The Adventures of Gilligan's Island
| The Adventures of Gilligan's Island Gilligan's Island |
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 Cover art |
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| Developer(s) | Human Entertainment, Inc.[1] |
| Publisher(s) | Bandai America, Inc.[1] |
| Designer(s) | Hiroyuki Itoh (main programmer) [1] Sun Shi Fai[2] Koo Wai San (sub-programmers)[2] |
| Composer(s) | Masaki Hashimoto[1] Takahiro Wakuta[1] |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo Entertainment System |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Action[1] Strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Media/distribution | 1-megabit cartridge[3] |
The Adventures of Gilligan's Island (known on the title screen simply as Gilligan's Island) is a single-player Nintendo Entertainment System video game by Bandai that is based on the 1960s sitcom of the same name.[2] On BitSaga, this video game is given a "B+" rating on the rarity scale.[4]
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[edit] Gameplay
[edit] General information
The player controls the Skipper and is followed around by Gilligan, who is controlled by the computer.[2]
Using four episodes (known in true video game parlance as levels) complete with threats from creatures in addition to headhunters and the surrounding terrain, the player had to wander around the island, collecting various objects, speaking with the other castaways (the millionaire, his wife, the Professor, and Mary Ann) and solving various puzzles.[2] The computer's control of Gilligan is often a source of frustration. Frequently getting stuck in things, the player has to cut him free each time, or rescue him if he falls down one of many holes (which are not bottomless but lead to an underground cavern instead). Luckily, the game has a password feature for each level.
There were attempts to make original dialog (which sound more like jokes intentionally ripped out of a third grade student's joke book),[5] to create in-depth plots, and to emulate some of the actual episodes of the television series. Unlike the show, the island in Gilligan's Island is full of homicidal enemies. Bird-type enemies seem to be plentiful as they can manage to ram the player every five seconds. However, the player's life bar is considered to be large and the time limit can be forgiving to the expert player (it gets reduced to two minutes if Gilligan goes missing however).[2] The Skipper can attack most of the game's enemies with a punch; bringing a somewhat violent element to a game based on a completely non-violent television program. There are four bosses in the game (a gorilla, a large cannibal who happens to be the leader of the headhunters, and a skeleton) that don't even flash if the player is connecting a hit to them.[5]
[edit] Specific components
Despite the television series being cancelled for twenty-three years during the time of the game's release, Bandai (a Japanese developer and toy manufacturer), decided to go ahead and release this game.[6] Some components of this game appears to have been outsourced to Korea due to a need for sub-programmers to collaborate on the project with the main programmers in Japan. The MIDI-based music (which sounds like staccato)[5] is used to imitate the opening theme song to the actual television series.
The font used in this game is the Joystix font as used in many popular video games during this decade. For reasons unknown, the movie star Ginger is excluded from this video game. This game has been considered one of the worst games ever made because of the artificial intelligence. This is mostly because the Gilligan character is always falling down holes. However, it could easily be argued that the "bad behavior" of the computer-controlled Gilligan was representative of the way the character was always fouling the castaways rescue attempts on the show on which the game is based. Most video games based on popular television shows (i.e., Knight Rider or Fun House) or movies (i.e., Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street) usually do not emulate the starring characters and/or the key elements of the original production to the level that this game achieved.
The chip components to make this cartridge were jointly made by Ricoh, Philips, and the Sharp Corporation.[7] Ricoh made the mask ROM (containing 128 KB of total memory) while Phillips made the SRAM (with 8 KB of total memory).[7] Other chips included inside the cartridge itself were a Nintendo CIC chip, a Philips 74-161 series chip, and a Philips 74-32 series chip.[7]
[edit] Ending
At the end of the fourth stage, the group tries to get the idol to grant their wish to leave the island. They keep Gilligan unaware of their plan and send him away at the crucial moment, so he won't ruin it. But just as the Professor recites the magic chant, Gilligan wishes for a mountain of ice cream. A gigantic ice cream cone floats into the lagoon, and a delighted Gilligan cannot figure out why everyone is so sad. The game says Episode 4 clear and tabulates the player's final score. Next it will say, Will the Castaways ever get off the island?...Stay tuned! Still-shots from the game are then shown as the credits are presented below. When they are done, the players will see a faraway shot of the island with the words The End above it in large letters.
| Reception | |
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| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Allgame |    |
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g "Release information". GameFAQs. http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/nes/data/587305.html. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
- ^ a b c d e f "Additional release information". MobyGames. http://www.mobygames.com/game/nes/adventures-of-gilligans-island. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
- ^ "Additional media information". Something Awful.com. http://www.somethingawful.com/d/rom-pit/gilligans-island.php. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
- ^ "Rarity of the video game". BitSaga. http://www.bitsaga.com/system/1/game/262/overview.html. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
- ^ a b c "More obscure facts about the game". Wired. 2009-09-11. http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/09/gilligans-island-nes/. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
- ^ "Obscure fact about the game". 1up.com. http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?publicUserId=6064600&bId=9036523. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
- ^ a b c "Information about the inner workings of the game". Dyndns.org. http://bootgod.dyndns.org:7777/profile.php?id=541. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
[edit] External links
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