Ice Climber

Voices of: N/A
Developer: Nintendo R&D 1
Publisher: Nintendo, Hudson Soft
Directed by: Kenji Miki
Rating: E
Genre: Platform
System: NES
1985

Times Completed:
Tim: 1

Summary: Popo and Nana must climb enormous mountains to regain vegetables from a menacing bird.

Review:
Tim: One of the things I love about the semi-early days of video games is that you get a game like Ice Climber. It's a game where you climb mountains, grab vegetables, and dodge birds. And, it's totally awesome. Now, no, in the grand scheme and history of video games, this isn't among the best. But, it's a perfectly fun little game that throws a different mechanic at players. You have to climb mountains, breaking ice above you and using the holes to climb higher. There's a host of dangers to avoid, bonus levels to access, and new heights to reach. The game is so simple, but there's real fun to be had in the complexity underneath that outer layer.

Nintendo has always been so good at creating memorable gameplay moments. When I decided to play through Ice Climber, I really wanted to experience the game and understand Popo and Nana. I've played as the Ice Climbers in Super Smash Bros. games, so I wanted to understand the references better. I actually had a lot of fun completing all 32 mountains. The game might be a bit one-note, but it doesn't actually feel that way while playing- you're so intently focused on achieving the next mountain top that it holds your attention and it's quite fun. Sure, some of the levels were quite challenging, and a few I felt a certain level of aggravation, but generally, for someone who plays video games, this game feels very beatable. It was a nice challenge, but not especially hard.

I'm always interested in playing launch titles like this one- the NES would go on to spawn numerous all-time classics. While Ice Climbers isn't quite that good, it's still a very fun, influential game that helped mark the start of a new era in home video gaming. The characters have lived on in other games, and I found exploring their game and world well worth the investment of time to do it. My top score along the way was 15,430 points. That's not exactly good in terms of the great players out there, but this is Ice Climber- I was intent on finishing the mountains, that's it.

While today, this game is more of a curiosity than anything, I still think it's worth playing. I had fun reaching the pinnacle of each mountain and finishing the game. Ice Climber is a good game, and one that I really had fun playing.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Game, We Recommend: Wrecking Crew, Adventures of Lolo, Duck Hunt