Category: Islands

Pop Places IRL, Red Dragon Island

Pop Places IRL: Red Dragon

Spotted Dragon

Welcome back to “Pop Places IRL!” Miss the series? Today I’ll be taking you to Red Dragon Island and comparing it to its counterparts in real life. And if you like the sound of that, be sure to check out other Pop Places IRL posts.

So… where in the real world is Red Dragon based off of? Well, we already know that the island is based on the Magic Tree House books, so where is that based off of? The answer to that question is right in the novel’s description!

“Jack and Annie are headed to a land of fierce samurai and great beauty, the capital city of Edo (now the city of Tokyo), in ancient Japan in the 1600s. They bring only a research book to guide them and a magic wand with three special rules.”

Japan it is, Poptropicans! Wait, wait, wait, hold on… what about Main Street? What about Jack and Annie’s hometown? Well, “Frog Creek, Pennsylvania” is sadly a fictional city, but Pennsylvania’s neighborhoods match up pretty well anyway!

  • photo: Shadyside Pittsburgh (wikipedia.org)

Okay, now we can head over to Old Japan. We have many sites to see here, foremost being the imperial garden that our Poptropicans come across during our adventure. Basho’s Garden, which we visit later in the game, offers a similar setting. At both locations, we see beautiful Japanese trees, flowers, and huts over water. Looking at the IRL version of the scene, things seem pretty accurate!

  • photo: Best of Old and New Japan (kimkim.com)
  • photo: Exteriors of Japanese Houses (pinterest)

Moving on, we come across the Great Bridge before truly entering Edo! The resemblance of the bridge is uncanny to the Shin-kyo Bridge in Nikko Japan, which demonstrates very similar architecture and color.

  • photo: Nature & Nikko (tokyocheapo.com)

Next we have East and West Edo, which then lead to the fortress and the secluded lake. Red Dragon shows us a marketplace, paired with a stunning landscape, bonsai shop, and more. Though times have greatly changed since the days of Ancient Japan, its rich history can still be seen in the distinct architecture and environment.

  • photo: Sawara (japan-guide.com)
  • photo: Old Edo (muza-chan.net)

Even the Fortress in game mimics the classic Japanese architecture used in palaces and castles. Perhaps some stylistic choices were taken in Poptropica to add some more pops of color?

  • photo: Himeji Castle (japantoday.com)
  • photo: Imperial Palace Tokyo (japanvisitor.com)

Before we wrap up our trip through Tokyo, who could forget about the unique apparel and characters that we come across on the island? Geishas, sumo wrestlers, and ninjas alike are memorably encountered.

  • photo: Culture of the Kimono (tsunagujapan.com)
  • photo: Geisha in Kyoto (pinterest)
  • photo: Sumo Legend (asianews.it)
  • photo: Ninja (jpninfo.com)

Pretty cool, right? Many people in the community agree that Red Dragon Island has some of the most beautiful scenes in Poptropica. Makes me want to go visit Japan! 🙂

That wraps up our post, so what do you guys think of the comparison? Does Poptropica accurately capture Japanese culture?

Sayonara, Poptropicans!

~SD

Reality TV: Wild Safari Island, Reviews

PHB Review: Reality TV — Wild Safari Island

Slanted Fish

Clueless about your competitors?
Check out our Reality TV: Wild Safari Island Guide.

Hello, Poptropicans, and welcome to the jungle! 🌴

It’s been three years since Poptropica Original has gotten an island, and a year since Poptropica Worlds did. But we’re pleased to finally welcome Reality TV: Wild Safari to the Poptropica map, and to share our thoughts on this latest adventure that’s a sequel to the original Reality TV Island released in 2010. From people to places to plot, we’re going to cover it all. Let’s go!

Be warned: This review contains spoilers!

