Ice Climber

Last updated

Ice Climber
IceClimberboxartnes.jpg
North American NES box art
Developer(s) Nintendo R&D1
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Hudson Soft (PC-8801)
Director(s) Kenji Miki
Producer(s) Masayuki Uemura
Shigeru Miyamoto
Programmer(s) Kazuaki Morita
Toshihiko Nakago [1]
Artist(s) Tadashi Sugiyama
Composer(s) Akito Nakatsuka [2]
Platform(s) Arcade, Nintendo Entertainment System, PC-8801, Sharp X1, Famicom Disk System
Release
1985
  • NES
    • JP: January 30, 1985 [3]
    • NA: October 18, 1985 [4]
    • EU: September 1, 1986
  • Arcade (VS. Ice Climber)
  • PC-8801
    • JP: October 1985
  • Sharp X1
    • JP: November 1985
  • Famicom (VS. Ice Climber)
    • JP: November 18, 1988
Game Boy Advance
Classic NES Series
  • JP: February 14, 2004
  • NA: June 2, 2004
  • EU: July 9, 2004
Nintendo Switch
Arcade Archives
  • WW: February 22, 2019 [7]
Genre(s) Platform
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade system Nintendo VS. System

Ice Climber [a] is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo. It was released in 1985 for both the arcade VS. System and the Famicom / Nintendo Entertainment System console. [b] The characters Popo and Nana, known as the Ice Climbers, scale 32 vertically scrolling, ice-covered mountains to recover stolen vegetables from a giant condor. In some European countries, Ice Climber was bundled with the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Contents

The arcade version, VS. Ice Climber, [c] has an animated title screen, a stage select menu at the start of the game and between levels, 16 more mountains, occasional blizzard and wind effects, more enemy characters, and bonus multiplier items.

Nana and Popo are playable characters in the Super Smash Bros. series, starting with the 2001 game Super Smash Bros. Melee for the GameCube. Nintendo released the NES version for the Game Boy Advance through the Nintendo e-Reader in 2002.

Gameplay

Popo scales Mountain 1 surrounded by Topis and a Nitpicker. NES Ice Climber.png
Popo scales Mountain 1 surrounded by Topis and a Nitpicker.

The first player controls Popo, a boy wearing a blue parka, while the second player controls Nana, a girl wearing a pink one. The only tool they carry is a wooden mallet to carve openings in the ice above and to club enemies. Each mountain level consists of eight layers of colorful ice and a bonus stage. Standard, dull ice blocks pose no threat other than an easily disposed-of barrier and platform. Square ice blocks with higher detail are indestructible, forcing the player to take another path. Hatched ice acts as a conveyor belt sliding Popo or Nana either left or right. Finally, many mountains include unbreakable moving platforms resembling clouds. The bonus stage takes place at the peak. Within a 40-second time limit and no enemies, the Ice Climbers often face trickier jumps and multiple moving platforms. The peak is also the only place to recover stolen vegetables, most notably eggplants. Collecting just one piece of corn from the fifth bonus stage is the only way to gain an extra life. [9] At the top of the peak, the Condor flies overhead.

Enemies encountered on the way up the mountains include the Topi, Nitpicker, and White Bear. Topis come in two varieties: the blue seal featured in the Japanese Famicom Ice Climber release and the short Yeti-like creatures seen in Western versions and VS. Ice Climber. Topis have the ability to fill in holes in the floor with ice. To do this, a Topi scouts out an opening in the floor, runs back to its cave, and reemerges pushing an icicle to fill in two blocks. This process repeats until no more openings on their layer of ice exist. The Nitpicker is a small, mountain-dwelling bird that swoops down from icy caves on the levels' edges. Unlike the Topi, which is confined to one floor of the mountain, Nitpickers can cross over multiple ice layers. Taking them into account along with moving platforms and sliding ice, timing jumps can be more difficult. The final enemy is the White Bear. This enemy, wearing sunglasses and pink speedo, appears on screen only when Popo and Nana take too long to advance. Pounding the ice, the Polar Bear forces the screen to move up. If Nana or Popo are forced off the screen, the player loses a life.

