The Goonies II
| The Goonies II | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Amulet Entertainment (re-release) |
| Composer(s) | Satoe Terashima |
| Platform(s) | Famicom, NES |
| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) | Platform game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
The Goonies II (グーニーズ2 フラッテリー最後の挑戦 Gūnīzu Tsū: Furatterī Saigo no Chōsen[2], The Goonies II: The Fratellis' Last Stand) is an adventure game developed and published by Konami for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released on March 18, 1987 in Japan, November 1987 in North America, and on December 19, 1988 in Europe.[1] It is a sequel to a prior Goonies video game released on the Family Computer in Japan, which was only available in North America on Vs. System arcade units. This led many people to assume that it was based on a cancelled sequel to the original film, which, as of yet, has not been produced.
The game's story centers on Mikey. His friends, the Goonies, have been kidnapped by the Fratellis, an Italian family of small-time crooks and counterfeiters. Mikey must rescue all six of his friends and free a captured mermaid named Annie.
Gameplay
The Goonies II features two modes of play: platform and first-person. Most of the game is played as the former as the player works through a non-linear map. The player moves Mikey to new areas of the map by ladders or doors that may act as warp zones. Several different types of zones are found in the game, each with distinct enemies, graphics and music.
When the player exits the platform screen by entering a door, the game shifts to a first-person mode. Using a command menu similar to Shadowgate (released around the same time), the player explores the area by navigating through rooms, searching for hidden items and interacting with non-player characters. The items the player finds may be useful on the overworld (such as weapons or transceivers) or within the rooms themselves (such as the candle, key and ladder). The player will find the six Goonies in cells in this mode. Each rescued Goonie increases Mikey's health.
There are a number of weapons the player can use, and the player can equip both a primary and secondary weapon. Mikey can use three primary weapons: the yo-yo, a short-range weapon with limited power; the slingshot, a ranged, ammunition-based weapon; and the boomerang, a slower ranged weapon with unlimited use. The bomb and molotov cocktail are the two secondary weapons the player can use, and the player can increase Mikey's carrying capacity by finding additional cases of them. These are explosive weapons that have a small blast radius and can damage Mikey if he is in range; the bomb can also reveal hidden doors.
There are also two performance boosting shoes in the game. The spring shoes increase Mikey's jumping ability and are required to reach certain areas of the map. The hyper shoes increase Mikey's speed and make some areas more easily accessible.
What the player has to do in order to obtain certain vital items is sometimes obscure. For example, the candle (an item necessary to finish the game) is obtained when Mikey hits a specific old woman five times in a row for no apparent reason.
Characters
In first-person mode, a number of regular characters will occasionally appear in the passageways:
- Old Man – dressed entirely in white and carries a cane. He often marks the appearance of a warp zone that facilitates travel from one sector to another.
- Old Woman – wears a white dress and sits on the floor of certain rooms. Gives the player (sometimes cryptic) advice. She will also sometimes declare "It's fun to play the Goonies 2." In one room, she will give you the candle if she is hit five times.
- Konami Man – wears a red and blue costume like Superman. He will completely refill your health as often as you enter his room, though these rooms are often the most difficult to reach. The earliest instance requires the player to try and "enter" a room directly underneath a damaging waterfall while riding a moving platform. If Konami Man is struck, he will cease being helpful for the remainder of the game, replying with, "I don't give you energy because you hit me." Konami Man is also sometimes called Captain Konami.
- Eskimo – informs you that he is Eskimo. (In the Japanese version of the game Eskimo says, "I am Eskimo. Oh, you didn't call me here? Sorry, pardon me." This is a reference to the signature gag of the late Japanese comedian Hitoshi Ueki.)
- Fish Man – fish-like humanoid who can be found in some underwater rooms. He sometimes gives the player bonus items.
- Goonies – locked behind barred doors deep in each of the map's sectors, they require a key (rare drop from enemies) to be released, after which they disappear from the room.
- Ambassador Konami – a strange yellow man resembling a space alien who tells the player "Rescue all 6 Goonies to help Annie." He only appears in one room in the volcano area of the game.
- Annie the Mermaid - inhabits the final room in the game. Like the Goonies, she was captured by the Fratellis and imprisoned at the end of the second underwater area. Rescuing her ends the game.
In addition to the consequences listed above, hitting these characters with a fist prompted the compelling broken English response: "Ouch! What do you do?" If hit with the hammer, they say, "Please, help me!"
Enemies
In addition to a number of unusual enemies (such as animated suits of armor, meat-cleaver throwing eskimos, and fire-breathing dragons), the Fratellis make repeated appearances in certain rooms. They cannot be "killed" like other monsters, only stunned. After a short period of time, they get up and continue to chase the player (if still on-screen)
- Jake Fratelli – tall, thin man in blue suit. Shoots bullets at Mikey.
- Francis Fratelli – tall, heavy man in blue suit. Shoots arrows at Mikey. Moves more slowly than Jake.
- Mama Fratelli – old woman. Throws bouncing bombs. The slowest-moving family member and the only one who can climb ladders.
- Cousin "Pipsqueak" Fratelli (a character exclusive to The Goonies II) – short, round man in blue suit. Jumps quickly at Mikey. Unlike the other Fratelli characters, Pipsqueak can be "defeated" as a normal enemy, but he will immediately re-enter the screen.
Reception
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The Goonies II has developed a cult following among classic gamers. Though the game was received with mildly positive reviews and is typically given average or slightly positive ratings, it is still well known among gamers for several reasons. The game was unique in its mix of a platform game and a first person exploration game. Players still recall confusion over the title since the Family Computer game The Goonies was never released for the NES home consoles in North America, Europe and Australia and that there was no sequel to the motion picture. The game led many people to believe that a motion picture sequel had also been produced. This was most likely due to the game's film-esque cover art, which even featured the faces of the actors from the original 1985 film [6] References to the game even appear in elements of pop-culture including the title of Homestar Runner's FAQ page .[7]
Pop Culture
The game Goonies II can be seen being played in the movie My Blue Heaven in the hotel scene, though the sound effects are not from he game (since generic sound effects for video games are routinely used in most movies and TV shows).
In the I-Mockery mashup game Abobo's Big Adventure, Annie the Mermaid appears behind a door in the second level and offers four options to "Eat", "Hit", "Mate", or "Vomit". If the player selects any option but "Mate" this will upset Annie in various ways and they will be told to leave. Selecting the "Mate" option causes Annie to suggestively lower her eyebrows and say that she loves Abobo. The screen fades to black, and when the next scene begins, three atrocities resembling Abobos with blue tails have appeared. A text box informs the player they are the father of three "Merbobos". They then form a circle around Abobo as he proceeds through the level, shielding him from harm a limited number of times.
References
- 1 2 3 4 "The Goonies II Info". GameFAQs. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
- ↑ "The Goonies II Images". GameFAQs. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
- ↑ "The Goonies II NES Review Index, The Goonies II Reviews". 1up.com. 2000-01-01. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
- ↑ "The Goonies II NES Game". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
- ↑ "The Goonies II Reviews, Trailers, Interviews". GameTrailers. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
- ↑ "Press the Buttons: It's Fun to Play The Goonies 2". Press the Buttons. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
- ↑ "FAQ–Ouch. What do you do?". homestarrunner.com. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
External links
- The Goonies II at the Internet Movie Database
- The Goonies II review at Retro Game Age
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