Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a surprisingly strange take on Mark Twain's classic character. Released for the NES in 1989, the game was developed by Winky Soft and published by SETA. Rather than trying to closely recreate the events of the original novel, it turns Tom Sawyer's imagination into a bizarre action-platforming adventure. The story begins with Tom falling asleep in class, after which he finds himself dreaming about rescuing Becky from the dangerous Injun Joe.

The adventure takes Tom through six wildly different stages. He travels across the Mississippi River, explores forests, enters a haunted house, and even finds himself in strange fantasy-like areas filled with dragons and other unexpected enemies. One stage changes the formula completely, placing Tom on a raft in a top-down, vertically scrolling section. The variety is one of the game's more interesting qualities, especially considering how simple many NES platformers could be.

Tom's main weapon is about as appropriate for the character as you could expect: rocks. He can throw them at enemies while jumping over obstacles such as rolling barrels and avoiding creatures ranging from pirates and mice to giant monsters. In a two-player game, the second player takes control of Huckleberry Finn, although the players take turns rather than playing simultaneously.

One curious detail is that the North American version rearranges the stage order from the original Japanese release. This makes the American version feel noticeably different and, in some respects, gives it a much tougher opening.

Adventures of Tom Sawyer is certainly an odd NES game, but its surreal interpretation of the source material is part of its charm. It is less a faithful adaptation of Mark Twain's novel and more a colorful, unpredictable dream starring one of literature's most recognizable young adventurers.