Other obstacles include deadly falling icicles. These can form on the bottom of any type of platform. After a few successful mountains climbed, all enemies' speeds increase.

The arcade game VS. Ice Climber has a few more gameplay differences. The player must pick from an initial set of 24 mountains to conquer. After eight are cleared, a Super Bonus stage occurs in which the player must reach a high platform. Afterwards, the player must choose from the second set of 24 mountains, in which the Condor is replaced by a giant butterfly. After the next eight stages are cleared and the Super Bonus is over, the player resumes the cycle from the original mountain set. The game keeps track of whether the mountain was claimed by an Ice Climber or if it remains Topi territory—once all the stages are completed, the counter resets. Approximately 30 of the 48 level designs are borrowed from the NES game. Stage setups are generally trickier in VS. Ice Climber, with some new mechanics such as cloud platforms that move diagonally or strong gusts of wind. A purple bee with a spear flying in a horizontal pattern is included as a somewhat rare fourth enemy.

After the bonus stage, the players' scores are tallied. Points are rewarded for every brick of ice destroyed, every Topi-pushed icicle smashed, every Nitpicker killed and every vegetable collected. Finally, a bonus score is rewarded if a player manages to climb to the top of the bonus stage and jump up and grab the Condor. The game keeps track of the high score, although there is no way to save it on the NES version.

The game can be played in one- or two-player mode. The latter places Popo and Nana against each other in a race to the summit. Players may prefer to play cooperatively on the way up, but during the bonus round, they must compete for the top.

Development

Ice Climber and NES Open Tournament Golf were directed by longtime Nintendo producer Kenji Miki. [10] [ better source needed ]Ice Climber is the first video game programmed by Kazuaki Morita. He considered this a "warm-up" before becoming a main programmer on Super Mario Bros. . [11] Morita was later credited with central programming roles in numerous games within the Super Mario series, The Legend of Zelda series, and in Star Fox 64 . [12] [ better source needed ]

Releases

Ice Climber, a launch game for the NES in North America, has been re-released for several of Nintendo's consoles. The PC-8801 version has a more limited color palette and a reworked HUD. [13] VS. Ice Climber has been re-released for the Famicom Disk System, removing the difficulty settings and changing a few graphics to be closer to Ice Climber (such as the bee and butterfly replaced by a Nitpicker and blue Condor, respectively). It has also been released in the Arcade Archives series on Nintendo Switch, although the bee enemy has been removed.

Including the releases listed below, the NES game was part of a few versions of Animal Crossing . It could be played in the original Doubutsu no Mori through its Nintendo Space World 2000 demo [14] and through a Controller Pak from Nintendo Dream. The Pak could be won by anyone who sent a form to Nintendo Dream by June 21, 2001. [15] It is also unlockable in the GameCube releases; [16] it can only be officially unlocked via a North America-exclusive e-Reader card, or as a gift to players requesting their save data be transferred from the Japanese-exclusive Nintendo 64 version to the Doubutsu no Mori+ edition.

NameDatePlatformNotes
Vs. Ice Climber1985 Arcade Nintendo Vs. Series
Ice Climber1985 Famicom/NES [17]
Ice Climber1985 NEC PC-8801 Published by Hudson Soft
Ice Climber1988 Famicom Disk System Port of Vs. Ice Climber
Ice Climber-e2002 e-Reader Barcoded cards, readable with e-Reader and Game Boy Advance.
Classic NES Series: Ice Climber2004 Game Boy Advance Classic NES Series
Ice Climber2007 Wii Virtual Console
Ice Climber2011 3DS Virtual Console
Ice Climber2013 Wii U Virtual Console
Ice Climber2018 Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch Online
Arcade Archives Ice Climber2019 Nintendo Switch Arcade Archives

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed VS. Ice Climbers in its April 1, 1985, issue as the eighth most-successful table arcade unit of the month. [18] Former President of Finland Mauno Koivisto was reportedly keen on Nintendo games and his son-in-law has reported that Ice Climber was his favorite game. [19]

Reviewing the American release, Computer Entertainer magazine called it "addictive" for fans of climbing games. The reviewer awarded 3.5 out of 4 stars, for both categories of graphics and gameplay, adding that it provide "hours of challenging play". [20]

