Douglas's game of the week: Ice Climber

Ice Climber was released waaaaaay back in the mid-80's (1985 or 1988 I believe) I have memories of playing this game or something like it back when I was like 3 or 4. Ice Climber is one of the better games of the NES days-And Popo and Nana are probably some of the most neglected game characters period. Sure, you probably wondered who the hell they were on the character select screen of Super Smash brothers melee, but before hand, I found a RoM of Ice Climber and played it to get the sprites out. I loved it.

The graphics of Ice Climber are pretty good for its time. It's easy to tell that Popo and Nana are Eskimos and that they're smashing through Ice Covered bricks-But they have reflections. They're pretty good for its time.

I found myself hooked to the ROM when I played Ice Climber-Not only did I find myself traversing through all 32 mountains, but I also loved to smash and dodge enemies such as Polar Bears. And beware the dangerous UPSCROLL where the screen goes up and if you touch the bottom, then you die. This is just like their frustrating stage in Super Smash Brothers Melee.

The controls aren't the game's best point-They're not as bad as Startropics, but your character got mad vertical distance and almost no horizontal distance. Jumping got very annoying, but everything else such as thwacking stuff with your hammer is perfectly executed.

Unlike most NES Games, Ice Climber featured music during gameplay, this isn't just the title screen and in between levels like that version of Prince of Persia for GBC which was probably made in 2 weeks. The tune gets repetetive, but I felt it kind of Catchy. The sounds are just little beeps and other stuff but it fits the scene-It's better than "Doink"ing your enemies to death like in a certian Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Fall of the Foot Clan and Final Fantasy 7.

The difficulty will probably put some people (Except Joker and his overly good gaming skills) up to a challenge. At the start, it's a cakewalk but when conveyor belts and clouds appear, it gets harder.

Ice Climber is one of the better NES games. Popo and Nana also happen to be some of the most neglected gaming characters ever. They've only appeared in this game and Super Smash Brothers Melee (I think they were on the eReader too, but I never got one). I really believe that Nintendo should make another Ice Climber game for like the Gameboy Advance, because I really want to see more of Popo and Nana. 8.50/10

Pros:
-Catchy music
-Addicting (But not like Final Fantasy Tactics Advance or SSBM)

Cons:
-Popo and Nana are almost as neglected as Luigi
-Jumping controls
-Upscrolling is quite ingenious but gets annoying in some levels

I can't believe people are too lazy to go get an E-reader.

^Only because I can't find one anywhere

Just go to wal-mart near the controllers, you'll find it.