Tag: 2009

Astro-Knights Island, Big Nate Island, Islands, Reviews

2009 Island Showdown: Astro-Knights VS Big Nate

LJ

Howdy Poptropicanos, it’s LJ in your faces again! 🤪 To commemorate the 15th anniversary of Astro-Knights Island and Big Nate Island this year, I thought it’d be fun to conduct a comparison between the two where I evaluate the fundamental elements of each island to determine which one is the better option. (Pretend that the outcome isn’t obvious, alright?) Let’s begin!

For the gameplay discussion, my emphasis will not be on the plots as I intend to reserve that topic for the story portion that will come later. Instead, my focus here will be on the technical dimensions of the islands.

Big Nate Island

This island encompasses a plethora of key features that are emblematic of Poptropica islands such as locating a multitude of paper pieces scattered everywhere, piecing the papers together, swimming underwater, mixing liquids, and playing a few of minigames (racing an opponent, hangman and table football). I appreciate all of these elements, particularly the minigames. I wouldn’t have minded a few more to be honest. One negative thing I will say is that I was not a fan of Nate following my character around everywhere I went. Was that just me? So anyway, how does Big Nate compare to Astro-Knights?

Astro-Knights Island

The time required to complete Astro-Knights is about double that of its rival, which I find absolutely delightful! In the early stages, the gameplay is more or less similar to Big Nate involving the typical exploring and item collecting. However, upon reaching space, things really get exciting.

We get to build a custom spaceship, which, while not having a substantial impact on the island’s tactical gameplay, remains an entertaining feature. Navigating through space, avoiding asteroids, luring space sharks, and fighting against enemy ships were indeed challenging tasks, yet they were not overwhelmingly stressful.

The most challenging parts of Astro-Knights Island are the four significant battles that resemble “boss fights,” including the three misleading encounters (the Mother Phoenix, the Tigercopter, and the Dragotank) and the final showdown against Mordred. Besides the Mother Phoenix, I experienced a fair share of difficulties with all of these. Nonetheless, these battles greatly eclipse even the most engaging gameplay that Big Nate Island has to offer. Honestly, the absence of such difficulty is sorely missed. Any islands for that matter, but that ship has unfortunately passed.

Which one wins?

It seems I may have gone a little overboard in my discussion of the gameplay in Astro-Knights Island. 😅 There was just so much to unpack! It’s quite obvious which one I was more enthusiastic about and which island takes the first round: Astro-Knights!

The differences in the characteristics of these two islands are strikingly apparent. Let’s get into it.

Big Nate Island

Big Nate Island’s appearance presents a whimsical and joyful ambiance. As you walk through the island, your eyes are treated to or tortured by vivid, colorful illustrations, all accentuated by thick black outlines, which enhance the sensation of really being inside a comic book.

I find the comic book aesthetic highly appealing, and I’m someone who is very attracted to bright colors. Also, the school, the playground, and the klassic komix store bring back memories of my IRL childhood, creating a comforting atmosphere.

Astro-Knights Island

While traversing the landscapes of Astro-Knights, we come across an obliterated medieval kingdom, black holes, space sharks, lava-controlled platforms, a mechanical ecosystem, and an actual asteroid belt. The array of locations on this island is truly breathtaking.

The stark contrast between the setting reminiscent of the Middle Ages and the advanced, futuristic planets in outer space (with completely different climates from one another) contributes to the island’s diverse appeal, making it more captivating than many others.

Which one wins?

This round was somewhat more of a tossup. Each of these islands had a viable chance of winning, as I appreciate the styles and moods of both of them. Ultimately, I opted for Astro-Knights Island as the victor for this round, primarily because it offers a higher number of scenes—which can never be a bad thing in Poptropica!

Big Nate’s pivotal concern revolves around the possible destruction of a middle school—a cause certainly worth caring about. In Astro-Knights the story is much more out of the ordinary, however. Time to elaborate!

Big Nate Island

The plot of Big Nate is a bit lackluster. It seems to be a step back in terms of intricacy. In comparison to previous islands like Nabooti, 24 Carrot, and Spy, it feels excessively straightforward.

From my perspective, the characters within this island are not developed enough. The storyline is interesting; however, I don’t believe it was executed to its maximum potential in the plot we were offered. As a child, I found it okay, but looking back now, I am not as wowed as I am with Astro-Knights—which still holds up with the ageing fanbase in these more recent years.

Astro-Knights Island

It goes without saying that the lore and mission in this island are exceptional. A princess, intrigued by the vanishing of a scientist who has gone missing in space, finds herself abducted by aliens. Our job is to launch into orbit to rescue her. Additionally, the once noble scientist has transformed into a malevolent cyborg, and we are tasked with locating three knights who have vanished on various planets while in pursuit of the lost princess. This dramatic tale is filled with so many compelling elements, it’s unreal.

This island presents two noteworthy characters, Elyana and the more celebrated Binary Bard/Mordred. Heck, he took the gold in Pop’s villain showdown back in the day and has remained popular ever since! Since I was not aware of the Big Nate comics when the island was released, I had no insight into the characters. Their minimal development within the island led to them feeling somewhat forgettable to me. Astro-Knights has little to no issues with this.

It’s also worth noting that Astro-Knights demands a certain level of investigation to grasp the situation at play, unlike Big Nate, where the problem is presented immediately upon arrival.

