What's the general opinion on these games?
As someone who enjoys platformers more than most genres, I'm really mixed on these games. On one hand, they're pretty decent for their time. Graphics and music are what you'd expect from an 8-bit platformer, and the controls and jump physics are spot on. While the original Adventure Island borrowed from many other platformers of its time, it did so in grace. For the most part, each new entry brought new innovations. In the second game, being able to set aside powerups, as well as having dino pals, was really amazing for its time.
What wasn't so amazing, however, was the horribly flat level design. Rather than jumping on platforms, swinging on ropes, climbing up trees, scaling mountains, and infiltrating bases, you were just running in one direction the whole time, with the occasional pit. The series has been like this throughout its whole life. Which brings forth another issue: games after 2 brought forth very little. The 16-bit games actually pulled off a Pokemon, and removed many of the features introduced in Adventure Island 2.
I still haven't played the recent ones. Is Adventure Island Rebirth worth getting? Is the Gamecube/PS2 remake worth importing?