Gaming Target, Written by John Scalzo on January 18, 2008

Introduction:

For some reason StarTropics, a spiritual sequel to the original Legend of Zelda, is completely forgotten by most of the retrogaming populace. Thankfully, Nintendo has remembered their island-hopping adventure and brought Startropics to the Virtual Console.

StarTropics uses the same engine as the original Legend of Zelda to tell the more modern story of Mike Jones, a teenager from Seattle. Mike"s uncle, a scientist who lives in the tropics, has disappeared and monsters have begun to appear in the caves below C-Island. Using a yo-yo as his main weapon (dubbed an Island Star by the chief), Mike ventures into the caves in search of his uncle.

Bottom Line:

StarTropics is one of the few games developed and published that has been almost completely forgotten by the gaming community. And it"s truly a shame as the Zelda-like adventuring and the tropical island twist make for a spectacular game. Hopefully, the game can find a new life on the Virtual Console and maybe a future life with a new sequel.

Score:

• Visuals: 8.0
• Audio: 8.0
• Gameplay: 9.0
• Features: 8.0
• Replay: 8.0

• Final Score: 8.5 (out of 10)