Legacy

The Ice Climbers in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Ice Climbers SSBU.png
The Ice Climbers in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Popo and Nana appear in the Super Smash Bros. series of fighting game as a two-in-one playable fighter under the name Ice Climbers, voiced by Sanae Kobayashi. Appearing in 2001's Melee , and 2008's Brawl , their return was planned for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, but technical issues with the 3DS version required game director Masahiro Sakurai to scrap development on them to maintain parity between the two versions. He said that there was not a high priority to include them because the Ice Climber series was "unlikely to have another installment" at the time. [21] The Ice Climbers returned in 2018's Ultimate . [22]

Themes from Ice Climber regularly appear in the WarioWare series' classic Nintendo microgames. In Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land and Kirby Air Ride , when Kirby gets the Freeze ability, he dons Popo's parka in the same manner it is worn in the Super Smash Bros. series. [17] In Tetris DS , an Ice Climber backdrop appears among other classic Nintendo games. [23] Daigasso! Band Brothers includes the bonus stage music theme. [24] The Ice Climbers appear in Super Mario Maker as an unlockable Mystery Mushroom costume. [25]

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: アイスクライマー, Hepburn: Aisu Kuraimā
  2. ↑ One book says the North American arcade release was October 1984, although contemporary flyers are all from 1985. [8]
  3. ↑ Japanese: VSアイスクライマー, Hepburn: VS Aisu Kuraimā

Related Research Articles

<i>Duck Hunt</i> 1984 video game

Duck Hunt is a 1984 light gun shooter video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The game was first released in April 1984 in Japan for the Family Computer (Famicom) console and in North America as an arcade game for the Nintendo VS. System. It became a launch game for the NES in North America in October 1985, and was re-released in Europe two years later.

<i>Dr. Mario</i> 1990 video game

Dr. Mario is a 1990 puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy. It was produced by Gunpei Yokoi and designed by Takahiro Harada. The soundtrack was composed by Hirokazu Tanaka.

<i>Mario Bros.</i> 1983 video game

Mario Bros. is a 1983 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for arcades. It was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi, Nintendo's chief engineer. Italian twin brother plumbers Mario and Luigi exterminate creatures, like turtles (Shellcreepers) and crabs emerging from the sewers by knocking them upside-down and kicking them away. The Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System version is the first game to be developed by Intelligent Systems. It is part of the Mario franchise, but originally began as a spin-off from the Donkey Kong series.

<i>Super Mario Bros. 3</i> 1988 video game

Super Mario Bros. 3 is a 1988 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It was released for home consoles in Japan on October 23, 1988, in North America on February 12, 1990, and in Europe on August 29, 1991. It was developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development, led by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka.

<i>Super Mario Bros. 2</i> 1988 video game

Super Mario Bros. 2 is a 1988 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. After the smash hit Super Mario Bros. in 1985, Nintendo quickly released a minor adaptation of the original with advanced difficulty titled Super Mario Bros. 2, for its mature market in Japan in 1986. However, Nintendo of America found this sequel too similar to its predecessor, and its difficulty too frustrating, for the nascent American market. This prompted a second Super Mario Bros. sequel based on Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, Nintendo's 1987 Family Computer Disk System game which had been based on a prototype platforming game and released as an advergame for Fuji Television's Yume Kōjō '87 media technology expo. The characters, enemies, and themes in Doki Doki Panic have the mascots and theme of the festival, and were adapted into the Super Mario theme to make a Western Super Mario Bros. sequel.

<i>Wrecking Crew</i> (video game) 1985 video game

Wrecking Crew is an action game developed and published by Nintendo. Designed by Yoshio Sakamoto, it was first released as an arcade video game for the Nintendo VS. System in 1984, titled Vs. Wrecking Crew with a simultaneous two-player mode. It was released as a single-player game for the Family Computer (Famicom) console in 1985, and as a launch game for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) later that year. A sequel, Wrecking Crew '98, was released in Japan in 1998 for the Super Famicom.

<i>Balloon Fight</i> 1984 video game

Balloon Fight is an action video game developed by Nintendo and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was originally released for arcades as VS. Balloon Fight, with the console version releasing in Japan in 1985 and internationally in 1986.

