''Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II'' is an

action-adventure The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a storyli ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed and published by

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

for the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...

. It is the sequel to ''

StarTropics ''StarTropics'' is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Nintendo 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 ...

''. It was released in North America in 1994, making it the second-to-last first-party game released on the

NES The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

(''

Wario's Woods ''Wario's Woods'' is a puzzle video game, puzzle video game developed by TEC and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released in Japan and North America in 1994 and Europe in 1995. A spin-off of the ''Mario (franchi ...

'' being the last), and the final game developed by Nintendo exclusively for the NES (''Wario's Woods'' having also been released for the

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in E ...

), excluding re-releases and international distributions of others also by Nintendo. It was released on the

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...

Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...

in December 2008 in North America and on July 10, 2009, in the

PAL region The PAL region is a television publication territory that covers most of Europe and Africa, alongside parts of Asia, South America and Oceania. It is named PAL because of the PAL (Phase Alternating Line) television standard traditionally used in ...

s. It was released on the

Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. The W ...

Virtual Console in Europe on September 3, 2015, in Australia on September 4, 2015, and in North America on May 26, 2016.

Gameplay

''Zoda's Revenge'' runs through nine chapters, although the first is story-only. Each chapter besides the first takes place in a different time and place and holds one or more bosses, multiple areas, many weapons, medicine, obstacles and puzzles. While the original ''StarTropics'' took place almost exclusively on a series of

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

s, its sequel takes place in a variety of locales, such as the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

, Ancient Egypt, the

Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

, the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, and

Victorian England In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

in old time periods. During the game, Mike meets many important historical and fictional figures throughout his journey through time. These consist of

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

and

King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...

, who help him to achieve his goal of finding the Tetrads (resembling ''

Tetris ''Tetris'' (russian: link=no, Тетрис) is a puzzle video game created by Soviet software engineer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984. It has been published by several companies for multiple platforms, most prominently during a dispute over the approp ...

'' pieces, and renamed "Blocks" in the Virtual Console release) and defeating Zoda's three clones. ''Zoda's Revenge'' runs on a modified

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

of the original ''StarTropics'', with health continuing to be measured by ''

The Legend of Zelda ''The Legend of Zelda'' is an action-adventure game franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-rele ...

'' style heart containers. Unlike the original ''StarTropics'', Mike is no longer limited to moving in "squares", and now can move in eight different directions and can change directions in mid-jump. He now uses various weapons, including Tink's Axe, Cleopatra's Bronze Dagger, and Leonardo's

Katana A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the ''tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge fa ...

, as well as an upgradable projectile magic attack that he learns from

called the Psychic Shock Wave. As opposed to the Island

Yo-Yo A yo-yo (also spelled yoyo) is a toy consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a string looped around the axle, similar to a spool. It is an ancient toy with proof of existence since 500 BCE. The yo-yo was also called a bandalore in ...

, Shooting Star and the Super Nova he had in the first game, only the psychic weapons are affected by the number of heart containers Mike has filled. Occasionally, Mike encounters enemies that react differently depending on which weapon is used to attack.

Plot

The story begins with Mike Jones receiving a telepathic message from Mica, the princess of the Argonians whom Mike had rescued in the previous game. She tells Mike how to solve a cipher that he and his uncle, Dr. J, found on the side of the Argonians’ space pod. Mike goes to see Dr. J, and together, they solve the cipher and read it aloud. This causes Mike to be flung into the past. He arrives in the

. After helping a tribe of cave men retrieve their children from a flesh-eating wild boar, he finds an object, which Mica telepathically identifies as a Tetrad (or "Block" in the Virtual Console version). From here, Mike's journey sends him to different eras throughout

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

’s history to retrieve the rest of the Tetrads, such as Ancient Egypt, the Renaissance period, and the Middle Ages. During one time jump, in which Mike helps

prevent a robbery at the museum, he discovers that Zoda, the alien leader that he had destroyed in his previous adventure, is alive in Holmes’ time period and is also trying to collect the Tetrads. Mike defeats Zoda again and claims the Tetrad that Zoda tried to steal. Based on the fact that Zoda referred to himself as "Zoda-X", Holmes deduces that there are likely to be a Zoda-Y and Zoda-Z somewhere in time, as well. This is proven to be true, as Mike later faces and defeats Zoda-Y in

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

. After he recovers the last of the Tetrads, Mica contacts Mike and tells him that Zoda-Z has attacked C-Island, where the Argonians are staying. Mike returns to the present and faces Zoda-Z in combat. After finally defeating Zoda, the Chief of C-Island (who boasts that "Tetris" is his middle name, though the Virtual Console rerelease changes it to "Puzzle") helps Mike put the Tetrads together. When they are together, Hirocon, the leader of the Argonians and Mica's father, appears and explains he had sealed himself in the Tetrads and scattered them across time before Zoda's attack. He leads the Argonians back to their home planet to rebuild.

Reception

Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The m ...

''s five reviewers said the game has "plenty of action" but "really doesn't stand out and is too little too late for a dated system". ''

GamePro Gamepro.com is an international multiplatform video game magazine media company that covers the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software in countries such as Germany and France. The publication, GamePro, was originally la ...

''s Manny LaMancha gave the NES version a generally positive review, saying that the graphics and controls, while below average compared to its contemporaries, are an improvement over the first game in the series, and concluded that "this playful sequel does the hardware proud". LaMancha especially praised the quality of the

edutainment Educational entertainment (also referred to as edutainment) is media designed to educate through entertainment. The term was used as early as 1954 by Walt Disney. Most often it includes content intended to teach but has incidental entertainment ...

References

External links

*{{MobyGames, id=/zodas-revenge-star-tropics-ii 1994 video games Action-adventure games Nintendo Entertainment System games Nintendo Integrated Research and Development games Science fantasy video games Video games about time travel Video game sequels Video games developed in the United States Virtual Console games Virtual Console games for Wii U Video games set in the Stone Age Video games set in England Video games set in Egypt Video games set in the Middle Ages Video games set in Oceania Video games set in the United States Video games set in Transylvania Video games set in the 19th century