"Ouch What DO You Do?" - Goonies II

[Daria]

As posted on my gaming blog. (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=94242520&blogID=324738269)

There's no probably greater satisfaction to a geek than defeating a game that you were unable to defeat as a child. Even if you cheat it still feels good. So you can imagine my euphorous high when earlier this week I finally conquered Goonies II for the NES. And what an ass pain that was.

It's not that the game's difficult exactly. You have plenty of health and unlimited continues. But it is confusing in a vague "you don't know where the fuck to go" sort of way. And the map, holy shit is it confusing. Levels don't connect to each other in any sort of logical way. You'll start off on one side of your map, enter a door and be magically teleported to another room on the opposite saide of the map. It's very disorienting and you'll quickly find yourself randomly opening and closing doors you've already explored searching for a new passage.

Part of the problem is because Goonies II utalizes a password system you can not navigate by landmarks. For example, if I enter a room and unlock a safe, then leave. The next time I enter that room the safe has mysteriously locked itself again. And because all these rooms and all these safes look alike I can't tell if it's a new safe I need to open or if it's going to give me an exteremely helpful tip like "It's fun to play the Goonies II!" I'm not even kidding, you'll get that message a lot. And when you're already frustrated that sentence is motivation enough to lob controllers at your t.v. set.

It also occurs to me as being sort of odd just how many people live in the bottom of the Fratellis' basement. You'll meet blind old ladies, eskimos, super heroes, deep ones, as well as dinosaurs. It's a freaking circus under that house. Then again I'm questioning the logic of a game whose ultimate goal is to rescue a mermaid. Funny, there weren't too many of those in the movie.

Also I don't think they explored this character trait in the movie, but Mikey's a real bastard. There's this old lady you'll meet who tells you she's lost her glasses. And like the good little boy scout you are you'll steal them back from an eskimo and return them of course? Hell no. You'll keep those glasses to reveal hidden doors. This poor woman follows you around the caves begging you for her glasses and you play stupid. Then when she gets bitchy with you, you beat her senseless with a fucking hammer.

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/8467/ladyhammerhu1.gif

I'm not sure how this got past Nintendo's censorship at the time. A company who was notorious for altering games with references to nazis, religion, cigarrettes, alchohol, and nudity, was apparently a-ok with grotesque acts of violence like bludgeoning little old ladies while they plead for mercy. Then again this is the same company that digitally raped Maniac Mansion but thought it was cute to shove hamsters in the microwave. Go figure.

And your reward for this bit of the old ultra-violence? A candle. This wasn't an accident, you had to hit the woman with the hammer, seven times I might add, to get the candle which you will need to see in all the pitch black rooms the game throws at you. I repeat, Mikey is one sadistic little bastard.

[rpepper9]

If I remember correctly you could "hit" it on her anywhere, even though most of us did use it right on top of her head!

[Jorpho]

For a more recent take on huge sadistic hardcore mazes of pain, I hear La-Mulana (a recently-translated freeware PC game) is just the thing.

[bangtango]

There are plenty of young pups out there, in the "Softcover Walkthrough Generation" or "GameFAQ's Generation", who would need to drink a full bottle of nerve tonic after trying to solve Goonies II without the same sort of hints and objectives which are commonplace today. Too much backtracking and it is a laugher that you start the game in a normal house, a believable setting, then within 5 or 6 minutes you are balls deep in a jungle complete with moving platforms and waterfalls.

My personal favorite enemy is that third midget Fratelli Brother who wasn't in the movie either. It'd also be helpful to have unlimited shots for the slingshot and to be able to keep your boomerang instead of losing it every time you go over the rope bridge. Since you rarely get to keep the two best weapons in the game longer than a few minutes, a lot of your game time is spent with that piss poor yoyo.

[Aussie2B]

There are enemies on the bridge that steal your boomerang. If you can dodge them, you can keep it.

I played through Goonies II for the first time just a couple years ago myself. It was great fun to finally make some real progress in the game. I don't think I used much of any outside help to get through it. I just got some graphing paper, made a few maps, and that was good enough to keep track of everything.

As for the differences from the movie, It's called "Goonies II" for a reason. :P Konami made a Goonies game based directly on the movie, but that didn't get released in the US (besides in arcades). The sequel is supposed to be an all new story, and since there wasn't a movie sequel, Konami was free to make it up as they went.