<i>Clu Clu Land</i> 1984 video game

Clu Clu Land is a puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo in 1984 in Japan for the Famicom. It was released in North America in 1985 as a launch title for the Nintendo Entertainment System, with Europe receiving the game in 1987. Nintendo has re-released the game on many different platforms via emulation, of which includes the Virtual Console digital distribution service on the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service.

<i>Excitebike</i> 1984 video game

Excitebike is a motocross racing video game developed and published by Nintendo. In Japan, it was released for the Famicom in 1984 and then ported to arcades as VS. Excitebike for the Nintendo VS. System later that year. In North America, it was initially released for arcades in 1985 and then as a launch game for the Nintendo Entertainment System later that year, becoming one of the best-selling games on the console. It is the first game in the Excite series.

<i>Donkey Kong Jr.</i> 1982 video game

Donkey Kong Jr. is a 1982 arcade platform game that was released by Nintendo. It is the sequel to Donkey Kong, but with the roles reversed compared to its predecessor: Mario is now the villain and Donkey Kong Jr. is trying to save his kidnapped father. It first released in arcades and, over the course of the decade, was released for a variety of home platforms. The game's title is written out as Donkey Kong Junior in the North American arcade version and various conversions to non-Nintendo systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nintendo VS. System</span> Arcade cabinet series

The Nintendo VS. System is an arcade system that was developed and produced by Nintendo. It is based on most of the same hardware as the Family Computer (Famicom), later released as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). As Nintendo was planning to release the NES in North America, they were aware of the video game crash of 1983 and its effects on the home console market. By March 1984 the arcade industry recovered enough for a plan to introduce NES titles there, with the VS. System later being a presentation to players who did not yet own the console. It became the first version of the Famicom hardware to debut in North America.

<i>Donkey Kong</i> (1981 video game) 1981 video game

Donkey Kong is a 1981 arcade video game developed and published by Nintendo. As Mario,(known at the time as "Jumpman") the player runs and jumps on platforms and climbs ladders to ascend a construction site and rescue Pauline from a giant gorilla, Donkey Kong. It is the first game in the Donkey Kong series and Mario's first appearance in a video game.

<i>Kung-Fu Master</i> (video game) 1984 video game

Kung-Fu Master, known as Spartan X in Japan, is a 1984 beat 'em up game developed and published by Irem for arcades. It was distributed by Data East in North America. Designed by Takashi Nishiyama, the game was based on Hong Kong martial arts films. It is a loose adaptation of the Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao film Wheels on Meals (1984), called Spartan X in Japan, with the protagonist Thomas named after Jackie Chan's character in the film. The game is also heavily inspired by the Bruce Lee film Game of Death (1972), which was the basis for the game's concept. Nishiyama, who had previously designed the side-scrolling shooter Moon Patrol (1982), combined fighting elements with a shoot 'em up gameplay rhythm. Irem and Data East exported the game to the West without the Spartan X license.

<i>Hogans Alley</i> (video game) 1984 video game

Hogan's Alley is a light gun shooter video game developed and published by Nintendo. It was released for the Family Computer in 1984 and then the arcade Nintendo VS. System and Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985. It was one of the first hit video games to use a light gun as an input device, along with Nintendo's Duck Hunt (1984). The game presents players with "cardboard cut-outs" of gangsters and innocent civilians. The player must shoot the gangs and spare the innocent people. It was a major arcade hit in the United States and Europe.

<i>Wild Gunman</i> 1974 video game

Wild Gunman is a light gun shooter game developed and published by Nintendo. Originally created as an electro-mechanical arcade game in 1974 by Gunpei Yokoi, it was adapted to a video game format for the Famicom console in 1984. It was released in 1985 as a launch game for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) with the Zapper light gun.

<i>The Mysterious Murasame Castle</i> 1986 video game

The Mysterious Murasame Castle is a 1986 action-adventure game developed by Nintendo and Human Entertainment and published by Nintendo. It was originally only released for the Family Computer Disk System in Japan as the second original game for the platform. The Mysterious Murasame Castle was later released worldwide on the Virtual Console in 2014 and for the Nintendo Switch Online service in 2023.

