It's Dangerous to Go Alone, Take this Yo-Yo! Let's Play Startropics

[IGgy]

This game was released in 1990. As of right now that’s 27 years ago. Wow! It was even made by Nintendo and it was only ever released in North America and Europe, though, the game never got translated from English. It’s an action adventure game starring Mike Jones, ace pitcher and all around rad dude who got an invitation from his uncle, Dr. J, to come on over and visit him on C-Island. Over the course of our adventure we’ll travel to various other islands too and venture into the depths of caves. Some might say the game is reminiscent of Zelda because you also have to make use of various items you find to succeed in this test of island courage. Now the game is mostly known for its copy protection and I actually purchased a cartridge with the manual and everything to show that when it comes up.

Along with my mainly informative videos I’ll post various supplemental materials, such as scans of manual pages. Mostly stuff found on this page. If you wanna take a peek ahead of time that’s fine, of course. But be aware that while the manual itself only spoils stuff up to chapter 5, the actual guides posted there go right until the end of the game. Just in case you’re worried about spoilers. I’ll only be posting relevant parts for each episode. To celebrate the completion of the LP I also streamed a playthrough of Startropics 2 that is linked to at the end.

While this game is old enough to not worry about spoilers, it’s also old enough that many people may not have played or even heard of this game, so I ask you to put everything we haven’t seen yet behind spoiler tags and avoid turning your posts into CIA documents. Thanks!

Preemtively Answered Questions

Q: Wait, I thought you only LP’d grimdark fantasy and shitty wrestling games?
A: Sorry, can’t hear you.

Q: You know someone somewhere already did an LP of this game, right?
A: Sorry, can’t hear you.

Q: Do you have bananas in your ears?
A: Sorry, can’t hear you.

Q: I find the enlarged footage at the sides of the video disorienting, can you fix this?
A: Sorry, can’t… okay okay. There’s a little 4:3 graphic on top of the episode banners, that’ll take you to a playlist of the videos in fake 4:3 in addition to the regular ones, meaning I can continue with my flawless artistic vision and you get to not see it.

[IGgy]

Ooops, you went too far, there’s nothing here but death (Reserved).

[IGgy]

Let’s begin our adventure! Below you’ll find various pages from manuals, Nintendo Power and so on. You’ll find that back in the old days manuals had a lot more charm than they do now. And it’s quite interesting to see these old issues of Nintendo Power that tried to guide the player through the game.

Manual

Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power



[

[InterrupterJones]

God I hope this game ends with you finding Dr. Jones on a missionary trip to Africola.

[IGgy]

When last we left we were on our way to save our uncle by aimlessly going some random direction with our submarine. Now dolphins appear. Cool.

Manual

Howard & Nester Comic

Nintendo Power Walthrough

Nintendo Game Atlas Map

[Nidoking]

Regarding baseball, the positions only apply when on defense - every player on the active team takes a turn at bat when on offense. Being able to hit the ball is a pretty vital skill in baseball regardless of your position.

[wottermelon]

I’m noticing a bit of a pattern in the ID codes:

1492 - the year America sailed across India to discover the Pacific Ocean
1776 - the year Christopher Columbus declared independence from Plymouth Rock

[IGgy]

So we crashed our ride. Time to walk it off.

Manual

Nintendo Power

Nintendo Game Atlas

[IGgy]

In order to find a way to dress in drag we need to find a magic crystal ball in a graveyard? Checks out.

Manual

This is the last manual page showing enemies. From here on out we’re on our way into the unknown.

Nintendo Power

Nintendo Game Atlas

[Scruffy]

I rented this game back in the day and emulated it later, both times I never had the letter included with the instruction manual that would allow you to solve a later puzzle. You can imagine this made the game rather difficult to beat. I did manage to beat both this and the sequel though so I’ve got a soft spot for it in my heart.

Not very soft. But kinda soft.

[IGgy]

Well, I actually purchased a cartridge with the manual and letter for this LP just to show that off properly later on. As a kid I got the game from my dad and it didn’t have the letter either. Then again, I couldn’t read at the time, so it didn’t matter. I made it through anyway.

[IGgy]

Today we will finally finish the beast that is chapter 3 and we’ll be able to move on to new things. Like chapter 4.

Nintendo Power

Nintendo Game Atlas

[Nidoking]

You don’t actually have to jump back and forth on the sinking tiles. If you jump straight up, you’ll land back on the tile when it reappears.

[IGgy]

Probably the worst chapter in the game. But we’ll also get to see an unboxing video of a 1990 video game, so it’s all good.

The Wet Letter (transcript)
Mike,
I found some strange ciphers in my last voyage.
Since then, someone has been watching me! I put
a tiny transmitter in my shoe
It’s Frequency is 747 MHz.
Perhaps I worry too much, but better to be safe
than sorry.

Nintendo Power

Nintendo Game Atlas

[blahmoomoo]

Wait, how did you get through the game without that letter? Does the game eventually give you the answer, or what?

[Mas]

Nintendo Power magazine and the like just told people the code.

[IGgy]

My dad who gave me the game told me the code. I’ve remembered it ever since.

[Nidoking]

It sort of became part of the collective culture, as much as the game itself did. I’d read the entire coverage of the game in How To Win At Nintendo Games before I ever saw it, so I knew almost everything I needed to do before starting (some of the directions were a bit confusing). I still put the letter in the sink and ran water over it at the appropriate time, though. It was a pretty neat effect.

[WarrenWaters]

I’m amazed how easy it is to find a copy of Startropics with an unsoaked letter on ebay. I kinda want one now!

[IGgy]

There’s a ship in our way and we need to get it out of the way. It is somewhat unclear to me how what we do removes the ship but I’m sure it’d make sense to me if I hade more of an imagination.

Nintendo Power

Above you get to see the Nintendo Game Counselor profiles found at the bottom of two of the pages of the Nintendo Game Counselor Corner. Please tell me which one is your favorite Game Counselor. Just going by taste in games it’s probably Gayle, Josh or John, but boy am I torn.

Nintendo Game Atlas