There are some video games, where it is completely understandable as to just WHY they didn't make it to the United States the first chance it was available. Then there are some video games where you have to wonder, what were they THINKING not releasing this video game the first chance they had?! In the case of this video game, the example seems to be especially senseless! In 1986, Sunsoft went to all the actual TROUBLE of actually TRANSLATING the video game from Japanese into English for American video game players; they even had the planned title of "Super Pitfall II", and than someone decided to NOT release the product in America ANYWAYS! Okay, maybe the game by itself would've been SUPER hard to beat...without a dedicated video game player's strategy guide to consult! But at long last, thanks to SOMEONE being "Crazy Prepared" and KEEPING the source code of the translated game intact; the newly titled "The Mystery Of Atlantis" can finally be enjoyed in America the way it was always meant to be! Even by early NES video game standards, this video game was truly AMBITIOUS! There are actually 101 different stages (technically 100, since 1 stage, stage 42, just places you in the sky where you plummet to your death, with no way to get out of that stage, and also, one of those 100 stages is a secret stage that can only be entered through specific means) all adds up to a video game experience where there are many different ways to play through and technically beat the game, and see how many treasures you can collect in the process! Granted, some of the stages are longer than others. While some stages are basically a one screen worth affair, other stages are either filled with slippery ice, blackout basement conditions, narrow ledge platform jumping conditions, a plethora of enemies to avoid, or a combination of any or all of the above! Thankfully, the availability of this game on the Nintendo Switch and its NES Virtual Console Service, and the ability to rewind and save the game at anytime, finally makes this game accessible and playable for just about anybody! The graphics, music, and sound are all pretty good. Just be warned; this game uses somewhat realistic (for the time) physical jumping conditions; meaning that if you don't get a good enough running start, you won't be able to jump far enough. And how hard you press the button will also determine how high you will jump at any given point, and slippery ice just compounds the problem! But the fact that even with the availability of this game on the Nintendo Switch and its NES Virtual Console Service, this game STILL managed to provide me with over two solid hours of challenging entertainment, is just a testament to how well the video game designers managed to make this game! This is one solid platform challenge that deserves to be enjoyed! Enough said, true believers!
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