Ice Climber (universe): Difference between revisions

{{Title|''Ice Climber'' (universe)}}

In January 1985, one of the various original video games developed by [[Nintendo]]'s Research and Development division for the Japanese Famicom was ''Ice Climber'', as part of a stream of similarly "one-shot" games released in rapid succession in late 1984 and early 1985 (other games included {{uv|Clu Clu Land}}, ''[[Excite (universe)|Excitebike]]'', and {{uv|Balloon Fight}}, which incidentally was released just a week earlier). It was the first game programmed by Kazuaki Morita, who went on to become the main programmer of the industry-defining ''[[Mario (universe)|Super Mario Bros.]]'' later that year, and became a prolific programmer for multiple titles in the ''Mario'' and {{uv|The Legend of Zelda}} series, as well as for ''[[Star Fox 64]]''. Like the other aforementioned Famicom games released before the world famous debuts of the ''Mario'' and ''Zelda'' series, ''Ice Climber'' was not necessarily any kind of breakout hit, and was never chosen as a recipient for sequels or follow-ups. The game was also arguably overshadowed by ''Super Mario Bros.'' when both games were among the fairly extensive launch library for the Famicom's Western equivalent, the NES. Nonetheless, the game can be said to have a particularly significant background role in Nintendo's early release timeline because Morita described his work on the game as a "warm-up" before becoming a main programmer on ''Super Mario Bros.''

A little-known arcade version of ''Ice Climber'' entitled ''VS. Ice Climber'' was released in North America in the October of the previous year, which included some different stages; exclusive level hazards and enemies; and other mechanic changes, but otherwise, ''Ice Climber'' remained an isolated, historical relic from the early years of the Famicom/NES. Sixteen years later, however, Nintendo's ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' crossover fighting game series selectively picked its main characters, the {{SSBM|Ice Climbers}}, as a playable character choice representing an exclusively "retro" game series among a sea of Nintendo characters well-known in Nintendo's modern lineup of IPs. The appearance of the Ice Climbers in 2001's ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'' - which developer [[HAL Laboratory]] chose over other retro NES games such as ''Balloon Fight'' and {{uv|Kid Icarus}} - spurred on multiple rereleases of their game in a variety of formats, such as for the e-Reader, a Game Boy Advance cartridge, the Virtual Console featured on the Wii; the 3DS; and the Wii U, and as part of the Switch's online service. The arcade version has also seen a rerelease as part of the ''Arcade Archives'' series. Despite the Ice Climbers reappearing in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'' and ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'', though, there have never been any announced plans to produce some kind of modern-day follow-up.

In ''Ice Climber'', the player controls a child in a blue Inuit parka and wielding a mallet, Popo, and in a two-player cooperative mode, a second, female Ice Climber in a pink parka, Nana, becomes a simultaneous second player-character. The [[Ice Climbers]] are motivated into jumping up through vertical, platform-heavy "glacial mountain" stages when all of their vegetables are stolen by a giant [[condor]] that retreats to the top of each stage, and along the way, they must smash blocks of ice either by jumping into them from underneath or using their mallets. In addition to randomly forming ice stalactites that fall down from above, several varieties of enemies native to the mountains threaten to reduce an Ice Climber's limited stock of lives: a flying bird named the Nitpicker, an upright-walking [[Polar Bear]] that wears pink shorts and sunglasses, and a [[Topi]], which was famously changed from a seal to a rotund, yeti-like creature in the Western version, perhaps to avoid potential accusations of endorsing animal cruelty (in that the game depicts humans bludgeoning live seals for a point reward). Furthermore, the arcade version includes two enemies which were omitted from the NES release: the Bee, which wields a spear and flies across the screen, and the Butterfly, which replaces the Condor in some levels. The upper half of every stage is an enemy-free "bonus" stage in which the Ice Climbers have the opportunity to navigate a tricky set of platforms, collect vegetables for points, and potentially jump up to and grab the condor's talons (or the Butterfly's feet in some levels in ''Vs. Ice Climber'') at the mountain peak, all for a massive point bonus.

*[[File:IceClimbersIcon(SSBM).png|50px|right|link=Ice Climbers (SSBM)]][[File:PopoIcon(SSBM).png|32px|right|link=Ice Climbers (SSBM)]][[File:NanaIcon(SSBM).png|32px|right|link=Ice Climbers (SSBM)]]'''{{SSBM|Ice Climbers}}''' ([[Starter character|Starter]]): A pair of children clad in blue and pink Eskimo parkas, the Ice Climbers (respectively, Popo and Nana) live and sustain themselves on a variety of vegetables. When a giant condor steals the vegetables for itself and flees up to the peaks of various mountains, the pair grabs big mallets and hike up each mountain, smashing blocks of ice in their way and swatting Topis, Nitpickers, and Polar Bears before retrieving their stolen veggies and confronting the condor at the top. The Ice Climbers are the most unique fighter in ''Melee'' in that it is two copies of the same fighter mimicking each other's moves a fraction of a second apart, and the player controls the one "lead" Ice Climber while the second is computer controlled. At first considered gimmicky, over time professional players have learned to take advantage of this setup with various innovations such as [[desynching]], transforming the Ice Climbers into a combatant in the high tier.

*[[File:IceClimbersIcon(SSBB).png|50px|right|link=Ice Climbers (SSBB)]][[File:PopoIcon(SSBB).png|32px|right|link=Ice Climbers (SSBB)]][[File:NanaIcon(SSBB).png|32px|right|link=Ice Climbers (SSBB)]]'''{{SSBB|Ice Climbers}}''' ([[Starter character|Starter]]): The duo returns again after debuting in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''. Aside from an [[on-screen appearance]] where they drop in from the sky holding onto the [[Condor]] and a colossal new Final Smash named [[Iceberg]], nothing much seems to have changed about the mountain-climbing duo.

*[[File:Icon-summit.gif|right|link=Summit]]'''[[Summit]]''' ([[Starter stage|Starter]]): A stage that takes place at the summit of [[Icicle Mountain]]. As players fight, the chunk of the mountain they're on will break off of the mountain and slide down into the icy waters below. While floating in these waters, a polar bear like in the original game will appear and push the stage down to a level where players may drown if not careful. The fish from [[Balloon Fight]] also appears and may eat players, causing an instant [[KO]].{{clr}}

*15. [[File:IceClimbersIcon(SSBU).png|50px|right|link=Ice Climbers (SSBU)]][[File:PopoIcon(SSBU).png|32px|right|link=Ice Climbers (SSBU)]][[File:NanaIcon(SSBU).png|32px|right|link=Ice Climbers (SSBU)]]'''{{SSBU|Ice Climbers}}''' ([[Unlockable character|Unlockable]]): After an absence from ''Smash 4'', the duo finally returns as an unlockable fighter after being a starter in ''Melee'' and ''Brawl''. The duo received some major nerfs to their gameplay, most notably that the side character (depending on alternate costumes) can no longer react as the main character grabs. This effectively killed major chain grabs that the duo were known for.{{clr}}

*{{GameIcon|SSBB}}[[File:SummitIconSSBU.png|75px|right|link=Summit]]'''[[Summit]]''' ([[Starter stage|Starter]]): The icy mountain returns as a retro stage in ''Ultimate'' after being left out of ''Smash 4''.{{clr}}

**Oddly, the {{uv|Game & Watch}} universe has its own category despite only having two music tracks.