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Popeye (video game)

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For the unrelated Game Boy video game, see Popeye (1990 video game).

Popeye
North American arcade flyer
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Parker Brothers (non-NES ports)
Atari, Inc (EU/UK)[5]
Designer(s)Genyo Takeda[6]
Shigeru Miyamoto[6]
Platform(s)Arcade, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, Intellivision, Odyssey², NES, TI-99/4A, Mobile
Release
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single-player, 2 players alternating

Popeye[a] is a 1982 arcade platform game developed and released by Nintendo based on the comic strip of same name created by E. C. Segar and licensed from King Features Syndicate strips and animated shorts. The game was licensed by Atari, Inc. for exclusive release in the United Kingdom and Ireland in an Atari-designed cabinet. Nintendo ported the game to the Famicom, while Parker Brothers published versions for other home systems.

Popeye was designed by Genyo Takeda and Shigeru Miyamoto, and some sources[7][8][9] claim that Ikegami Tsushinki was also involved. The Popeye characters were originally slated for the game that became Donkey Kong,[10] starring Mario, Donkey Kong, and Pauline. At the time, Nintendo was unable to license the characters.

Gameplay

Title screen and each of the 3 levels (arcade)

The object of the game is for Popeye the Sailor to collect a certain number of items dropped by Olive Oyl, depending on the level — 24 hearts, 16 musical notes, or 24 letters in the word HELP — while avoiding the Sea Hag, Brutus and other dangers. The player can make Popeye walk back and forth and up and down stairs and ladders with a 4-way joystick. There is a punch button, but unlike similar games of the period, no jump button. Conversely, Brutus can jump down a level, or merely stoop and reach down into the level below, and he can also jump up to hit Popeye if he is directly above.

Despite the feature of a punch button, Popeye cannot attack Brutus directly. Instead, the button is used for the following:

  • Punching destroys items that could hurt Popeye such as bottles, vultures and skulls.
  • Each level has a can of spinach; punching these cans will give Popeye invincibility and he can knock out Brutus just by running into him, although after a few seconds Brutus will swim back out and be ready for action again.
  • In Round 1 (the dock scene) of each three-round cycle, as well as the first round and third rounds of each four-round cycle, is a punching bag, which Popeye can use to knock loose a nearby barrel from its position near the top of the playing field. If the barrel falls onto Brutus' head, the player earns bonus points (based on where Brutus was attacked) and renders Brutus harmless for several seconds.

Other licensed Popeye characters in the game are Olive Oyl, Swee'Pea, and Wimpy, though they are mostly decorative and do not add heavily to the gameplay. Wimpy appears in Round 2 (the street scene) on one end of the seesaw in the lower left corner of the field, to act as a counterweight. Swee'Pea floats high above, with bonus points to be earned if Popeye can spring off the see-saw and touch him.

Popeye loses a life if he is hit by Brutus or any thrown/flying object, or if he fails to collect a dropped item within a certain amount of time after it reaches the bottom of the screen and also gets scolded by Olive Oyl for this.

Ports

Parker Brothers ported the game to the Atari 8-bit family, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Intellivision, Commodore 64, Texas Instruments TI-99/4A, and ColecoVision, and one of the few games ported to the Odyssey². A board game based on the video game was released by Parker Brothers in 1983. There was also a Popeye tabletop video game with a color LCD, but it was not based on the arcade game.[11]

On July 15, 1983, Popeye was one of the three launch games for the Family Computer, along with Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr.[12]

Reception

In the United States, Popeye topped the Play Meter arcade chart for street locations in April 1983.[13]

Electronic Games wrote in 1983 that the arcade version of Popeye at first appeared to be "yet another variation of a theme that's become all too familiar since Donkey Kong". "But there are some nuances", it added, "not the least of which are the graphics and sound effects, that tend to allow the game the benefit of the doubt in execution". The magazine concluded that "Popeye does offer some interesting play that is more than complemented by the cosmetics."[14] The Arcade Express newsletter scored it 7 out of 10 in January 1983, calling it "the closest thing to a videogame cartoon seen yet in an arcade," but also that "game play, unfortunately, doesn't come up to visual standards."[15] Michael Pugliese writing for The Coin Slot described Popeye as "a visually stimulating and exciting game that will go well in any location," and noted that "it contains all the challenges and character appeal to make it a solid earner for a long time."[16] Computer and Video Games magazine gave the arcade game a generally favorable review.[17]

Antic wrote that the Atari 8-bit version of Popeye "is a thoroughly entertaining challenge for gamers of all ages". Mechanics differing from other climbing games, the magazine said, gave it above-average replay value.[18] Computer Games magazine gave the ColecoVision and home computer conversions an A rating, calling Popeye a "terrific cartoony climbing game, much better than Donkey Kong."[19]

Legacy

The Famicom saw an educational spin-off on November 22, 1983: Popeye no Eigo Asobi, an English teaching game akin to the later Donkey Kong Jr. Math.

