StarTropics
Encyclopedia
StarTropics is an action-adventure video game
released by Nintendo
in 1990 for the Nintendo Entertainment System
. Unlike most of Nintendo's games, it was never released or intended to be released in Japan. It was released only in North America and Europe, although designed by Japanese designers living in the United States. It was produced, written and directed by Genyo Takeda
of Nintendo Integrated Research & Development (which also developed the Punch-Out!!
series). The game was added to the North American Virtual Console
on January 7, 2008, and the PAL region
's on January 11.
StarTropics was followed by a sequel entitled Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II
, released in 1994
.
named Dr. Jones, on C-Island. When Mike arrives at Dr. Jones's house, he finds that Dr. Jones has gone missing. Dr. Jones's assistant, Baboo, allows Mike to use Dr. Jones submarine
, which is piloted by a robot
named NAV-COM, to search for Dr. Jones. On a nearby island, Mike finds a bottle with a letter from Dr. Jones addressed to him. The letter states that his uncle has been abducted by aliens and that he needs Mike to save him. Traveling to many isles of the South Seas to find his uncle, Mike encounters monsters, puzzles, several quirky characters, and a number of intelligent animals, such as Peter, a talking parrot
, and a mother dolphin
who pleads with Mike to find her son.
Eventually, Mike is swallowed by a whale and reunites with Baboo who confesses that he has withheld vital information from Mike, fearing the aliens who kidnapped Dr. Jones would come after him. Baboo tells Mike about a tracking beacon in Dr. Jones's shoe. Using NAV-COM's tracking system, Mike journeys through a series of underground ruins and finds Dr. Jones near the wreckage of an alien escape pod
. After a happy reunion, Dr. Jones explains that the pod belongs to the Argonians, an alien race that was exterminated by the aliens who abducted him. While he was abducted, the aliens forced Dr. Jones to steal three cubes from the Argonian escape pod. Mike travels to the alien mothership
which abducted Dr. Jones to retrieve the cubes.
On the mothership, Mike faces Zoda, the leader of the invading aliens. After defeating Zoda, Mike destroys the ship's generators and retrieves the cubes before the ship self-destructs. Mike crashes back to Earth in an escape pod, but he crashes too far from land to swim to safety. Mike loses consciousness and slips under the waves only to awaken back on C-Island, saved by the mother dolphin he helped earlier. Back in the Chief's hut, Mike joins the cubes together. This releases seven Argonian children from the cubes whom the Chief and the rest of C-Island decide to adopt.
s and obtaining information. After speaking to the required people, Mike will often then travel to a cave or other underground area. It is here that the game switches mechanics. The view is much more zoomed-in, with Mike traveling through rooms that are (usually) one screen big.
Mike initially attacks enemies with the Island Yo-Yo
, renamed to the Island Star in the Virtual Console
release, which has a short range. Later in the game, it can be upgraded to two more weapons adding range and power to his attacks, in order of appearance: the Shooting Star (Chapter 3 from SheCola) and the Supernova (Chapter 7 from the Orange Cube). These upgrades, however, require Mike's health to be at a certain level to be available, otherwise the item will change back to the next lower item. To use the Shooting Star, Mike needs 6 hearts full of life, and to use the Supernova Mike needs half of his health meter (11 hearts) full.
Mike can accumulate other weapons and magical items, some of which are baseball-themed, while some others were renamed according to the Operations Guide, in these areas, such as baseball bat
s, baseballs (also called Wonder Horsehides), cleats
(also known as Spikes), torches (titled as Fire), bolas
(also known as Twisters), Asterisk/Twin Cross-Blades (which are similar to shurikens, but can split apart to move in a 90 degree angle), slingshot
s, reflective mirror
s (known as Miracle Mirrors), two types of laser
guns (a pistol and a rifle) and more. These special weapons do not carry over from dungeon to dungeon. In addition, Mike can collect several items that have different uses, such as a lantern for lighting darkened rooms, a snowman doll that freezes the enemy (used in chapter 2), the Rod of Sight used to make ghosts appear, the magic stopwatch that either slows or stops enemies, and a magic anklet
that allows Mike to jump twice the distance until he moves to the next room.