Storyline & Characters

As far as the story goes… well, there really wasn’t much on that front. You arrive on the set of the reality TV show and immediately get to jump into the games. Unlike the original Reality TV Island, there’s no build-up to get you there: no washed-up TV star to deliver pizza to, no dreaming about making it out of a rundown town—really, no story, conflict, or scandal about what has transpired between the last season from nine years ago to now.

But the TV set itself has some fun elements, too. There’s a base camp for the show crew that doubles as a common room, monkeys handling cameras, and even the iconic bonfire from the original RTV — and set in a wild safari that looks a little different from the previous season.

The challengers you compete with are really where the island shines most. In addition to a handful of familiar characters from various Poptropica islands (Ringmaster Raven, Scherazade, and Omegon among them), we also meet lots of new celebrity parodies with hilarious names.

Some of our favorites are Shett and Blinked, based on YouTube comedians Rhett and Link; Baby Googoo, based on singer Lady Gaga; and Mandy Screams, based on YouTube personality Miranda Sings. Read more about who’s who in our Reality TV: Wild Safari Island Guide trivia!

Gameplay

As far as gameplay, we basically have three mini-games to look at: Spear Throw, Deep Dive, and Cheetah Run, all of which make up the majority of the island experience.

Though placed in new settings, each of these challenges are actually quite familiar, sharing similarities to other island or ad mini-games. For example, the spear throw borrows mechanisms from Poptropolis Games’ archery event. A bit unoriginal, but fun nonetheless.

That being said, a unique gameplay element that Wild Safari brings to the table is the option to change the difficulty level. This isn’t always an option for us, and is actually quite useful to those players who may struggle with certain gameplay challenges. In fact, selecting your difficulty level has been built seamlessly into the island’s dialogue, aiding in our immersion to the whole experience. You can also win about 5–60 credits for playing all the games, depending on the level you selected and your performance!

One other thing that’s different from the original RTV is that no matter the end results, you’ll win the island medallion. You could come in dead last and TV show host Jim Probably will still give it to you with the assurance that “it’s a Poptropica thing.” While it’s nice not to have the frustration of being voted off the show when you’re down to the final round, as can happen in the original, this new setup feels too easy — after all, you’re literally receiving a participation trophy (or medallion, as it were).

Visuals

As usual, Poptropica’s scenery is beautiful. The safari setting meets our visual expectations, despite there not being a whole lot of scenery to begin with. Perhaps this island isn’t as breathtaking as others, but we’ve got no clear complaints about the aesthetics. Plus, how can we resist some cute animals?

  • “Washed Up” newspaper references old Reality TV hero Bucky Lucas.
  • Monkeys on the camera crew are a new fixture on this sequel island.

The interactable elements at our base camp are pretty fun, too. From spooking a camera-woman to, well, spooking a zebra, there are many clickable objects and easter eggs to discover. In particular, we enjoyed the small tribute to old Reality TV hero Bucky Lucas on the beach shore, and the monkeys managing cameras and celebrating winners with drums.

Little additions to an island such as these bring a bit of life to the experience, even though they may not have a huge impact on the gameplay.

Verdict

Considering all of these elements that the island has to offer, our final rating for Reality TV: Wild Safari Island is…

Does this Reality TV experience live up to its predecessor? Maybe not… Was it still enjoyable? Sure thing! Sequels often fall short of expectations, and are commonly labeled as unoriginal. Then again, Greek Sea Odyssey Island successfully brought new Mythology features to the table, and we think the Creators could have delivered better story here, too. Wild Safari simply lacked the substance found in the original.

Still, the island had its charming components. The safari had excellent humor, visuals, references, and dialogue to say the least. Even the mini-games were pretty fun! And that’s why this island gets a 2 out of 5 baby hippos from us.

Thanks for reading our review of Reality TV: Wild Safari Island! How does this adventure compare to the preceding Reality TV Island? Do you agree with our verdict? Share your opinions in the comments below!