<i>Super Contra</i> 1988 video game

Super Contra, known as Super Contra: The Alien Strikes Back in Japan, is a run and gun video game by Konami, originally released as a coin-operated arcade video game in January 1988. It is the sequel to the original Contra and part of the Contra series. The game stars Bill Rizer and Lance Bean as they are sent to thwart another alien invasion from the vicious Red Falcon.

<i>Super Mario Bros.</i> 1985 video game

Super Mario Bros. is a 1985 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It is the successor to the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros. and the first game in the Super Mario series. It was originally released in September 1985 in Japan for the Family Computer; following a US test market release for the NES, it was converted to international arcades on the Nintendo VS. System in early 1986. The NES version received a wide release in North America that year and in PAL regions in 1987.

References

  1. ↑ "Ice Climber retrospective: A slippery slope for platforming". YouTube . Jeremy Parish. May 24, 2016. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  2. ↑ Famicom 20th Anniversary Original Sound Tracks Vol. 1 (Media notes). Scitron Digital Contents Inc. 2004. Retrieved April 18, 2011.
  3. ↑ "アイスクライマー" [Ice Climber]. Famitsu (in Japanese). Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Flyer Fever - The Vs. Challenge (U.S.)". February 20, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Arcade Archives ICE CLIMBER". Nintendo . Retrieved June 13, 2024.
  6. ↑ Akagi, Masumi (October 13, 2006). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) [Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005)] (in Japanese). Japan: Amusement News Agency. p. 128. ISBN   978-4990251215.
  7. ↑ Ice Climber (PDF) (Instruction manual). Nintendo. 1985.
  8. ↑ "Kenji Miki". IMDB. p. 1. Retrieved May 2, 2009.
  9. ↑ "Inside Zelda Part 9". Zelda Universe. p. 1. Archived from the original on March 31, 2009. Retrieved May 2, 2009.
  10. ↑ "Kazuaki Morita". IMDB. p. 1. Retrieved May 2, 2009.
  11. ↑ "NEC PC-8801 Games". Strange and Wonderful. p. 1. Archived from the original on December 24, 2008. Retrieved May 2, 2009.
  12. ↑ "NINTENDO SPACEWORLD 2000開幕". PC Watch. August 25, 2000. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  13. ↑ "アイスクライマー ビッグプレゼント". Nintendo Dream. Vol. 58. Ambit. May 21, 2001. p. 87.
  14. ↑ Schneider, Peer (September 11, 2001). "Inside Animal Forest Part VII (GameCube, N64)". IGN. p. 1. Archived from the original on December 26, 2007. Retrieved May 2, 2009.
  15. 1 2 "'Ice Climber'". NinDB. Archived from the original on June 19, 2010. Retrieved May 2, 2009.
  16. ↑ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 257. Amusement Press, Inc. April 1, 1985. p. 25.[ circular reference ]
  17. ↑ "Uutuuskirja: Mauno Koivisto hullaantui 30 vuotta sitten videopeleihin ja kyykytti kavereitaan Nintendolla: 'Etkö sä oikein hallitse tätä?'", on September 26, 2019, Ilta-Sanomat, https://www.is.fi/tv-ja-elokuvat/art-2000006251088.html
  18. ↑ "The Video Game Update" (PDF). Computer Entertainer . Vol. 5, no. 1. April 1986. p. 11.
  19. ↑ Brian (September 16, 2014). "Sakurai addresses Ice Climbers' absence in Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS and more in new Famitsu column". Nintendo Everything. Retrieved September 16, 2014..
  20. ↑ "Back in the battle after a ten-year absence! There are two of them, so does that make them twice as strong as other fighters?". Super Smash Blog. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  21. ↑ "Tetris DS". Nintendo. p. 1. Archived from the original on April 22, 2009. Retrieved May 2, 2009.
  22. ↑ Gerstmann, Jeff (December 10, 2004). "Daigasso! Band Brothers Import Hands-On". GameSpot. p. 1. Retrieved May 2, 2009.
  23. ↑ Benson, Julian. "The Ice Climbers are coming to Super Mario Maker". Kotaku.com.co.uk. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.