Challenger

***Challenger*** (チャレンジャー, *Charenjā*) is a video game developed and published by Hudson Soft in 1985 for the Nintendo Famicom.

## Plot

The title character, Challenger, is an archaeologist who seeks to rescue the princess, Maria, from the hands of the evil boss, Don Waldorado, in the land called Pleasio Land. The setting of the character as an archaeologist is an homage to the Indiana Jones franchise, while his name may be an allusion to Conan Doyle's Professor Challenger (best known for his appearance in *The Lost World*).

The scene in the first level where the princess is taken away by the villain is programmed as part of the level, and it is impossible to catch up to the princess no matter how quickly the player progresses. The background music for this level is an arranged version of the well-known military march by Franz Schubert.

## Gameplay

The player controls the main character, Challenger, and must head towards the goal in each level. The player can attack by throwing knives, but some enemies are invulnerable to this attack, and require a power-up item or the assistance of a hidden character to defeat. In levels 1, 3, and 4, touching any of the enemies results in a loss. The player can jump in the side-scrolling scenes, and can also duck by pressing down on the keypad in the first level. In most other games, the A button is used to jump, and the B button is used to attack, but in *Challenger*, the controls are reversed, where the A button causes the character to attack, and the B button causes them to jump. The player also falls off the train and loses if they throw a knife while they are on the connecting area between train cars.

A life gauge is used only during the second level. The player receives damage whenever they touch enemies, and loses only when their life gauge reaches zero. There is no jump button for the top-view level, but the player can venture across the island to search for items. A timer is displayed on the upper left corner of the screen during all of the levels, and the player also loses a life when this timer reaches zero. Falling off of very high places or getting caught in traps also results in a loss, and the player is taken to the game over screen when there are no lives remaining.

### Difficulty

The player can also choose the game's difficulty from 16 different settings on the title screen. The number of enemies decreases for lower level settings. However, the player must defeat certain special enemies in order to gain items required to complete some levels, and the decreased number of enemies on the lower difficulty settings actually makes it more difficult to finish the game. Therefore, the lowest setting is not necessarily the easiest difficulty setting.

### Levels

The first level (or "scene") is titled "STOP THE EXPRESS!". The villain, Don Waldorado, has abducted Princess Maria, and is escaping on a special express train. Challenger heads for the front train car while avoiding Waldorado's cronies, but Waldorado cuts off the connection between the rear train cars and escapes after pushing Challenger off the train.

The second level is titled "SEARCH PRINCESS!". The challenger arrives at Waldorado island in search of the princess, and ventures through an extensive 4-directional scrolling game map. Entering certain caves or buildings allows the player to advance to the third and fourth levels, but others may be dangerous trap zones which can cause instant death.

The third level is titled "GET KEYWORD!". The princess is now being held captive in a pyramid, and Challenger must gather the three keyword items (a key, a ring, and a crown) that are spread throughout the third level in order to enter the pyramid. The level takes place in the inside of a cave, where Challenger must use the gushing fountains of water as steps to cross over to the other side. There are several entrances to level 3 located on Waldorado island, so the player can head for the pyramid by going back and forth between the second and third levels.

The fourth and final level is titled "RESCUE PRINCESS!". Challenger arrives at the pyramid after collecting the three key items, and must jump across several dinosaur-shaped rocks to reach the top floor, where he will face Don Waldorado in the final battle. The player returns to the first level after the conclusion of the fourth level, and the game's difficulty increases by 2 settings.

## Mobile version

An i-appli mobile application version of *Challenger* was released on August 1, 2005 for cellphones supporting i-appli in Japan. The game is currently available on the EZweb network as well. There are two modes in the mobile version; a classic mode, which is identical to the Famicom version of the game, and the arranged mode, which features improved graphics and character design along with several changes in gameplay. The changes from the classic mode to the arranged version are as follows:

* The difficulty settings were decreased from 16 settings to 3 settings.
* Conversation scenes are shown between characters in-between levels.
* Challenger has a life gauge for all of the levels, meaning he cannot die from a single hit from an enemy.
* The level 2 game map was completely remade, and the player may view the map in the game's sub menu.
* Challenger can move in the diagonal direction for the top-view second level, and Challenger can throw knives while jumping in the three other levels. The jump-throw motion is required to defeat the arranged version's Waldorado.
* Waldorado is tougher and sports several new attack patterns in the arranged version. Hitting Waldorado several times causes him to change color and fly, and the player must throw knives while jumping in order to hit the flying Waldorado.
* An ending screen is added instead of the level-cycle loop of the classic version.
* A save option was added to both the arranged version and classic version.

## Trivia

* The main character, Challenger appear as playable character in *Taisen ☆ Daifugo+* and nonogram puzzles in *Pixel Puzzle Collection*.
* Challenger, Marie and Don Waldorado appear in the chapter 13 of the manga *Famicom Rocky*.
* Challenger appears as cameo in the chapter 3 of the manga *Famicom Wolf*.