Mike has a life meter which is made of a maximum of 22 hearts, similar to that of Link's. This meter can be expanded by finding Big Hearts (which are essentially the same as Heart Containers in Zelda). Sometimes a healing item called "Vitamin X" can be seen in some places in the game, which they can temporarily fill up all of Mike's hearts, while Mike's health will slowly drain to the amount of hearts he has. Mike loses hearts when he takes damage. These hearts can be refilled by finding hearts or stars either from enemies, or inside rooms, or by collecting 5 stars from enemies. Additionally, Mike can use stored potion to refill hearts when none are available. If Mike accidentally runs into a death trap, jumps into the water, or loses all his hearts, he turns into a ghost.
Mike has three lives
and must restart from the beginning of a dungeon area if he loses them all. It is possible to have more than three lives, by obtaining the "Try-Your-Luck Signs" to either have more or less lives, depending on what number is shown on the sign. There are dozens of different enemies within the game and some instant-kill traps, such as spiked pits, platforms that sink into the ubiquitous water and giant bowling balls reminiscent of the rolling rock seen in the beginning of the Indiana Jones
movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark
.
Upon reaching the end of the dungeon area, Mike will usually fight a large boss character, which often requires a unique strategy to defeat. There is a point system in the game, which, unlike most games, reduces points for each enemy killed.
A unique aspect of StarTropics was a saga involving a piece of paper, resembling parchment
, that came packaged with the game. Written on it was a letter from Dr. Jones addressed to Mike, asking him to visit him at his laboratory on C-Island. It was as if the actual player had intercepted the message and was being invited indirectly to play the game. In later parts of the game, Mike receives an enigmatic message from his uncle through a third party:
Even for a player who owned an original copy and thus, was more likely to have the letter, it was unusual for an NES game to refer to a physical object that would otherwise just be a novelty (although Infocom
games had been doing this for some time, with the "Feelie
s" that they included with their games). This prompted the player to think that Dr. Jones might be referring to an object within the game. To add to the confusion of the puzzle, putting this paper under water might damage it. Regardless, the correct course of action was to dip the physical piece of paper in water. It revealed a secret message from Dr. Jones and the number "747" that must be used in the game in order to advance.
Since many rental stores and used video game retailers often do not have game boxes or manuals, it is difficult to find a copy of StarTropics with the original letter, requiring the use of online
game manuals or online walkthroughs
to complete this part of the game. Game magazine Nintendo Power
was asked this question often enough that they published the "747" code as part of their "Counselor's Corner" soon after their article of the game. After completing the game a slideshow of events from the game is shown, including the letter being dipped in water and the number "747" visible on it.
For the Virtual Console
release, the letter is included in the digital manual (Operations Guide) with an image of a letter and a bucket of water at the bottom. When the player clicks on one of the images, the letter dips into the bucket and the code is revealed. In the European release, the letter simply has a "click here" link at the bottom of the letter.
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
released by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
in 1990 for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
. Unlike most of Nintendo's games, it was never released or intended to be released in Japan. It was released only in North America and Europe, although designed by Japanese designers living in the United States. It was produced, written and directed by Genyo Takeda
Genyo Takeda
is the general manager of Nintendo's integrated research division, and has been working there since it was founded in 1981. He mostly works on improving hardware for home consoles and handhelds, but sometimes develops video games...
of Nintendo Integrated Research & Development (which also developed the Punch-Out!!
Punch-Out!!
is a 1983–1984 boxing arcade game by Nintendo. It was the first in a series of successful Punch-Out!! games that produced an arcade sequel known as Super Punch-Out!!, a spin-off of the series titled Arm Wrestling, a highly popular version for the NES originally known as Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!,...
series). The game was added to the North American Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
on January 7, 2008, and the PAL region
PAL region
The PAL region is a television publication territory which covers most of Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and most of Western Europe...
's on January 11.
StarTropics was followed by a sequel entitled Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II
Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II
Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II is a video game released only in North America in 1994. It was developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System as the sequel to the 1990 game, StarTropics. It is the second to last licensed game released on the NES, Wario's Woods being the...
, released in 1994
1994 in video gaming
-Events:*Nintendo calls this year "1994: The Year of the Cartridge".*Nintendo Australia Pty. Ltd, the Australian subsidiary of Nintendo Co., Ltd is established and opened by Hiroshi Yamauchi and effectively ends Mattel Australia's distribution of Nintendo's products throughout Australia.*"Project...
.
