Ice Climber

Encyclopedia : I : IC : ICE : Ice Climber

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This article is about the NES video game. For the activity in general, see Ice climbing.

is a platform arcade game, developed by Nintendo in  1984.  The game was later released for the Nintendo Entertainment System, as one of the initial titles,  in 1985. In some countries of Europe the game was distributed with Nintendo Entertainment System packages. This strongly increased the game's familiarity outside Japan.

Gameplay

In the game, the players control either Popo (ポポ) (a boy dressed in a blue Eskimo suit) or Nana (ナナ) (a girl dressed in a pink Eskimo suit). Their challenge is to venture up an ever scrolling mountain in their quest to defeat an evil condor. The only tool a player has is a hammer to make openings on the floor above and to club enemies.

The enemies they encounter on their way up the mountain include polar bears and Topis. Topis were seals in the Japanese version of the game (and earlier U.S. releases), but they were redesigned as small yetis in the American version over concerns of animal cruelty (seal-clubbing). The yeti versions of Topis appeared in the Japan-only Ice Climber for the Famicom Disk System, which has the same name as the original, but is somewhat different and based on VS Ice Climber. Other obstacles include deadly falling icicles.

Near the end of the level, the enemies disappear and a bonus round is available to earn extra points by collecting vegetables, most notably eggplants.

The game can be played in one or two player mode. The latter pits Nana and Popo against each other in the race to the summit. They cooperate together on the way up, but during the bonus round they compete for the top.

As characters in Super Smash Bros. Melee

16 years after their original debut, they reappeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee for GameCube as playable characters. Nana and Popo are connected as a single character. If the player selects the Ice Climbers, he or she will control one of the characters; the other one is computer-controlled, and will mimic what the player does unless separated by a considerable distance. Although the two characters work as a unit (especially if they have the same item or if one is charging the other can block), the computer-controlled player can be defeated without the player's character being defeated — therefore, the effectiveness of the Ice Climbers' attacks are reduced, and Popo can no longer use his third jump when he is alone. They are considered a high-tier in tournaments, due to their high attack and combo abilities, as well as their long wavedash distance. However, they are very difficult to master at tournament level play.

One of the stages, Icicle Mountain, was based off the mountain stages in the original game. The enemies also appear on the stage in Adventure mode. Lastly, the "target test" stage for the Ice Climbers is a direct representation of a standard NES-style Ice Climber stage. This game uses the U.S. Ice Climbers enemies, and thus contains the yeti design for Topis instead of the seal design.

The Ice Climbers were included in SSBM to represent the original Famicom. They were ultimately chosen over other franchises like Balloon Fight and Excitebike.

In the game, Popo and Nana are both voiced by Sanae Kobayashi. It is not yet confirmed if they will be in Brawl.

Relationship

The relationship between Popo and Nana is something that has been debated. This is more then likely because it simply wasn’t established until Super Smash Bros. Melee, where the head designer of the game decided they were lovers. This is also hinted at in one of the introductory video's screens in Super Smash Bros. Melee where a little heart appears when Popo and Nana give each other a “high five”. [link]

The Ice Climber profile on the Japanese Super Smash Bros Melee website lists their relationship as (better translated) “Popo and Nana seem to be childhood friends. They are less than lovers... but more than friends...” [link] It is still debated whether Popo and Nana are friends, lovers, or siblings.

Trivia

• On rare occasions, falling onto the head of the other player will cause the player to be forced through the floor of the level. If this happens on the bottom floor, the player will lose a life.
• According to Finnish tabloids, Ice Climber was at some point the favorite video game of the former president of Finland, Mauno Koivisto. ^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

Ports

Ice Climber has been ported a handful of times.

• VS Ice Climber (Arcade) 1984
• Ice Climber (Nintendo Entertainment System) 1985
• Ice Climber (NEC PC-8801) 1985
• Climber (Game & Watch) 1986
• Ice Climber (Famicom Disk System) 1988 (a sequel of sorts based on VS Ice Climber)
• Ice Climber (E-Reader) 2000/2001
• Ice Climber (Animal Crossing) 2002
• Ice Climber (Game Boy Advance) 2004 (Classic NES Series)

Appearances

Super Smash Bros. series

Super Smash Bros. Melee:

• The Ice Climbers Popo and Nana appear as playable fighters. The player controls Popo and the computer controls Nana. A palette swaps reverse this.
• The Ice Climber stage is Infinite Glacier: Icicle Mountain - a vertically scrolling platform stage.
• There are two Ice Climber music tracks: Icicle Mountain is the title theme and stage music from Ice Climber, and Ice Climbers's Victory is the stage complete music. There are five Ice Climber trophies: Ice Climbers, Ice Climbers (Smash 1), Ice Climbers (Smash 2), Polar Bear, Topi.
• The Ice Climbers's Target Test stage borrows graphics from the original Ice Climbers. The final target is carried by the Condor.

Animal Forest/Crossing series

• Animal Forest: One of the collectable and fully playable NES games is the original Ice Climbers.

Wario series

• : One of 9-Volt's classic Nintendo microgames is based on the original Ice Climber. Grab the Condor's feet.
• : This cameo is also same as the cameo in the original WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ (above)
• : One of 9-Volt and 18-Volt's classic Nintendo-styled microgames is based on Ice Climber. Smash enemies with a hammer.
• Finally, in One of 9-Volt and 18-Volt's Nintendo microgames is named "8-bit-hero". Touch the pixel that's different from on a 6x7 "pixel checkerboard" from the top image, and on third difficulty, the sprite is of Popo.

External links

• [Ice Climber] at MobyGames
• [GameFAQs entry for Ice Climber]
• [N-philes feature for Ice Climber]
• [Profile of the Ice climbers on the Japanese Super Smash Bros. Melee website]

 

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