[kainemaxwell]

I've played a little of it and it is a fun title, but the maps are confusing. Thankfully nowadays we have gamefaqs...

[XYXZYZ]

Goonies II is one if my favoritest games EVAR. I didn't finish it until I actually mapped out the whole game with item locations and made a plan from there.

I can't stand those fucking skull head things that steal your boomerang. I just say "fuck it" and never bother with the boomerang anyway, thanks to them.:grrr:

But I can now finish Goonies II in one life, (usually two) in about 30-45 minutes. And it really is such a damn good game. If you're reading this thread, and have never played Goonies II, get yourself a cartridge and spend some quality time with it. You'll keep coming back to it every day.

Hurrah for Konami and the Goonies!
http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/nes/a/goon2-4.gif

[Jorpho]

Obligatory HG101 linkage:
http://www.hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/goonies/goonies.htm

[Daria]

As for the differences from the movie, It's called "Goonies II" for a reason. :P Konami made a Goonies game based directly on the movie, but that didn't get released in the US (besides in arcades). The sequel is supposed to be an all new story, and since there wasn't a movie sequel, Konami was free to make it up as they went.

I know, but still the mermaid is pretty random. And she's not even drawn that well compared to the Fratelli animations. In fact... she looks more like a Princess Tomato character.

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/9311/goonies2endjh7.png http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/7056/pervertha4.gifhttp://img504.imageshack.us/img504/9894/goonies2fratellixf7.png

[Blitzwing256]

a couple good tips to get by those agravating skeletons,

before you cross the bridge make sure you have about 20 shots in the slingshot and a bomb, just to the left of the bridge theres a hard to find door (bomb the far left area) and get the hyper shoes, then as you cross the bridge wait for the skulls they should fly right into range of the slingshot, if you proceed slowly you won't get besiged by them as easily.

[Daria]

With all the continues you get I found I just didn't care if they ate my boomerang... which I wasn't using anyway. In fact since the slingshot had limited ammo I barely bothered with that too. So I ran around like a madman flinging my yo-yo and dropping molotov cocktails.

[XYXZYZ]

a couple good tips to get by those agravating skeletons,

before you cross the bridge make sure you have about 20 shots in the slingshot and a bomb, just to the left of the bridge theres a hard to find door (bomb the far left area) and get the hyper shoes, then as you cross the bridge wait for the skulls they should fly right into range of the slingshot, if you proceed slowly you won't get besiged by them as easily.

Yeah, but that secret door to the left of the bridge doesn't appear until after you get the jump shoes later in the game.

[Tron 2.0]

Goonies II is one of my favorite NES titles.

Still i can see why not every body didn't like the game.

With it's..confuseing maps and setup for it's pluzzles it did lead many to hate the game.

When i play the game in the late 80's. I enjoy it dunno why maybe becuase i like the fact that it challenge,you and it wasn't a "straight forward game" like goonies 1 was for the arcades.

Not to mention the sense of exploration that the game gave.

I also can safely say i never did beat it the legit way back then.

By the time nintendo released the official stratey guide i use it's maps to beat the game.

Last year i did pickup the nes version again...and i play it on my,Famicom av with the use of the adpater

Still my memory is fuzzy how to to beat it afther so many years.

Looking at both goonies games now though i guess i have a soft spot for the original more.

Still i'll give credit for konami on trying some thing diffierent for II.

Btw any body ever watch the irate gamer review on goonies II.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIi0vT-AYDw

[Tron 2.0]

Obligatory HG101 linkage:
http://www.hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/goonies/goonies.htm
I have the goonies for the famicom.

Never made sense it had a arcade release for the u.s but no nes one.

Wich has made many people confused over the years :p

[MegaDrive20XX]

I was so happy to finish this game last year, after trying to figure out for so long "WHAT THE HELL am I doing!?" That ending however, truly silly and rushed.

[kaedesdisciple]

Btw any body ever watch the irate gamer review on goonies II.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIi0vT-AYDw

I want my 7 1/2 minutes back. That guy rips off the AVGN horribly, even to the point of stealing and reworking his vulgar catch phrases with terrible effect. To make things worse, he's not even funny.

