Challenger

"Play as Challenger, a brave archeologist whose mission is to rescue a princess who's been kidnapped by a secret evil organization."

Hudson Soft·Konami· October 15, 1985· Main Game

Play as Challenger, a brave archeologist whose mission is to rescue a princess who's been kidnapped by a secret evil organization. The game offers four different types of adventures in four different ways to play, starting with a runaway train battle, exploring a vast island, and facing off against a boss. Originally planned as a port of the ZX Spectrum video game Stop the Express, which was released by Sinclair Research Ltd in 1983. Stop the Express only contained the first train level, and 3 levels were added for the release of Challenger.

Released 15 October 1985 for Legacy Mobile Device, Wii, Wii U and Family Computer by Hudson Soft, published by Konami. Rated 12 by ClassInd, A by CERO.

Story

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.