The Life of Mordred: A Cautionary Tale

Which one wins?

There is no question that Astro-Knights has once again triumphed in this round. The story is just so exceptionally engaging, and when I reflect on its awesomeness, I envision its potential to be adapted into an outstanding feature length film! Wouldn’t that be epic?

Big Nate Island had a tough day being demolished by Astro-Knights Island with a score of 3-0. To be honest, it was a bit of a mismatch given that Astro-Knights is widely regarded as the favorite among the community.

I’d love to know your thoughts on both islands! How would you rate them overall? I’d say Big Nate deserves a 3 out of 5 peanut butter crackers, and I’d give Astro-Knights a perfect 5 out of 5 force shields! Thanks for reading and pop on folks. 🍀

Blast from the Past

2009 Rewind: Pop-ular Places

Slanted Fish

This post is part of our Poptropica Yearbook series. If you missed the intro, check it out on the 2007 Rewind and view the follow-up 2008 Rewind.

It’s a fine time to check out 2009! With both the Poptropica Creators’ Blog and Poptropica Help Blog in full swing, the online Poptropica community was growing exponentially, even inspiring new fan sites.

The year kicked off with Big Nate Island in February, after months of Big Nate comics shared on the Creators’ Blog.

While sneak peeks for upcoming islands from the Creators were wildly popular, the PHB took a step further and started a series known as PHB Sneak Peeks. These were glances at things even the Creators hadn’t revealed:

Over on the PHB, we were up to lots of shenanigans as well. In April, for example, we had great success with our “Club Penguin Help Blog” prank that fooled even the Poptropica Creators — if only for a little while.

Before our blog was even a year old, we reached one million site views, so we celebrated by giving away some of those rare and coveted “Monster Carnival leaks.” These were the early days of Poptropica glitching and trading!

That summer, the Poptropica community grew to include a Poptropica Help Forum (the PHF was created by Coderkid, who later became PHB staff) and Poptropica Help Chat (PHC) (which was hosted on Xat). Both brought good times, but only the PHC remains to this day, and we’re on Discord now.

We also began a monthly Poptropica magazine, and PHB readers voted on the name The Poptropican’s 911, for all your Poptropica emergencies. The first issue was published in June, and the series ran for a year. Also in June, the long-awaited Astro-Knights Island was released!

Comic by Green Seal, who later became a PHB staff blogger.

Another big thing that happened in Poptropica in 2009 was the launch of the store. (Can you even imagine a Poptropica without the store??) A hundred credits were given for each island completed, and players happily bought cool new items like the Colorizer, Electrify, and more. Credits could also be bought with real money. The store looked a little different back then, too.

On July 26, the PHB celebrated its first birthday – and by then had reached 1.5 million site views. A few days later, the Multiverse feature was released, and that became the staple way of partying it up on Poptropica. (Too bad it’s no longer around… but we do still have common rooms and clubhouses.)

To wrap up the year, Counterfeit Island finally came out (in its early access period, and after half a year of waiting!) in late December, bringing the map total up to ten islands. (Counterfeit and Astro-Knights were the only islands with early access tickets.)

Before membership, players could buy an early access ticket to a new island for 500 credits in the store.

That concludes the 2009 page of the Poptropica Yearbook! Stay tuned for the next pages, and soon you’ll be able to view the complete series on a new page in our Pop Plus collection, titled The Poptropica Yearbook.

While you’re here, sign the yearbook by commenting? ✏️

Magazines, PHB Specials, Store

Poptropican’s 911: Issue #6

Slanted Fish

Update: The Haunted House has been removed from Poptropica’s Map, but you can buy it from the Poptropica Store for FREE! Thanks for the news update, Incredible Fish.

The November edition of our blog’s monthly Poptropican’s 911 newsletter is here! A must-read for all Poptropican fans; click the link below to get started!

Read Issue #6, if you dare…

We have also changed our ‘Poptropica Poll’ widget, which you can find on the right side. The current question reads, ”Did you pay any real money for Poptropica merchandise?”

October 2009’s question was, ”Is your Poptropican all dressed up for Halloween?” The results came in as:

Option | Votes | Percentage
Yes, and my costume is so scary, you’d probably faint just at the sight of it! | 1,049 | 46%
I haven’t yet, but I’m preparing for a spooky surprise! | 846 | 37%
No, I don’t celebrate Halloween. | 226 | 10%
Halloween?! What’s the point of that? | 143 | 6%

Hope you’ll enjoy reading our 911 this month, and maybe even be inspired to submit your own entries! Congratulations to everyone who entered something for the 911, whether it made it or not.

Uncategorized, Web Development

3… 2… 1!

Smockers

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!


Yay! Good-bye 2008 and hello to 2009! Happy New Year from the Poptropica Help Blog! Hopefully, the new year will bring many new, exciting islands to venture on! And as always, we, the Poptropica Help Blog, will always provide up-to-date news and helpful guides! (In fact, we just added another game guide: Balloons! Check it out here: http:poptropica.wordpress.com/games/balloons/)
Happy New Year, everybody!

We also reached 300,000 hits! =O OMG! Thanks to everybody who visit our site! It’s only been, like, a month since our 200,000 hits mark! Woo! What a great way to start the new year of 2009! =D Once again, thanks so much, everybody!

~PHB~