NES Action Adventure 1990

StarTropics

Reviewed by Marcus Webb & Elena Castillo · Updated June 2025

Nintendo's 1990 NES action-adventure exclusive — StarTropics follows Mike Jones through tropical island dungeons to rescue his uncle, blending Zelda-style puzzle-dungeon exploration with baseball-throw combat in a contemporary Pacific Island setting. One of the few Nintendo-developed NES games never released in Japan.

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💡 StarTropics — Key Facts

→ StarTropics was developed by Nintendo R&D3 and published by Nintendo
→ Released in 1990 on NES
→ Genre: Action, Adventure
→ We rate it 8.6/10 — highly recommended
→ Nintendo's 1990 NES action-adventure exclusive — StarTropics follows Mike Jones through tropical island dungeons to rescue his uncle, blending Zelda-style puzzle-dungeon exploration with baseball-throw combat in a contemporary Pacific Island setting. One of the few Nintendo-developed NES games never released in Japan.

Overview

Mike Jones is not Link. He’s an American teenager — baseball cap, athletic build, a yo-yo as his weapon. His uncle is a scientist on a Pacific Island. Something has gone wrong.

StarTropics arrived in North America in 1990 and never went to Japan. Nintendo built it for the West specifically — a design decision that created a game with no Japanese market equivalent.

The Setting

Pacific tropical islands rather than Hyrule. Contemporary rather than medieval. The visual identity of StarTropics comes from the specific choice to make Mike Jones’s world recognizable to Western teenagers rather than fantastical in the European tradition.

The dungeons beneath the islands are consistent with the genre — puzzle rooms, locked doors, keys, items to find. The surface world above them — village inhabitants, boats between islands, the uncle’s laboratory — grounds the adventure in a geography that reads as place rather than abstraction.

The Jump

Zelda didn’t have a jump. StarTropics did.

Within dungeon rooms, Mike can leap between platforms separated by gaps. The jump mechanic created puzzles Zelda couldn’t pose — floor sections that fall away, platforms over pits, enemies that can be cleared by jumping over them rather than fighting through them.

Nintendo R&D3 was also responsible for Metroid and Kid Icarus. The division’s instinct was to find mechanical variations on established structures. StarTropics’ jump in a top-down action-adventure was the kind of addition they made.

The Letter

The game shipped with a physical letter — an in-universe item from Mike’s uncle. At a specific point, the game asks for a code visible only on that letter. Players without the original package couldn’t proceed without external reference.

In 1990, this was clever copy protection. In 2025, the code is public knowledge: 747.

The letter-as-game-component was a different model of interaction — the boundary between the game object and the physical world deliberately blurred.

Our Review

8.6

Excellent / 10

🎮

Gameplay

★★★★★

🎨

Graphics

★★★★★

🎵

Audio

★★★★★

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Replay

★★★★★

Gameplay

StarTropics is a top-down action-adventure where Mike Jones navigates tropical islands and multi-floor dungeons using a yo-yo as a primary weapon. Dungeon floors present room-based puzzle navigation — clearing enemies to unlock doors, finding keys and items, identifying solutions with the tools at hand. Combat requires timed yo-yo throws against enemy movement patterns; the overhead perspective makes positioning crucial. A jump mechanic (unusual for the genre at the time) lets Mike leap between platforms within dungeon rooms. Items found in dungeons provide new attack types — stars, soap bubbles — each with different range and spread. The game uses a world map navigation between island chapters.

Graphics

StarTropics' NES visuals present the Pacific Island setting through distinctive tropical art design — palm trees, ocean, and island architecture give the game a visual identity distinct from European fantasy contemporaries. Dungeon designs vary between chapters.

Audio

StarTropics' soundtrack captures the tropical adventure tone — upbeat island-influenced music for the overworld and more tense compositions for dungeon exploration. The music is among the better NES adventure soundtracks.