Anyway, I spent hours upon hours with this game as a kid and I did beat it fairly back then. After reading this thread I fired it up on an emulator and realized I'd have to run through it with an FAQ as I simply didn't have the time or patience to map it all through again. Still fun as hell albeit confusing and yes, I hate that damned bridge too. Getting over it the first time is fine, but the trip back is far worse. I just gave up on the boomerang altogether and learned to love the yo-yo/firebomb combo.

You know what bugs me about this game? No boss battle. You just collect everything, save all the Goonies and unlock a door, that's it. I guess the designers decided to give you a break after all the hoops you just jumped through to get this far.

[Blitzwing256]

Yeah, but that secret door to the left of the bridge doesn't appear until after you get the jump shoes later in the game.


that is incorrect, you can get the hyper shoes there at any point in the game you need to drop your bombs in just the right spot there are no pre-requisities (its a secret place to get them earlier then you originally could)

[bangtango]

Goonies II is one of my favorite NES titles.

Still i can see why not every body didn't like the game.

With it's..confuseing maps and setup for it's pluzzles it did lead many to hate the game.

When i play the game in the late 80's. I enjoy it dunno why maybe becuase i like the fact that it challenge,you and it wasn't a "straight forward game" like goonies 1 was for the arcades.

Not to mention the sense of exploration that the game gave.

I also can safely say i never did beat it the legit way back then.

By the time nintendo released the official stratey guide i use it's maps to beat the game.

Last year i did pickup the nes version again...and i play it on my,Famicom av with the use of the adpater

Still my memory is fuzzy how to to beat it afther so many years.[/url]

I didn't even know Nintendo had a guide for the game. I did beat it legit way back when. Actually what took me the longest to find was either the candle or the glasses. One of those two items, can't remember which one it was, had me stuck for what felt like weeks.

[Tron 2.0]

I didn't even know Nintendo had a guide for the game. I did beat it legit way back when. Actually what took me the longest to find was either the candle or the glasses. One of those two items, can't remember which one it was, had me stuck for what felt like weeks.
Yeah nintendo had one it also covered rygar,zelda and metroid to name a few.

Still that's some thing to beat it the hard way.

Can't say i knew many back then that did.

Still i don't have the guide any more i sold it afther i get rid of the nes.

Been thinking about finding a copy of it used again.

[boatofcar]

Yeah nintendo had one it also covered rygar,zelda and metroid to name a few.

Still that's some thing to beat it the hard way.

Can't say i knew many back then that did.

Still i don't have the guide any more i sold it afther i get rid of the nes.

Been thinking about finding a copy of it used again.

What's the name of it? I've never seen it either.

[Blitzwing256]

its the big black book

"the offical nintendo player's guide"

awesome book, came with mario.zelda and metroid stickers too.

[Graham Mitchell]

Wow, I had no idea so many people had trouble with this game. This is the first game I ever completed all the way through. I did it when I was 9. I had no clue what I was doing, really. I just played and explored and explored and all of a sudden I was at the end. I didn't see it coming at all. However, it would still be years before I was able to save the princess in SMB, or take on Gannon in Zelda, so I did things kind of out of order there. Shit, I didn't beat Castlevania until I was 28.

[Tron 2.0]

What's the name of it? I've never seen it either.
Sorry that's the official nintendo player guide it has a black cover.
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1396835
Info here on it.

My memory failed me i forgot the name for the guide.

[bangtango]

Sorry that's the official nintendo player guide it has a black cover.
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1396835
Info here on it.

My memory failed me i forgot the name for guide.

Well, that guide I have heard of. I might even still have a copy. I knew Goonies II was featured in there but I remember that some of the games listed didn't have complete walkthroughs, so I didn't know that gave you the entire rundown on beating the game. Never got it until after I already beat Goonies II anyway.

I was under the impression that you were referring to a standalone guide for Goonies II that only focused on that game :)

[Zap!]

There are plenty of young pups out there, in the "Softcover Walkthrough Generation" or "GameFAQ's Generation", who would need to drink a full bottle of nerve tonic after trying to solve Goonies II without the same sort of hints and objectives which are commonplace today. Too much backtracking and it is a laugher that you start the game in a normal house, a believable setting, then within 5 or 6 minutes you are balls deep in a jungle complete with moving platforms and waterfalls.

My personal favorite enemy is that third midget Fratelli Brother who wasn't in the movie either. It'd also be helpful to have unlimited shots for the slingshot and to be able to keep your boomerang instead of losing it every time you go over the rope bridge. Since you rarely get to keep the two best weapons in the game longer than a few minutes, a lot of your game time is spent with that piss poor yoyo.