Plot
The game follows the protagonist Mike Jones as he visits his uncle, an archaeologistArchaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
named Dr. Jones, on C-Island. When Mike arrives at Dr. Jones's house, he finds that Dr. Jones has gone missing. Dr. Jones's assistant, Baboo, allows Mike to use Dr. Jones submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
, which is piloted by a robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
named NAV-COM, to search for Dr. Jones. On a nearby island, Mike finds a bottle with a letter from Dr. Jones addressed to him. The letter states that his uncle has been abducted by aliens and that he needs Mike to save him. Traveling to many isles of the South Seas to find his uncle, Mike encounters monsters, puzzles, several quirky characters, and a number of intelligent animals, such as Peter, a talking parrot
Parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...
, and a mother dolphin
Dolphin
Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...
who pleads with Mike to find her son.
Eventually, Mike is swallowed by a whale and reunites with Baboo who confesses that he has withheld vital information from Mike, fearing the aliens who kidnapped Dr. Jones would come after him. Baboo tells Mike about a tracking beacon in Dr. Jones's shoe. Using NAV-COM's tracking system, Mike journeys through a series of underground ruins and finds Dr. Jones near the wreckage of an alien escape pod
Escape pod
An escape pod is a capsule or craft used to escape a vessel in an emergency, usually only big enough for one person. An escape ship is a larger, more complete craft also used for the same purpose...
. After a happy reunion, Dr. Jones explains that the pod belongs to the Argonians, an alien race that was exterminated by the aliens who abducted him. While he was abducted, the aliens forced Dr. Jones to steal three cubes from the Argonian escape pod. Mike travels to the alien mothership
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
which abducted Dr. Jones to retrieve the cubes.
On the mothership, Mike faces Zoda, the leader of the invading aliens. After defeating Zoda, Mike destroys the ship's generators and retrieves the cubes before the ship self-destructs. Mike crashes back to Earth in an escape pod, but he crashes too far from land to swim to safety. Mike loses consciousness and slips under the waves only to awaken back on C-Island, saved by the mother dolphin he helped earlier. Back in the Chief's hut, Mike joins the cubes together. This releases seven Argonian children from the cubes whom the Chief and the rest of C-Island decide to adopt.
Gameplay
StarTropics is played from a 2D top-down perspective, similar to The Legend of Zeldas dungeon areas, and various RPGs on the NES (town/overworld areas); however, StarTropics is linear and has a constant storyline. The game is divided into a series of chapters through which the story progresses. In each chapter, Mike initially walks around towns or other areas, talking to NPCNon-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
s and obtaining information. After speaking to the required people, Mike will often then travel to a cave or other underground area. It is here that the game switches mechanics. The view is much more zoomed-in, with Mike traveling through rooms that are (usually) one screen big.
Mike initially attacks enemies with the Island Yo-Yo
Yo-yo
The yo-yo in its simplest form is an object consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a length of twine looped around the axle, similar to a slender spool...
, renamed to the Island Star in the Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
release, which has a short range. Later in the game, it can be upgraded to two more weapons adding range and power to his attacks, in order of appearance: the Shooting Star (Chapter 3 from SheCola) and the Supernova (Chapter 7 from the Orange Cube). These upgrades, however, require Mike's health to be at a certain level to be available, otherwise the item will change back to the next lower item. To use the Shooting Star, Mike needs 6 hearts full of life, and to use the Supernova Mike needs half of his health meter (11 hearts) full.
Mike can accumulate other weapons and magical items, some of which are baseball-themed, while some others were renamed according to the Operations Guide, in these areas, such as baseball bat
Baseball bat
A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal club used in the game of baseball to hit the ball after the ball is thrown by the pitcher. It is no more than 2.75 inches in diameter at the thickest part and no more than 42 inches in length. It typically weighs no more than 33 ounces , but it...
s, baseballs (also called Wonder Horsehides), cleats
Cleat (shoe)
Cleats or studs are protrusions on the sole of a shoe, or on an external attachment to a shoe, that provide additional traction on a soft or slippery surface...
(also known as Spikes), torches (titled as Fire), bolas
Bolas
Bolas are a throwing weapon superficially similar to the surujin, made of weights on the ends of interconnected cords, designed to capture animals by entangling their legs...
