Ice Climber (NES, Famicom Disk System)

To do:
Cover differences between the cartridge and FDS releases

Ice Climber is a game about two children named Popo and Nana, who scale mountains by smashing through ice blocks and doing some increasingly difficult platforming. The game was a launch title in both America and Europe, and was even a pack-in game for early bundles in Scandinavia plus West Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. ¹

Unused Graphics#

A sprite of Popo/Nana aiming their hammer upward. In the game itself, the hammer can only ever be seen on its side or at tilted angles.

Regional Differences#

Japan	US / Europe
	Where'd its arms go?

In the Japanese version, the Topi enemy is a seal. The international releases changed it to a fuzzy yeti-like creature due to the taboo nature of clubbing seals.

The same change was made in Vs. Ice Climber and its Famicom Disk System port, as well as when the Topi reappeared in non-Japanese versions of Super Smash Bros. Melee. Interestingly, the "8-Bit Hero" microgame in WarioWare: Touched! uses the seal in all releases, possibly because the Ice Climber scene appears so briefly.

Version Differences#

Nintendo would release an enhanced version of Ice Climber for the Famicom Disk System in 1988. The FDS version is based on the arcade Vs. Ice Climber, and improvements like revamped music, stage selection, more mountains (raising the number to 48), and the Super Bonus Stage which you access each time you clear 8 mountains.

Famicom / NES	FDS
	It's animated!

References#

Console Variations ↩︎