I got that game for Christmas 1987, and beat it within a month, without any hints, maps, or Internet. Which brings me to this question: Are gamers of 20 years ago better, due to the lack of help we had then?

[Zap!]

I've played a little of it and it is a fun title, but the maps are confusing. Thankfully nowadays we have gamefaqs...

Thankfully? Maybe. Maybe not. It certainly did take the fun out of it, and make us all lazy.

[gdement]

The fact that this game is so open and unguided is what made it fun for me. It's one of the first, and favorite adventure games I ever played. Partly nostalgia I suppose, but I find it more enjoyable to play a game that doesn't just tell you what to do. Maybe you'll never solve it - so what? It was just fun to explore and *try* to find stuff. Friends and I would discuss rumored holy grails like the diving suit, which we had heard about but didn't know where it was. The fact that the game doesn't just tell you where to go makes it much more mysterious and interesting.

I had some degree of success with the game, though I didn't beat it until much later, probably using a Nintendo Power guide if I remember right.

I've still never beaten Metroid, but it's also an interesting game for the same reason. I don't know where to go, and there's lots of stuff to find. I find it more frustrating to stay alive in that game though.
Zelda also has some dungeons and items hidden in random places. I don't really mind that sort of thing, I like a game where you can be exploring and just accidentally find the entrance to dungeon level-7. Too bad my friends ruined a lot of the secrets in that game for me. Back before I knew where everything was, I was addicted to it.

===
With practice it's possible to cross the bridge with the boomerang. I failed when I played recently, but I used to be able to do it pretty consistently. Getting back across doesn't really matter - you can just go get it again down in the snow area.
Also, at some point you can cross the map without using the bridge, but I think you have to go through a pretty difficult area to do that.

[guitargary75]

I never beat it. But, I plan on trying this summer. I loved this game as a kid though.

[blue lander]

I've got the Portuguese version of Goonies I for the MSX, but I never really bothered playing it much. I think I have a bootleg of the game for the Famicom as well, maybe one of these days I'll give it more of a shot. I thought the Goonies game on the Apple ][ (HG101 neglects to mention its existance, but it looks like it's similar to the C64 version) was much better, although nowhere near as good as Goonies II.

[FrakAttack]

Part of the problem is because Goonies II utalizes a password system you can not navigate by landmarks.

Which is why Satan created save states for all of his evil little emus.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m112/FrakAttack/emus_romz.jpg

[jb143]

I used to love this game as well and was also one of the ones keeping a detailed map on graph paper. I coulnd't imagine using a walkthrough or guide on a game like this. Half the fun is trying and discovering things on your own. But I feel that way for most guides...why even bother playing the game if you're going to read the book?

I finally got a change to play the original Goonies a couple weeks ago and I found it quite fun as well. Why was it never released on the NES?

[Graham Mitchell]

I got that game for Christmas 1987, and beat it within a month, without any hints, maps, or Internet. Which brings me to this question: Are gamers of 20 years ago better, due to the lack of help we had then?

It's a tough call. I think it depends on the game. Going back and playing some of these old games makes me feel that they don't demand that much of you. I breeze through stuff like NES Double Dragon now, whereas when I was a kid that game was tough as nails. If you have the intelligence of a high-schooler, you can probably outsmart a lot of these games. It was just tough for me because I got that game when I was 9 years old.

On the other hand, there are games like Deadly Towers or Legacy of the Wizard, which offer no guidance and open you up to a huge, complex world that you not have to make sense of and explore. And since the whole thing is open to you from the start, you have no clue where to go first (and there usually is an order by which you have to do things or you'll be to weak to advance). Those games are just as tough to me today as they were back then, but for different reasons.

Long story short, I think the amount of dedication one has to put into a game in order to be successful at it has decreased over the years (Metroid, sans mapping, was a lot tougher than Super Metroid, for example). However, looking at some of the insane scores and achievements on Xbox Live makes me think people are better than they were 20 years ago. I guess the picture is kind of convoluted.

[COUNT SMRIFNACK]

What's the name of it? I've never seen it either.

Here it is.

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/9452/dscf6700mm3.jpg

And here is the Goonies 2 opening pages.

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7527/dscf6702pf8.jpg