– 🦛 the PHB team 🦛 –

New Islands, Reality TV: Wild Safari Island

Reality TV: Wild Safari Island just released

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! BIG news…

The new island is here, and it’s called Reality TV: Wild Safari! Yes, there are similarities with the original Reality TV Island released in 2010—but it’s also its own island in other ways. We’ll cover more in a future review post.

It’s no blimp, but I guess I could live with this helicopter spin palace.

Right now, you won’t find RTV 2 on the island map, but it’s completely playable on CoolMathGames.com. You don’t even need a membership to play!

Promo screens on Poptropica and on social media are calling it a “preview,” suggesting there’s more to come — but as far as we can tell, the whole island is already on CoolMathGames. After all, you even get an island medallion at the end. Suppose we’ll find out when the island releases on Poptropica!

This spin-off island is a quick one, and here on the PHB, our Reality TV: Wild Safari Island Guide is already ready for your perusal. If anything, there is some interesting trivia to uncover about some of this island’s inhabitants!

Check out Reality TV: Wild Safari Island on CoolMathGames.com and let us know what you think in the comments!

🌊 🦁 🦛 🦒 🌿

Reality TV: Wild Safari Island, Sneak Peeks, Social Media

A sneak peek into the safari

LJ

What’s up, Poptropicans? It’s Lucky Joker here with some incredible news!

Another sneak peek for the upcoming island has been released in the movie theater on Home Island for our enjoyment. You heard that right — Poptropica just dropped a thirteen-second video clip of the highly-anticipated zoological adventure, and it’s pretty great! Don’t believe me? See for yourself:

In the snippet, we can see a giraffe (from the previous sneak peek), a jumpy camera crew member, and most notably, a large tree with various markings on it. I wonder if those will have any significance in the island at all. I’m guessing not, but hey, you never know. 😛

(Oh yeah, HUGE detail: if you hover over the video with your cursor, you can see in the upper left hand corner that the video is titled “Reality TV Sneak Peek” — so that pretty much confirms all the speculation about this being a sequel to the Reality TV of nearly a decade ago!)

And over on Instagram, Blue Tooth has been teasing us about how you might just find the upcoming island in alien territory…

View this post on Instagram

🚀🚀🚀 #theycantstopusall #poptropica

A post shared by Official Poptropica (@poptropicacreators) on

Another thing worth mentioning is this silly little clip of a Zomberry dancing in the Game Show Island lounge, also new in the theater. Check it out:

Looks like this guy has had a few too many blueberry smoothies from the Berry Delicious Smoothie Shop, am I right?

So what do you think about all of this? I’m a little shocked (and majorly happy!) at the fact that the creators are giving out sneak peeks again; it just feels a lot like old times.

That’s it for now, folks. Don’t forget to vote in this year’s Poppies Awards before the 24th and make sure to stay tuned for our continuing yearbook series popping in each and every week.

Thank you all for reading and I’ll talk to you guys in the next one. Pop on!

– Lucky Joker ☘️

Reality TV: Wild Safari Island, Sneak Peeks

Hippopotamus on an isthmus

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans: we’re less than two weeks away from a new island, according to the Pop Creators’ latest Instagram post!

It was only last month that a new island was announced, and even more recently that we saw some sneak peeks, but Poptropica is back with another set of preview images, this time featuring a hippo, campfire, and giraffe!

Based on sneak peeks we’ve seen, this next island will be an adventure filled with safari animals and a film crew — and what’s more, according to a little intel from Poptropica glitcher idk, it’ll be a sequel to Reality TV Island, first launched nearly ten years ago!

Poptropica has already confirmed that the island will be on Poptropica Original. And, if the past is any indicator, it is likely that members will get early access to this island, while non-members may have to wait for a period of time before the island is released to all. Consider treating yourself to a membership to get first dibs on Poptropica’s first island in about 17 months!

July’s a big month here on the PHB as well, with our annual Poppies event. Have you made your award nominations yet? Deadline is Friday! 🏆