In 2008, Namco Networks released an enhanced remake for mobile phones. The game plays largely the same, and features an enhanced mode in addition to the arcade original, which includes a bonus stage and an extra level paying homage to the short A Dream Walking where Popeye must save a sleepwalking Olive, as well as some trivia segments. In the game it is possible to earn tokens, which can be used to buy some of the old comic strips.[20]

On November 04, 2021, independent developer Sabec LTD released a reimagining of the arcade game simply titled Popeye,[21] with 3D graphics for the Nintendo Switch to bad Metacritic scores. Reviews fot the game list poorly rendered graphics and environments, limited music in which a rendition of the Popeye theme plays indefinitely during gameplay, minimal use of sound effects, poor animations, poor optimizing of the game itself causing lag spikes during levels, repeating levels, poor controls, repetitive gameplay, inconstant collision detection with enemies and environments, and the use of Unity store bought assets for levels and taking character models from other websites for the game.

High score

Ben Falls holds the world record score of 3,023,060 earned on December 20, 2011, according to Twin Galaxies International Scoreboard.[22]

Notes

  1. ^ Japanese: ポパイ, Hepburn: Popai

References

  1. ^ a b 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. pp. 57, 128. ISBN 978-4990251215.
  2. ^ "Video Game Flyers: Popeye, Nintendo (EU)". The Arcade Flyer Archive. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  3. ^ McFerran, Damien (February 26, 2018). "Feature: Shining A Light On Ikegami Tsushinki, The Company That Developed Donkey Kong". Nintendo Life. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  4. ^ "Official European Flyer".
  5. ^ a b "Iwata Asks: Punch-Out!! - Investigating a Glove Interface". Nintendo. August 7, 2009. Retrieved August 11, 2009.
  6. ^ "Company:Ikegami Tsushinki - GDRI :: Game Developer Research Institute". gdri.smspower.org.
  7. ^ ドンキーコング裁判についてちょこっと考えてみる Archived March 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Thinking a bit about Donkey Kong, accessed February 1, 2009
  8. ^ It started from Pong (それは『ポン』から始まった : アーケードTVゲームの成り立ち, sore wa pon kara hajimatta: ākēdo terebi gēmu no naritachi), Masumi Akagi (赤木真澄, Akagi Masumi), Amusement Tsūshinsha (アミューズメント通信社, Amyūzumento Tsūshinsha), 2005, ISBN 4-9902512-0-2.
  9. ^ East, Tom (November 25, 2009). "Donkey Kong Was Originally A Popeye Game". Official Nintendo Magazine. Archived from the original on November 10, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2014. Miyamoto says Nintendo's main monkey might not have existed.
  10. ^ "Donkey Kong Jr". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 91. Ziff Davis. February 1997. p. 100.
  11. ^ Marley, Scott (December 2016). "SG-1000". Retro Gamer. No. 163. Future Publishing. pp. 56–61.
  12. ^ "Play Meter's Equipment Poll: Top Videos". Play Meter. Vol. 9, no. 8. May 1, 1983. p. 16.
  13. ^ Sharpe, Roger C. (June 1983). "Insert Coin Here". Electronic Games. p. 92. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  14. ^ "The Hotseat: Popeye" (PDF). The Arcade Express. 1 (11). January 2, 1983.
  15. ^ Pugliese, Michael (April 1983). "Games in Review: The Arcade Parade". The Coin Slot. p. 14. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  16. ^ "Arcade Action: Packing a Punch! Popeye". Computer and Video Games. No. 19 (May 1983). April 16, 1983. p. 31.
  17. ^ Duberman, David (January 1984). "Popeye". Antic. p. 107.
  18. ^ "1985 Software Buyer's Guide". Computer Games. Vol. 3, no. 5. United States: Carnegie Publications. February 1985. pp. 11–8, 51–8.
  19. ^ Popeye at IGN
  20. ^ "Popeye". Nintendo.com. Sabec LTD. November 2021.
  21. ^ Totilo, Stephen (December 20, 2011). "The new Popeye World Record is 3,023,060". Kotaku. Archived from the original on November 12, 2014.

Media related to Popeye (video game) at Wikimedia Commons

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