RRAAARGH!!! I climb ice!

Game Info.

Genre Action (arcade-style)

Publisher/Developer Nintendo/Nintendo

Peripherals (none)

Release 10/85

Way back at the dawn of the days of the original NES, Nintendo and Taito (makers of Bubble Bobble) created a platformer, much in the spirit of Donkey Kong, but with an arctic spin. You play as Popo, the eskimo with a mallet, in-search of da' stolen veggies at the hands of the big, red, giant condor. The game was very very popular, especially in Japan, where a seperate "VS. Edition" was released for extra ice-climbing fun. But how is it that, up until the announcement of Popo and wife, Nana, in Super Smash Bros. Melee, almost no one had heard of it? It's all a test of time, my friends. A test that THIS particular game... failed.
But that doesn't mean that it was a bad game! No, far from it. It just didn't have that special something that games like Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, and even Duck Hunt (to some extent) had in them. Let's take a close look and see why...

Gameplay
Like I said, you play as Popo, in-search of your stolen veggies. In each of the 32 levels you must climb up 8 stories of a mountain, crushing the ceiling above you (in order to get to the story above). Crazy seals will slide in and "seal" up your holes in the "seal"ings, but that's what you have your smashing mallet for (heeheehee). Other hazards include the big pink, swooping albatross, the pushin' 'n shovin' polar bears, the falling icicles and frozen rain. The variety of enemies and obstacles isn't vast, but it's the combinations of each that really counts. For instance, one level might have sliding floors, while a later level will have sliding floors with penguins running up at you. Yes, I know it sounds simple, and it really is. But what can you expect from a 1st-generation NES game? I actually like the simplicity; it's something that's hard to find in today's crazy 3D platformers. Those darn kids with their razza-frazza 64...
8/10

Control
Okay, while the obstacles, enemies, and level structures are great (a real treat), the game SUFFERS in character control. Walking around is just fine, but JUMPING, the main aspect of the game, is done with little care. Your character jumps up about as high as a story (which is great), but he only can jump sideways about one 8th as far, making it REAL hard to get around places in the game, let alone jump to the next story without crashing to the ground. It might not sound like much, but it REALLY hurts the way this game's played. And though it adds a lot of difficulty to the game, I think it takes away twice as much fun. Shame on you, retired Nintendo programmers from 1985. I spit on your graves (or whatever it is you Japanese people have).
5/10

Graphics
Well, the graphics are very... simple, indeed. But it's what's to be expected from such an ancient game, y'know? Backgrounds are all black, which isn't too nice. But the sprites have an alright ammount of detail to them. At least you can tell what's going on... mostly.
7/10

Sound
The sound effects are standard-to-good. They really sound a lot like EarthBound Zero's, to tell the truth. On them alone, though, this score would suck; the music ups things a bit. Okay, so the soundtrack is limited to about 3 songs, most of which repeat about 10 seconds all over again, but the quality is really pretty good. I could easily picture myself bobbin' my head to this stuff (not that I would, I mean, some Nintendo nerd might, but... not me, jeez).
8/10

Replay Value
With the ability to choose whichever level to play at any time you want, this game becomes like, the most replayable platformer to date. But because control value is so poor 'round here, I just couldn't stand playing those harder levels again. Grr!
9/10

Overall
If you like classic games, this is worth a ROM download (sorry, Nintendo). I strongly recommend it to those who were just a bit turned off to the complexities of the Donkey Kong games. Ice Climber really takes the best of DK with a whole new spin. I was curious at first, but now I'm BLEEDING to see Popo and Nana in SSBM. Ice Climber may not be the best platformer the mid-80's had to offer, but at least it's fun. It's definately a good game to waste an afternoon or three.
And so I leave you with one thought: **ICE ICE BABY!**

FINAL SCORE: 7/10
=Good=
Send feedback to: sam@ngeb.net