StarTropics is an action adventure game. It was developed and published by Nintendo on December 26, 1990 for the NES. It didn’t happen often, but occasionally a game would be released in North America and Europe, while skipping Japan. StarTropics just happens to be one of those games.
StarTropics Gameplay
There are two different kinds of gameplay for the game. The first is the overworld. It’s a top-down view much like The Legend of Zelda was at the time. The second is the dungeon crawling part. When in a cave, ruin, or alien base, it becomes a grid-based movement.
The StarTropics Letter and the 747 Code
The original NES release came packaged with a physical letter from Dr. Jones that set up the story. It wasn’t just packaging. Partway through the game, you’re asked for a code, and the only way to get it is to dip that letter in water to reveal the number 747 hidden on the paper. No letter, no code, no progress. This was a big pain if you rented the game from Blockbuster. Nintendo Power eventually printed the code after enough players wrote in, and anyone who was stuck.
The problem didn’t go away. When StarTropics came to the Wii Virtual Console, Nintendo added the letter to the electronic manual with an animation of it being dipped in water. When the game hit Nintendo Switch Online in March 2019, that solution didn’t come with it, and Nintendo ended up posting the code on their official customer support site. A game from 1990 still gated behind a piece of paper almost 30 years later.
StarTropics Story
Mike Jones, a 15-year-old baseball team captain from Seattle, travels to the South Seas to visit his uncle, the archaeologist Dr. Steven Jones, at his lab on C-Island. When Mike arrives in the village of Coralcola, he learns his uncle has vanished. The village chief hands him a yo-yo to defend himself, and Dr. Jones’s robot Nav-Com gives Mike access to the submarine so he can go looking.
As Mike travels the islands, he battles sea monsters, navigates dungeons, and meets a cast of oddballs including a stubborn parrot and a mother dolphin searching for her calf. Along the way he pieces together that his uncle was not taken by ordinary kidnappers but by aliens led by Zoda. Dr. Jones had discovered a crashed escape pod from the distant planet of Argonia, and inside it were three magic cubes that Zoda now wants.
Mike eventually infiltrates Zoda’s spaceship, recovers the three cubes, defeats Zoda, and escapes as the ship self-destructs. Back on C-Island, the cubes are placed together and a group of children appear. Their leader, Mica, reveals they are the last of the Argonians, since their planet was destroyed, and that her father King Hirocon sent them to Earth to live in peace. The chief invites the children to stay in Coralcola, and peace returns to the islands.
StarTropics FAQs
What is the code in StarTropics?
The code is 747. In the original NES release you found it by dipping the packaged letter from Dr. Jones in water. Nintendo now lists it on their official customer support site.
Why was StarTropics never released in Japan?
Nintendo built StarTropics specifically for Western players. It was developed at Nintendo’s Integrated Research and Development division under Genyo Takeda, who also created the Punch-Out!! series, and it released only in North America and Europe.
Is there a StarTropics sequel?
Yes. Zoda’s Revenge: StarTropics II released on the NES in 1994.
How can I play StarTropics today?
StarTropics is on the NES Classic Edition and has been part of the Nintendo Switch Online NES library since March 13, 2019.
Is StarTropics like The Legend of Zelda?
The overworld sections use a similar top-down view, and comparisons were common at the time. The dungeons play differently, using grid-based movement instead of free movement.