(also known as Twisters), Asterisk/Twin Cross-Blades (which are similar to shurikens, but can split apart to move in a 90 degree angle), slingshot
Slingshot
A slingshot, shanghai, flip, bean shooter or catapult is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame held in the off hand, with two rubber strips attached to the uprights. The other ends of the strips lead back to a pocket which holds the projectile...
s, reflective mirror
Mirror
A mirror is an object that reflects light or sound in a way that preserves much of its original quality prior to its contact with the mirror. Some mirrors also filter out some wavelengths, while preserving other wavelengths in the reflection...
s (known as Miracle Mirrors), two types of laser
Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
guns (a pistol and a rifle) and more. These special weapons do not carry over from dungeon to dungeon. In addition, Mike can collect several items that have different uses, such as a lantern for lighting darkened rooms, a snowman doll that freezes the enemy (used in chapter 2), the Rod of Sight used to make ghosts appear, the magic stopwatch that either slows or stops enemies, and a magic anklet
Anklet
An anklet, also called ankle chain or ankle bracelet, is an ornament worn around the ankle. Barefoot anklets and toe rings historically have been worn for centuries by girls and women in India. In the United States both casual and more formal anklets became fashionable in the late twentieth century...
that allows Mike to jump twice the distance until he moves to the next room.
Mike has three lives
1-up
1-up , pronounced "one up", is a term in console video gaming that commonly refers to an item that gives the player an extra life, to complete the game. In certain games, it is possible to receive multiple extra lives at once...
and must restart from the beginning of a dungeon area if he loses them all. It is possible to have more than three lives, by obtaining the "Try-Your-Luck Signs" to either have more or less lives, depending on what number is shown on the sign. There are dozens of different enemies within the game and some instant-kill traps, such as spiked pits, platforms that sink into the ubiquitous water and giant bowling balls reminiscent of the rolling rock seen in the beginning of the Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones
Colonel Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., Ph.D. is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials...
movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford. It is the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise...
.
Upon reaching the end of the dungeon area, Mike will usually fight a large boss character, which often requires a unique strategy to defeat. There is a point system in the game, which, unlike most games, reduces points for each enemy killed.
Immersive letter
Parchment
Parchment is a thin material made from calfskin, sheepskin or goatskin, often split. Its most common use was as a material for writing on, for documents, notes, or the pages of a book, codex or manuscript. It is distinct from leather in that parchment is limed but not tanned; therefore, it is very...
, that came packaged with the game. Written on it was a letter from Dr. Jones addressed to Mike, asking him to visit him at his laboratory on C-Island. It was as if the actual player had intercepted the message and was being invited indirectly to play the game. In later parts of the game, Mike receives an enigmatic message from his uncle through a third party:
- "Evil aliens from a distant planet...." "Tell Mike to dip my letter in water...."
Even for a player who owned an original copy and thus, was more likely to have the letter, it was unusual for an NES game to refer to a physical object that would otherwise just be a novelty (although Infocom
Infocom
Infocom was a software company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced one notable business application, a relational database called Cornerstone....
games had been doing this for some time, with the "Feelie
Feelie
Infocom used the term feelie to refer to the extra content included with the boxed versions of their interactive fiction computer games. Feelies differed from game to game and were of the same theme as the game they came packaged with...
s" that they included with their games). This prompted the player to think that Dr. Jones might be referring to an object within the game. To add to the confusion of the puzzle, putting this paper under water might damage it. Regardless, the correct course of action was to dip the physical piece of paper in water. It revealed a secret message from Dr. Jones and the number "747" that must be used in the game in order to advance.
Since many rental stores and used video game retailers often do not have game boxes or manuals, it is difficult to find a copy of StarTropics with the original letter, requiring the use of online
ONLINE
ONLINE is a magazine for information systems first published in 1977. The publisher Online, Inc. was founded the year before. In May 2002, Information Today, Inc. acquired the assets of Online Inc....
game manuals or online walkthroughs
Strategy guide
Strategy guides are instruction books that contain hints or complete solutions to specific video games. The line between strategy guides and walkthroughs is somewhat blurred, with the former often containing or being written around the latter. Strategy guides are often published in print, both in...
to complete this part of the game. Game magazine Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
was asked this question often enough that they published the "747" code as part of their "Counselor's Corner" soon after their article of the game. After completing the game a slideshow of events from the game is shown, including the letter being dipped in water and the number "747" visible on it.
For the Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
release, the letter is included in the digital manual (Operations Guide) with an image of a letter and a bucket of water at the bottom. When the player clicks on one of the images, the letter dips into the bucket and the code is revealed. In the European release, the letter simply has a "click here" link at the bottom of the letter.
Reception
StarTropics received generally positive reviews from critics upon its release. IGN praised the creative gameplay of StarTropics, calling it "the natural evolution of the original Legend of Zelda."External links
- Virtual Console web page (North American) (European)
- StarTropics at NinDB
- StarTropics.com, a fan-run information base.