Challenger

About

Challenger casts you as a daring archaeologist chasing a kidnapped princess through four distinct stages. Battle enemies on a speeding train, navigate traps on a jungle island, and confront towering bosses in this 1985 platformer. Tight controls and timed jumps define the action while the story leans into pulpy adventure tropes. Each level shifts mechanics slightly, balancing exploration with straight-up combat. The first stage’s train sequence remains a standout, blending urgency with pixel-perfect platforming. The game grew from Hudson Soft’s reimagining of a 1983 ZX Spectrum title, expanding three new levels beyond the original’s train chase. Its hero draws clear inspiration from action-movie archetypes, though the fixed cutscene where the princess escapes adds narrative tension. The first level’s soundtrack remixes Schubert’s military march, an odd but effective choice that sticks out even by retro gaming standards. Available on Wii U and older systems, it’s a brisk, niche pick for fans of early platforming experiments.

Storyline

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.