Adventure Island II

The Good
Creating a sequel is the art of making the same game, maybe exploring some neglected aspects from the original with enough changes to make it feel different.
This one is a sequel of the GB game but also a port of NES Adventure Island 3, with the logical changes, tweaks and cuts that porting from a much stronger system requires.

Adventure Island "I" on Game Boy was quite good. So, as a sequel in this system, how are the changes here? Awesome!
Each single stage has been carefully designed to create a memorable experience. The enemies and obstacles were carefully placed by some sadist programmer to increase the difficulty (and the fun).
Special praise should be given to the bosses -a noticeable improvement in this follow up- it's amazing what they managed to achieve barely with simple patterns of movement and an increase in speed through the fight. Every boss fight felt different!

The graphics improved upon the original - which was like already great in this department -, with a high variety in enemy design, fluid animations, nice backgrounds, huge sprites, and even transparency and scrolling effects! Am I still playing a Game Boy game, here?
Everything is full of detail but always keeping that consistency of belonging to the Adventure Island universe.

Now we have a gigantic over-world to explore with tons and tons of levels scattered through 8 islands and hidden paths which of course adds up on the re-playability. We are talking about hours of game time here, to the point that could become a detriment... No save system. Thankfully we have a password system where you get a code for the island you are on once you lose all your lives: fair enough.

While in the original the animal buddies felt a bit samey here each single one of them is unique and has a well thought mechanic, i.e.: with the triceratops you can't shoot, you roll up very close to enemies which makes it a worse mount for killing them... at the same time it's heavier than other mounts so is slightly better for platforming!

The original was tagged as an easy game, this one is very hard... and HARD it is, but at the same time it adds on the value of the helping items because now they become a MUST. Many stages are insanely difficult if you choose to try them out without them.

The Bad
The music is the aspect of the game that had almost no changes and feels the least inspired, it was generic in the previous GB game and it's generic here, with just a couple of little catchy tunes as a pale reflection of the Famicom/NES ones repeating over and over. Nothing is perfect.

The slippery movement is a staple of the series, which forces your character to constantly move forward, but here perhaps feels to me a tiny little twitch too much? Just a pinch... Though it is compensated by the fact that now you can crouch and even shoot while doing so.

The levels are well designed, though at times they still seem a bit short.
The story is once again serviceable - who needs a story in a game like this? -, now aliens have abducted your beloved Tina... Oh my Gosh! According to the US manual now she's called Jeannie Jungle! So I guess they forgot what her name was or maybe Master Higgins is a Ladies' man, who knows?

The Bottom Line
In almost every single aspect this game improves over the first one on Game Boy, it's an absolute masterpiece, it's up there with the best platformers on the system; and I'd dare to say a damn near PERFECT port of one of the best 2D platformers ever made: Adventure Island 3 for the NES.

It even honors the legacy of the Wonder Boy arcade game on its difficulty: a back to the basic fast-forward running-jumping, enemy placement and level design... Though it's an excellent game with responsive on point controls and accurate hit boxes, the challenge makes me wonder how a child was able to beat this one back in the day.
Well... who said games are for kids, right?