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The VC Advantage: Grass skirts and skateboards-- a winning combination
The Internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.Hudson's Adventure Island series stars a real-life Hudson executive called Takahashi Meijin, who is known as "16shot" for his famous ability to push buttons 16 times a second. In the game, he's a chubby kid in a grass skirt who finds weapons and stuff in enormous eggs. Just like in real life. (The game made a little more sense when it was called Wonder Boy and starred someone who didn't have a real job). What is it with Hudson and putting real people in their games? Takahashi Meijin may be able to jam on some buttons, but you can influence his fake life with cheat codes. Advantage: you.Adventure Island (NES): Continue: Close to the "G" sign at the end of stage 1, jump up and down to make an egg appear, which contains the Hudson Bee. You can then continue your game by holding any direction and pressing start.New Adventure Island (TG16): Level Select: New Adventure Island is only new now in comparison with the original NES game. Given that it came out in 1992, it's a pretty Old Adventure Island itself. Press left, left, I, right, right, II, up, down, up, down at the title screen to select levels in this (much better, actually) semi-remake.
VC Monday Madness: Adventure Island, Bonk 3, Donkey Kong Jr. Math, and Landstalker
With no video wrap-up, today's VC Monday Madness will be slightly lacking in the madness department, but only in that one aspect. The video should be here tomorrow when our resident guy-who-gets-to-do-that returns.But in the other, more important consideration-- the games that came out this week-- today's Virtual Console Update is craaaaaaaaaazy. Four games hit the download service today, each and every one a total winner. Well, except for Donkey Kong Jr. Math, we guess. But it's pretty entertaining as a novelty. Still not entertaining enough to pass over Bonk 3 for, but it's your money. Adventure Island (NES, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Donkey Kong Jr. Math (NES, 1-2 players, 500 Wii points) Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole (Sega Genesis, 1 player, 800 Wii points) Bonk 3: Bonk's Big Adventure (Turbografx-16, 1-2 players, 600 Wii points)
DS Daily: Takahashi Meijin's challenge
Do you have what it takes to push a button really quickly a bunch of times? If so, you could be headed to an illustrious career at Hudson and even the chance to star in your own excellent game series. It worked for Takahashi Meijin, who became well-known in Japan for being able to push a button 16 times in one second. We'd like you to demonstrate your prowess the same way he did: by splitting a watermelon testing yourself with a Shooting Watch. Download the DS homebrew program, or try the PC version, and let us know how you stack up! No cheating with Hello Kitty toothbrushes. We won't say how we did, because we're, uh, too busy to try it. Yes, very busy.
VC Tuesday: Much more of the same
Not only is Japan getting yet more shooters this week, they're actually getting a remake of a shooter that's already available on the Virtual Console. We never believed we'd be in a position to complain about too many scrolling shooters being released. We must say, in PC Engine Gradius's defense, that it is a gorgeous version of Konami's famous shooter. It's also important to note that Image Fight is pretty great, if really hard. Antarctic Adventure is not itself a shooter, but features a penguin protagonist whose son Pentarou would go on to fame in the Parodius series, as well as his own weight-loss-based platformer.Adventure Island is pretty confusing. This is not the Adventure Island we know in the US, the one about a guy in a red hat and a grass skirt collecting fruit and throwing axes. That series is called Takashi Meijin no Boukenjima (Master Takahashi's Adventure Island). This game, which, in Japan, has the English title Adventure Island, is actually Dragon's Curse, also known as Wonderboy III: The Dragon's Trap. The Wonderboy series is one of the great messes of international game renaming, and is tied up with the other Adventure Island series. This article at Hardcore Gaming 101 should help clear up which game is which. This week's redundant/confusing Japanese Virtual Console releases: Antarctic Adventure (Famicom, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Crack Down (Mega Drive, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Gradius (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Image Fight (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Adventure Island (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)
Hudson interviews the real-life Master Higgins
Takahashi Meijin ("Master Takahashi") is the nickname of a longtime Hudson employee named Toshiyuki Takahashi, who became famous in Japan for his ability to tap buttons really, really quickly -- up to 16 times a second. This amazing power lent itself to videogames, naturally.After making a few TV appearances, and becoming a Hudson mascot of sorts (along with that adorable bee), he lent his appearance to videogames, too. Specifically, the Adventure Island games, which were called Takahashi Meijin no Boukenjima ("Takahashi Meijin's Adventure Island") in Japan. When you play New Adventure Island on the Virtual Console-- which you should do, as soon as possible-- you're playing as a grass-skirted Takahashi Meijin.Hudson's US branch has posted an interview with this legendary figure, which is not only interesting for the novelty of being an interview with a videogame character, but because he really knows his stuff about Hudson and their history. We can't wait until they post an interview with Air Zonk.
