Red Dragon Island – 🏝 Poptropica Help Blog 🗺

Ramble Review: Red Dragon Island 🐉

October 8, 2020October 1, 2020 Slanted Fish

Welcome to another Ramble Review! This guest post comes from Purple Paw, who will be rambling about Red Dragon Island.

Let’s talk about Red Dragon Island. I choose it mainly because it is one of the few very good sponsored islands. At first, I was skeptical about choosing a sponsored island, because usually, sponsored islands are very poor at showing Poptropica’s authenticity. Mostly, they tend to be unexciting remakes, nothing you would think of as being truly Poptropica. But Red Dragon? This island couldn’t be more different.

As you may know, the story is based off of the Magic Treehouse book Dragon of the Red Dawn, with some of the gameplay tactics borrowed from Night of the Ninjas, an earlier Magic Treehouse book that also takes place in ancient Japan. But the plot of the Red Dragon Island takes such a unique twist from this classic book series, it doesn’t feel like a sponsored island at all; miraculously, it feels like a true Poptropica island.

And it wasn’t just the storytelling aspect of this island that made me choose Red Dragon; the gameplay, too, adds greatly to the overall enjoyment of the island. Though not exceedingly difficult, learning ninja skills does take some concentration and practice, and you’ve got to focus and think hard to master catching the kappa, trimming the bonsai, and other tasks you’re asked to complete, creating the perfect balance between challenge and fun.

Last but not least, the scenery adds the icing to the cake, and ties this whole amazing adventure together. Floating cherry blossoms, lily-pad dotted ponds, and splendid architecture make for one of the most beautiful and poetic islands yet.

There’s simply nothing you can’t enjoy about this island, and I think Red Dragon surely deserves a spot in the best of all time.

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Purple Paw. If you did, be sure to check out previous Ramble Reviews on islands like Twisted Thicket and Ghost Story, and stay tuned for more! Plus, join in on the fun on the PHC Discord.

The Poptropica Help Blog welcomes interesting Poptropica insights from anyone in the Poptropica community with thoughts to share. You can find some tips and guidelines on our page on how to Write for the PHB, and share blog posts on the PHC.

📰 If you have an idea for a PHB post, send it in! ✨

Pop Places IRL, Red Dragon Island

Pop Places IRL: Red Dragon

August 4, 2019July 31, 2019 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

App, Graphic Novels, Monkey Wrench Island, Red Dragon Island, Uncategorized

The Monkey, the Map and the Dragon!

April 7, 2016April 7, 2016 Slippery Raptor

hiagain

Hey, guys. Slip here, and I’m back!

We have some real-life updates today, starting with Monkey Wrench! Good news for Android users, because it’s finally released on Android devices (and recently iOS)! If you need a guide on the island, check it out here!

monkey

We also have great news! The Mystery of the Map graphic novel was added to the list of New York Times’ bestsellers! It was recently ranked 4th on the list, but when I checked it again, it is now placed 5th. Congratulations to Kory and Jack Chabert! Buy the graphic novel here or read BT’s analysis here!

A huge thanks to all of the @Poptropica fans who helped make #MysteryOfTheMap a @nytimes bestseller (4/10 list)! pic.twitter.com/WpByJh1AJw

— ABRAMS Kids (@abramskids) April 4, 2016

Some players are experiencing some difficulties in the newly-reopened Red Dragon Island. Is Red Dragon a prank all along? Well, the answer is no. Well, you could try clearing your cache or try playing on a different browser. If it doesn’t work, try to email Poptropica about it.

@RIFICA Yes please! 😀
— WordPress.com (@wordpressdotcom) January 7, 2015

…and that concludes today’s updates! What do you think? Leave a comment!

byeagain

-Slippery

March Madness, Red Dragon Island

Red Dragon and April Not-Madness!

April 1, 2016April 1, 2016 Spencer

Hey folks, Cobalt here! So, while the PHB is still working on bringing you some grand-scale changes around here, over on Poptropica we’ve got a winner for March Madness!

Crazy, right? Anyway – I just dropped on in to let you all know which members-only island is finally open to all again! It’s…

2016-04-01

Red Dragon Island! The month-long voting chaos is over! But I am a bit sad Nabooti isn’t playable to non-members for sure now… Team Nabooti, let’s riot!

No, I’m kidding. Don’t.

So, non-members can once again enjoy traveling to ancient Japan via magic tree house! Be sure to check out our Red Dragon Island Guide for a walkthrough.

Well, that about wraps this post up! Make sure to smash that like button, and drop a comment down below! Cobalt out!

Screenshot at Apr 01 19-53-50

// puts on ninja mask

Red Dragon Island, Sneak Peeks

Year of the Monkeying-Around with Dragons and Villains!

February 8, 2016February 8, 2016 Slanted Fish

Kung hei fat choi, Poptropicans! 🎉

It’s the Year of the Monkey for those of you celebrating the Lunar New Year, and there’s a new update on the Creators’ Blog honoring the occasion. 🙈🐒

Also, we get a sneak peek of a monkey that’s supposed to be part of an upcoming island. (Past sneak peeks indicate this island could be related to the Poptropica comics or the upcoming tutorial update!)

monkey

Captain Crawfish also added in his post: “Plus, if you know where there’s a misplaced Chinese dragon on another Poptropica Island, we don’t want to hear about it anymore.”

Sounds like this pirate is salty. XD

chinese dragon

As someone who’s Chinese, I found the comment hilarious.

In case you’re not laughing yet, there’s a distinctly Chinese dragon dance happening on a Japanese island (Red Dragon, which takes place in ancient Japan) on Poptropica and it sounds like they’ve been getting quite a bit of flack for mixing it up. 😛

(Plus, thanks to Thinknoodles videos for being a source for grabbing quick snapshots!)

–

Chinese New Year isn’t the only thing happening – Valentine’s Day is coming up, and rather than taking it as a time to feel sad at a lack of significant other, here at the PHB we’d like to deliver you some villainous Poptropica Valentine’s cards! These were created by Poptropicans from our deviantArt community, We-Love-Poptropica.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Octavian’s is made by JennLikesPie, Black Widow’s is by Slippery Raptor, and salty old Captain Crawfish’s is by Spotted Dragon. Feel the love! ❤

Also, if you’d like to have your name in the upcoming PHB Valentine’s Special, be sure to check out Blake’s post on the subject and leave a comment with your favorite PHB ship (no later than Wednesday, and try not to go overboard 😉 ). Stay popping, Poptropicans!