"Antarctic Adventure" - NES/Famicom

AKA - けっきょく南極大冒険 - Kekkyoku Nankyoku Daibouken

----- Introduction -----

I'm pretty sure this game was also on my 'TOP GUN' bootleg cartridge growing up, but it was uncommon and you really had to look for it. Which nobody was trying to do in this household, because the game just really didn't seem that good.

I haven't played it in ages, but where did it even come from?

This game was made by Konami for the MSX computer in 1983. I have no idea who really was responsible for developing it or composing for it on an individual level. Even the Japanese Wikipedia doesn't tell us that much though it does mention that Penguin-kun's son, "Pen-tarou" (probably a play on Momotarou) makes a cameo in Parodius. It also mentions what seems obvious in retrospect-- Kekkyoku is actually considered an "educational software" by Konami (I guess it teaches you geography).

Cool. Let's play-- WAIT!

I almost forgot to translate the title for you:

けっきょく - Kekkyoku - "After all; eventually; in the end"
南極 - Nankyoku - "South Pole; Antarctica"
大冒険 - Daibouken - "Great adventure"

I'm not really sure how to put this into English, but to be honest, Antarctic Adventure sounds good to me.

Okay, now let's play.

How mighty dost thou feel, Penguin-kun?

----- Playthrough -----

The idea behind this game is that you're a penguin who seems to be making a trip around the Antarctic to every base station on it, for reasons that are unclear to me. Perhaps just for a change of scenery. It seems like a lot of trouble to go through for no reason at all, and to ultimately end up where you started, but I guess Penguin-kun doesn't tell me how to plan my vacations.

The kanji in the middle says "south pole point/spot" by the way. I'm not sure why you don't start there, but whatever.

Penguin-kun is a penguin, so he doesn't have a sled or something reasonable, he just has to slide the whole way around on foot. And Antarctica is like 1100 miles across so that's going to take a little bit of effort.

Along the way, Penguin-kun has to jump over all the holes in the ice created by global warming, and dodge the elephant seals (or whatever) popping out of the ice. If he bumps into these potholes or seals, he bounces to the side a little.

"What a fine morning to wake up in the-- oh my!"
'Oh, pardon me Mr. Seal, sir, do pardon me.'

I almost wrote that whole dialogue out; I had to stop myself.

You can also collect fish that hop out of the holes, or various flags stationed throughout each level. If you touch a flag that's flashing rainbow colors, you get a beanie spinner on top of your head, which allows you to double jump once before it disappears. It'll also disappear if you bump into something.

That's pretty much all there is to it. I checked all three levels before quitting, and it seems the higher levels just make Penguin-kun run faster than in the lower levels. To be honest, I would just go ahead and put it on Level 3 from the beginning, because the game's not that hard and the first level is painfully slow.

I actually beat a full lap of this game earlier this year on my own time, before I started the blog, so this time I just went halfway around to the South Pole station and decided that was good enough.

I still don't know why this is just the halfway point. Look how happy he is. That was totally his destination all along.

----- Review -----

Innovation:

Does the game show anything not yet seen on this system/ever before?

Not really. The faux 3D thing has been done a few times now, and we've even had a basic platformer. This game is a bit like F-1 Race with jumping, and also worse.

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Spitting Rage:

Does the game make you want to tear your own organs out of your body?

Nah, this game really isn't very difficult. I never did lose even when I played a few levels on the hardest mode.

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Intuitive Design: 

How easy is it to intuitively understand the game?

One thing that would be intuitive if I had been smart enough to read the screen is that there is a speed bar-- and you can increase your speed by holding up. I didn't pay attention to that or notice for awhile, but if you're observant it would be fairly intuitive I would think. Moving and jumping around/over obstacles is plenty obvious.

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Satisfying Gameplay: 

How rewarding does playing the game feel?

I don't know, not really that much I guess. Just dodging obstacles isn't that exciting. Landing a good jump feels okay. This game seems more like an excuse to teach you the names of various countries and their flags, anyway.

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Game Depth: 

How deep/long is the game?

It's very simple. Your only goal is to move from base to base. Once you do it, you get to do it again.

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Sound Design: 

How's the sound?

This friggin' version of the "Skaters' Waltz" is going to be playing in my head until the end of my life. The sound in the game otherwise is serviceable, if not very memorable.

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Graphics:

How's it look?

It looks fine. The sprites of the fish and seals and etc all look okay. There's really not a lot here to blow your mind, but it looks just fine for a 1985 Famicom game.

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Personal Chord: 

Does the game have that undefinable "something" for me?

There's a little nostalgia, but to be honest, no, not really.

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Should You Play: 

Is there a reason to even bother with this one?

Nah. If you want to play a faux 3D "racing" type game on the Famicom, from what we've played so far, I think F-1 Race is going to be for you. Otherwise, just maybe skip on Kekkyoku Nankyoku Daibouken. I just wanted to type that whole name again.

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