Star Tropics

PRESS START

An Introduction To Today’s Game

Your uncle is missing, you've got a yo-yo, and somewhere on this tropical island chain is the answer.

Welcome to StarTropics, Nintendo's love letter to American gamers that Japan fans didn’t get at the time. Released in December 1990, this action-adventure game dropped you into the flip-flops of Mike Jones, a Seattle teenager whose vacation turned into a rescue mission involving dolphins, submarines, and eventually, aliens.

What starts as a search for your archaeologist uncle becomes something stranger with each chapter.

The game's most notorious feature wasn't even on the cartridge. It was a physical letter packed in the box that you had to dip in water to reveal a code. No letter? No progress. Good luck finding that at a garage sale.

BEHIND THE PIXELS

Let’s Dive Into The Game

StarTropics is an action-adventure game that blends exploration with dungeon crawling, taking clear inspiration from The Legend of Zelda while carving its own path.

You control Mike Jones across eight chapters, each presenting a self-contained story that connects to the larger mystery of Dr. Jones' disappearance.

The game splits its time between two distinct modes. Overworld exploration uses a zoomed-out, top-down view where you wander villages, talk to islanders, and piece together clues. Combat is off the table here. You're just soaking in the tropical atmosphere and figuring out where to go next.

Then you enter a dungeon, and everything changes. The camera zooms in closer, enemies appear, and Mike can suddenly jump. Movement becomes grid-based, meaning Mike hops from tile to tile rather than gliding smoothly across the screen.

You can only face four directions, and changing course requires stopping completely. It feels stiff at first, but the entire game is built around these limitations.

Platforming sections, enemy patterns, and puzzle solutions all account for this rigid movement system. Once you adjust, it clicks.

Your main weapon is a yo-yo that hits at close range. Upgrade it, and it fires projectiles when you're at full health. Beyond that, you collect secondary weapons like baseballs, slingshots, and boomerangs that only last through the current dungeon.

Some items serve specific puzzle purposes, like a torch to light dark rooms or a mirror to reflect enemy attacks. The variety keeps things interesting across the game's roughly eight to ten hour runtime.

Dungeons house thirteen different bosses, each with unique attack patterns. Some are straightforward brawls.

Others require using specific weapons or environmental tricks to win. The difficulty ramps up noticeably after the first two chapters, but it rarely feels cheap.

Deaths usually come from mistimed jumps or underestimating enemy reach rather than surprise ambushes.

Graphically, StarTropics shines. Characters are detailed and expressive, especially for an NES game.

The tropical setting pops with bright blues and greens, and each chapter introduces new environments, from volcanic caves to pirate ships to alien spacecraft.

The music matches the vibe perfectly. Upbeat island tunes during exploration shift to tense, mysterious tracks in dungeons. Sound effects are standard NES fare, but the soundtrack alone makes an impression.

What really sets StarTropics apart is its personality. NPCs crack jokes. The plot gets genuinely weird. You rescue dolphins, impersonate women, and eventually discover the whole thing ties back to an alien named Zoda trying to conquer Earth. It's goofy, earnest, and thoroughly entertaining.

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GAME INFORMATION

WHERE TO PLAY

• Nintendo Switch Online - NES app.

• NES Classic Edition.

• Original Copies of the Game (All prices in USD)

  • Loose: $10

  • Complete: $45

  • New/Sealed: $90

COVER ART

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GAME OVER

Why You Should Play This

The grid-based controls will frustrate you until they don't, and then the game reveals itself as a carefully designed adventure full of clever puzzles and memorable moments.

It's not perfect. Some dungeons drag. Talking to every single villager to trigger the next event gets tedious. But the variety in weapons, environments, and boss fights keeps the momentum going.

This is also a fascinating piece of Nintendo history. A game made in Japan exclusively for Western audiences that never saw a Japanese release. A franchise that died after one sequel despite solid reviews and respectable rankings on best-of lists.

If you've got Nintendo Switch Online, it's already waiting for you. No subscription fees, no hunting down expensive cartridges, and thankfully, no need to dip anything in water. The code is 747, by the way. You'll know when you need it.

Give StarTropics a weekend. It might not convert you into a superfan, but it'll show you what Nintendo was capable of when they aimed their creativity directly at you.

SUPPORT

This is a passion project made with love, and every open or read means the world.
If you’d like to show extra support, you can use the button below.

RETRO HARDWARE

The Miyoo Flip V2 is a tiny clamshell retro handheld that lets you carry a whole library of classic games in your pocket. With a bright screen, solid controls, and the nostalgic flip design we all remember, it’s perfect for quick gaming sessions anywhere. Click the picture to check it out. My readers can use the following code for a 12% discount: NY12

We will be removing the store for a redesign soon! You can still order items in the mean time.