NES Works Gaiden #031: Adventure Island IV

By request of They Call Me Sleeper, here's one last Wonder Boy game until Segaiden gets to the Master System stuff: Adventure Island IV for NES. Or rather, Takahashi Meijin no Boukenjima IV for Famicom, as Hudson has never localized this one in any capacity. That's a shame, because Adventure Island IV belatedly but capably brings Master Higgins' island adventures in line with those of Tom Tom's, transforming the linear Adventure Island series into a free-roaming exploratory adventure. You know. A metroidvania. It's a fine send-off to the Adventure Island series (which would see only one more proper new entry before riding its dino pal off into the sunset), to the Famicom, and to the 8-bit metroidvania format until portable and indie games revitalized the genre a decade later.

 

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Production note: NES footage captured from  @Analogue  Nt Mini Noir. Arcade footage captured from MiSTer (special thanks to  @MiSTer Addons ). SG-1000 footage in this episode was captured from a combination of Sega SG-1000 II with (with Card Catcher; RGB amp mod by  @iFixRetro  ) and  @Analogue  Mega Sg with card adapter module and DAC. Video upscaled to 720 with  @Retro Tink  5X.