We have arrived at Poptropica’s birthday month, and what better way to celebrate than to honor an island that not only inspired many fans (like myself) but also celebrates many past islands and characters?
That’s right, everyone! We have finally come to the island I absolutely had to feature in a Flash-back…
This is quite possibly the island with the most fanart, fanfiction, and theories sparking from it. While the ending left many questions (still) unanswered, it continued the arcs of several past characters and brought them all together in a surprising way!
Though not much has been publicly written on the development for the ideas and storyline of this island, there is quite a bit of interesting concept art to look through. The first pic above shows a an early idea for the Dream Machine room, where there were originally five (not four) guinea pigs for Jupiter’s experiment.
Next, the above robot-fusion of several characters further proves that El Mustachio Grande was originally meant to be one of them. I wonder what caused that to change? 🤔
Kingdom Come: There is a castle in the clouds. 
Prison entrance
This island also has some incredible background art, from the impressive design of the prison interior with the (foreshadowing) lightning motif, to Black Widow’s dream exploring different famous paintings and, of course, Binary Bard’s much-loved dreamscape. I remember restarting this island many times just so I could experience that scene again!
The scenery isn’t the only thing that made this island famous, though — it was also the new lore behind the characters. I redid this island and certain parts so many times, scouring for crumbs of new information. A particularly chilling moment was noticing the torn face of Mordred’s painting in his dream lair… sheesh.
Unfortunately, Super Villain will probably be of the later ones to return if we ever see the classic islands again, considering only two out of five of the islands leading up to it have been released on Haxe. That’s why I chose to cover Counterfeit, Astro-Knights, and Skullduggery leading up to this! Yes, I have revealed my evil ploy! This whole series was just for me to have another excuse to talk about Super Villain Island!
So let’s continue the legacy of our villainous friends (unless you count The Villain Saga…ahem, self promotion)! Super Villain and other classic islands were rendered unplayable in the Flash-Haxe transition, but it should not go to waste. Let the Poptropica Creators know what you appreciate about the island to encourage them to preserve it!
Castori honorem ~ Maryann/Smart Bubbles
