Antarctic Adventure

Antarctic Adventure (Japanese: Kekkyoku Nankyoku Daibōken) is a pseudo-3D rear-view racing action game developed and published by Konami. It originally launched for MSX in 1983 and was ported to Famicom in 1985. Players control Penta the penguin, Konami’s classic mascot character. The goal is to arrive at successive international research stations scattered across Antarctica before the timer runs out, completing a voyage around the continent. Using a trailing third-person perspective, up and down adjust speed, left and right move horizontally, and A/B buttons trigger jumps. The path is filled with ice crevasses and sea lions leaping from holes. Collisions make Penta stumble and lose precious time. There is no health system; the game only ends once the timer hits zero. Collect jumping fish for bonus points. Flashing flags grant a temporary propeller power-up to fly over gaps. There are 10 stages, each representing a different nation’s polar base, with the corresponding national flag raised upon arrival. After clearing all ten levels, the game loops into a harder second cycle with shorter time limits. Its soundtrack uses the famous Skater’s Waltz, a catchy timeless tune. Originally designed with geography education in mind, it was widely included on Subor multicarts and remains one of the most recognizable nostalgic Famicom games among Chinese retro gamers.

These are the default keys. Click the gamepad icon 🎮 in the player’s bottom toolbar to rebind them. Gamepads are detected automatically. On phones you get on-screen buttons.

1P

2P

The NES was always two-player — 2P uses the numeric keypad, and NumLock does not matter. No numpad? Rebind 2P to other keys in the 🎮 panel.