. This aspect is so important that my final rating drops one grade level due to the lack thereof.

Is this true for every level? I've only played through the first three.

 

IIRC from the manual, the hardest variations offer random item placememnt. I need to doublecheck the manual to be sure though.

[+Cafeman]

I enjoyed reading your review, accousticguitar! I am also a guitar player, by the way.

 

Adventure II

 

 

There are no catacombs in Adventure II, which are mazes where you cannot see where you are going. This is the best subtraction from the original Adventure, in my opinion. I never liked mazes where you can’t see where you are going.

 

==> I experimented with this, but it never seemed to look good and took up sprites and memory. I killed the dark catacombs idea long ago

 

The worst addition to Adventure II is the music. This is a minor point, but part of the atmosphere of the original game was attained by the lack of music. The only sound effects were the picking up and dropping of objects and, of course, the encounters with the dragons. Less would have been better here.

 

I agree that Adventure had a silent quality and didn't want to ruin it, but I did want to have more incidental sounds and 'reward music'. I was going for the sound of trumpets and a simple trumpets melody.

 

The worst subtraction from the original game is the randomness. Having to search the entire kingdom for a single item was a great part of the fun of Adventure. Sadly, this is lacking in Adventure II. You pretty much know what kingdom to look in when you need to find an item. Not only that, but you go to the castles in the same order every time in every game. I know this is a larger game, but it is not so large that the randomness needed to be eliminated. To leave it in would have made a much better game. This aspect is so important that my final rating drops one grade level due to the lack thereof.

 

==> I thought it would be too frustrating to have a full-on random items element because there are so many more screens. There are only 3 items which are always in the same location -- the Chalice, and the fire castle key, and the green castle key. However, the maze to each may be different. Maybe for the Atari 8bit version, I will make level 22 full random. I originally thought FULL RANDOM item placement would be too frustrating!

 

If you want a challenge, play the special levels. The dragons regenerate. When I read that in the manual, I figured I would have a few minutes at least before the dragon came back to life. Much to my surprise, the first time I killed a dragon I didn’t even get off the screen before she came after me again. Since the dragons are basically immortal, you need to utilize the power-ups along with your sword to bring the chalice back to the Seashore Kingdom castle.

 

==> The dragons may regenerate nearly instantly, OR they may take several seconds. It is randomized.

 

This is a great effort to improve a great game. What is the lowest ranking anyway? Is it “duck food” or “square meal”?

 

==> If you are eaten too much, you get Duck Food. If you quit a game by hitting reset, if you are eaten you get Square Meal. If you are not eaten, you get Block Head. So the latter 2 are the lowest rankings. Thanks again for playing my game and posting feedback.

[accousticguitar]

I thought it would be too frustrating to have a full-on random items element because there are so many more screens. There are only 3 items which are always in the same location -- the Chalice, and the fire castle key, and the green castle key. However, the maze to each may be different. Maybe for the Atari 8bit version, I will make level 22 full random. I originally thought FULL RANDOM item placement would be too frustrating!

You could be right about the frustration level for a full-on random items element. I think it would be a great idea to have level 22 be fully random on the 8bit version. I would have to give it an "A" in my review if you did that That's cool that you play guitar. BTW, I envy your programming skills

[dougy76]

The worst subtraction from the original game is the randomness. Having to search the entire kingdom for a single item was a great part of the fun of Adventure. Sadly, this is lacking in Adventure II. You pretty much know what kingdom to look in when you need to find an item. Not only that, but you go to the castles in the same order every time in every game. I know this is a larger game, but it is not so large that the randomness needed to be eliminated. To leave it in would have made a much better game. This aspect is so important that my final rating drops one grade level due to the lack thereof.

 

I agree with your opinion here. I have beaten all 22 levels now and the lack of randomness I'm afraid will keep me coming back to the game for future plays. The complete randomness of object placement in the original Adventure brings me back because I know the game will be different enough to earn another play.

 

Once you get to know the mazes well enough in Adventure II, even the higher levels are pretty easy. Granted, I've played the game several hours to have become familiar with the mazes, but now that I have played it that much the challenge has worn off. I think an additional level with complete random placement (but with it still possible to win of course) would be a HUGE addition, and would certainly bring me back for more plays. I'm afraid, however, that now that I have beaten all 22 levels, I'm not going to play Adventure II as much as I will the original. I will still devote some time to finding all of the Bat Eggs. I think I have only found two. One was obvious. The other one I'm not sure as I turn into a bat when I do something in particular, but I don't actually see an egg anywhere on the screen.

 

Don't want this post to be only about the negative. I have greatly enjoyed the hours I've put into playing this game. It was well worth the wait.

 

Doug

[accousticguitar]

I think an additional level with complete random placement (but with it still possible to win of course) would be a HUGE addition, and would certainly bring me back for more plays.

Absolutely! It might even be a selling point for the 8bit version. I know I would buy one.