Jesus, I love this game. It's so fucking fun! I wish I could go back and time and have had this game growing up, holy crap. I am amazed that I haven't played it until now. Anyway, on to the actual point of this thread...

This game is fucking brutal. One hit kills, and you only get THREE lives, including the one you use to start with? Holy shit. Talk about having to learn the levels. I get the little Hudson bee at the end of the first level every time, but I never get any option to continue. I just fucking get a game over and I'm forced to restart every damn time I die three times. Is that how hard this game is? You basically have to be perfect to beat it.

Oh, and the first time I found the secret bonus castle sky room thingy with the springs on level 1 was totally awesome. I kicked ass and beat it perfectly.

How come you never mentioned the flame powerup in your Adventure Island article, Syd? You can find it in hidden eggs around a couple of the early levels quite easily. It flies in a straight path diagonally downwards, and you can kill rocks and boulders with it.