With the goal of scaling a series of skyscrapers using two joysticks (one controlling the left side of the character's body, the other the right) Crazy Climber was the first in a "climbing games" genre which includes Nintendo's 1981 Donkey Kong.[11] The genre eventually became better known as platform games and is defined by jumping and traversal between platforms, neither of which are found in Crazy Climber.
Crazy Climber was the third highest-earning arcade game of 1980 in Japan while also being a commercial success in North America. A lesser-known sequel, Crazy Climber 2, was released for arcades in 1988.
Gameplay
Famicom screenshot
The player assumes the role of a climber attempting to reach the top of four skyscrapers.[11] The climber is controlled via two joysticks.[11]
Reception
In Japan, Crazy Climber was the third highest-grossing arcade game of 1980, just below Pac-Man and Galaxian.[12]Crazy Climber was also Japan's eighth highest-grossing arcade game of 1981.[13]
In North America, Crazy Climber was among the top ten highest-earning arcade games in the summer of 1982.[14]
Legacy
In 1981, Bandai Electronics manufactured a hand-heldVFD version of the game.
A 3D Board Game was released by Bandai in 1981, exclusively in Japan.
A 1985 sequel titled Crazy Climber '85 was produced, but it was put into storage by Nichibutsu in favor of Terra Cresta. This unreleased sequel was eventually included in on the PlayStation version of Nichibutsu Arcade Classics.
A Japanese-only sequel, Crazy Climber 2, was produced in 1988. The game was essentially identical to Crazy Climber in gameplay but featured more sophisticated graphics and a few new features.
On February 3, 1996, Hyper Crazy Climber was released only in Japan for the PlayStation. It has similar gameplay to that of the original game but also a few differences. Players can choose between three cartooney characters, each with their own strength/speed attributes. Several buildings can be selected from a Bomberman-style map screen, including an underwater building, a medieval clock tower, a haunted skyscraper, and a beanstalk. Power-ups are also used. It was also released for Windows on November 30 the same year.
On March 2, 2000, Crazy Climber 2000 was released for the PlayStation. This is more of a remake of the original arcade game using 3D graphics for the first time. A notable feature is the ability to turn corners and access different sides of the buildings, which now have a variety of designs (including one with a cylindrical, tower-like shape). The game included the original port of the arcade Crazy Climber and a scan of the instruction panel. Like Hyper Crazy Climber which released for the same console 4 years earlier, Crazy Climber 2000 was released only in Japan.
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