Ice Climber (NES)

Ice Climber

Platform:	NES
Year:	1984
Developer:	Nintendo Co., Ltd.
Buy:	Amazon

Ice Climbers was one of the many launch titles for the NES, and was a part of the "black box" family. The objective of the game is to get your Eskimo up the mountain to a bonus stage, after which you must collect as much food as possible and get to the top before the 40-second time limit expires. When you reach the top, you must grab a giant bird.

In the original game, one of the enemies was a seal, but the enemy was changed when the game was released in the USA. Only few copies of the USA version have the seal as an enemy. Along the way, you'll also be fighting other enemies such as sunglasses-wearing polar bears.

The game later got a re-release on the Famicom Disk System and the VS. Not only that, but it also had a re-release for the E-Reader and 3DS/Wii Virtual Consoles.

Screenshots

The title screen.

The beginning of the game

Clobbering a bird with a hammer!

The end-stage results.

Hitting the enemy that replaced the seal.

This page needs more screenshots.

Music

The music is subpar because it was released at such an early time. There are only four songs, and the gameplay theme can get annoying after a while since it's only a 10 second loop. Akito Nakatsuka wrote the music in assembly using a sound engine by Yukio Kaneoka.

Recording

#	Title	Composer	Arranger	Length	Download
01	Title Screen	Akito Nakatsuka	Hirokazu Tanaka	0:42	Download
02	Game Start	Akito Nakatsuka	Hirokazu Tanaka	0:07	Download
03	Stage Theme	Akito Nakatsuka	Hirokazu Tanaka	0:31	Download
04	Stage Complete	Akito Nakatsuka	Hirokazu Tanaka	0:05	Download

Credits

Ripper: Izumi
Recorder: Doommaster1994
Game Credits:
- VS High Scores Akito Nakatsuka credited as NAK
- Not Credited Programmer Hirokazu Tanaka

(Source, Super Smash Bros. Melee; Game lacks credits.)

Because this game was made at an early time when credits were rare, the game doesn't have any. However, the VS version lists the initials of the developers in the high scores. Ice Climbers' music was remixed in Super Smash Bros. Melee (GC). The game lists Akito in the original staff and for the composition of Ice Climber. Also, some parts of the music reveal Akito's musical style, such as him writing jazz music in 4/4 time.