What it was
Konami released The Goonies II on the NES in 1987, a sequel to a Famicom Goonies game that in North America only turned up on Nintendo VS. System arcade units. The Fratellis have escaped prison, they've caught most of the Goonies and a mermaid named Annie, and Mikey has to free them all.
It plays in two modes. Most of it is a side-on platformer through a non-linear map of ladders and doors, with different zones and enemies. Go through a door and it switches to first-person, with a command menu: you search rooms, talk to characters, and find the Goonies in cells. Free all six and you can free Annie.
Where it sits in history
It came out on 18 March 1987 in Japan, in November in North America and on 19 December 1988 in Europe. It's often called an early exploration platformer, with open level design like Pitfall II and Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. Famitsu gave it 26 out of 40, and Computer and Video Games gave it 81% in 1989.
Gamasutra listed it 16th among 20 open-world games and called it much easier than the first Goonies game, though it 'basically requires a strategy guide to finish'. Its best trick is how it hides things. Some clues are in what's missing, so finding something feels like 'the most awesome thing in the world'.
How it plays today
It still feels big. You build a kit as you go: a yo-yo, slingshot or boomerang in one hand, bombs or molotovs in the other, spring shoes to jump higher, hyper shoes to run faster, and a diving suit for the flooded parts of the hideout. Each one opens somewhere you could not reach before, and bombs and a pair of glasses show you doors you walked straight past.
Fair warning: some of it is obscure. To get the candle, you hit a particular old woman five times in a row. Nobody would work that out unaided. Keep a guide handy and you'll have a good time.
Compared with
Why it matters
Berridge and Robinson's work on dopamine says it's more about wanting than liking: the pull towards the next thing, not the pleasure of it. The Goonies II runs on exactly that. One blue dot on the map, one more locked door, one more rescue, and you can't stop.
The wanting works because the game holds back. Nothing is explained, so every find lands harder. A lot of us still chase that feeling, the next unmarked door, and it may be the best thing about being curious.
Read: Wanting, not liking: what dopamine really does when you play →
- Berridge, K. C., & Robinson, T. E. (1998). What is the role of dopamine in reward: hedonic impact, reward learning, or incentive salience? Brain Research Reviews, 28(3), 309-369. doi:10.1016/S0165-0173(98)00019-8
What you're levelling up
You have been training these without noticing. Here is how to do it on purpose, and where it pays off away from the couch. All the skills games teach →
Curiosity
In the game. Hidden doors, a bomb that reveals them, glasses that do the same, and a candle you only get by hitting an old woman five times.
Do it on purpose. Spend one session testing every item on every wall before you look anything up.
Off the couch. Fixing a tap, trying a new cuisine, asking the weird question in a meeting. Curious people find more doors.
Memory and routing
In the game. The map is non-linear, doors can act as warp zones, and a password lets you resume with items and progress.
Do it on purpose. Draw the map from memory after a session and compare it to the real thing.
Off the couch. Remembering a name after one introduction, or the thing someone told you last week, makes people feel noticed. It's a muscle, and you can train it.
Problem solving
In the game. Spring shoes, a ladder and a diving suit each open parts of the map that were closed before.
Do it on purpose. Before opening the menu, say which item you think blocks you and why.
Off the couch. Working out what's missing before you ring the plumber, or your dad, saves money and earns you a bit of respect.
Verdict · 7/10
A weird, inventive game with ideas ahead of its time and puzzles you will not solve by yourself. Worth a go with a guide.