Replayability

Eight chapters of dungeon exploration provide substantial single-player content for an NES action-adventure. The game's length and puzzle density reward patient players.

Historical Significance

StarTropics (1990, NES) is a Nintendo R&D3 production — the same division responsible for Metroid and Kid Icarus. Notably, StarTropics was developed exclusively for North American and European markets and never received a Japanese release, making it one of the few Nintendo-published NES games created specifically for Western audiences. The game's contemporary Pacific Island setting (not medieval fantasy) was unusual. A sequel, Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II, released in 1994 as one of the final major NES titles. StarTropics is remembered as a distinguished NES exclusive that remained exclusive to hardware for which it was designed.

✅ Pros

+ Distinctive Pacific Island setting unlike European fantasy contemporaries
+ Jump mechanic adds platforming dimension to dungeon puzzle navigation
+ Eight chapters of substantial dungeon content
+ Nintendo R&D3 quality — same division as Metroid
+ Never released in Japan — North American exclusive Nintendo game

❌ Cons

- Password save system (no battery save) requires recording passwords
- Some dungeon puzzles require solution discovery that can stall progress
- Yo-yo combat feel requires adjustment vs sword/projectile weapon peers
- Physical manual included an in-game item code — complete game requires original manual

Also Known As

Star Tropics NESStarTropics NESMike Jones NES

StarTropics FAQ

Why was StarTropics never released in Japan?

StarTropics was developed by Nintendo R&D3 specifically for the North American market — the decision was deliberate rather than a regional licensing issue. Nintendo's research suggested that the game's contemporary American setting (a teenage American boy on a tropical island adventure) would appeal more to Western audiences than Japanese ones. Japan's Famicom market in 1990 had different genre preferences — domestic Japanese players favored established RPG franchises and shooters that StarTropics didn't fit. The decision to develop explicitly for the Western market was unusual for Nintendo, which typically developed games in Japan and adapted them outward. StarTropics and its sequel Zoda's Revenge (1994) remain among the very few first-party Nintendo games with no Japanese release.

What is the manual code in StarTropics?

StarTropics includes a famous copy-protection element that uses the physical game manual as part of the gameplay. At a specific point in the game, a character asks for a code that is written on an actual letter included with the original game package. Players must read '747' from the physical letter — this code appears nowhere in the game itself. Without the manual or prior knowledge of the code, progress halts completely. The original letter was included in every new copy of the game. Emulation and modern players who encounter StarTropics without the original physical media typically find the code through reference sources. The mechanic served as both copy protection and narrative immersion — the letter was presented as an in-world object Mike Jones received.

How does StarTropics compare to The Legend of Zelda?

StarTropics and The Legend of Zelda share structural DNA — both are top-down action-adventure games on NES with dungeon exploration, item collection, and puzzle-solving. StarTropics adds a jump mechanic Zelda doesn't have, allowing vertical movement within dungeon rooms that creates platforming puzzle elements. StarTropics uses chapter-based island progression rather than Zelda's open world — each chapter is a self-contained story segment with its own dungeon. StarTropics' contemporary setting (modern Pacific Island vs. Hyrule's high fantasy) creates completely different aesthetics. StarTropics' combat uses the yo-yo and thrown items rather than a sword, requiring distance management rather than contact timing. The games occupy similar structural space while feeling distinctly different in tone, setting, and moment-to-moment play.

Is StarTropics available on modern platforms?

StarTropics is available through Nintendo Switch Online's NES library for subscribers — the most accessible current route to the game. The game was also available on Wii and Wii U Virtual Console before those services concluded. StarTropics II: Zoda's Revenge is similarly available through Nintendo Switch Online. Original NES cartridges are available through retro game stores at moderate prices. The in-game code requirement (the letter with '747') is handled in Nintendo Switch Online through digital manual access. StarTropics has not received a remake or modern reimagining — the original NES experience through Switch Online is the only current access method.