Topic: Popeye (NES)

When I was little, I was huge Popeye fan (among other cartoon characters). It was quite amusing watching the cartoons starring that clasic King Features Syndicate character, and the classic one eyed sailor got an arcade outing in 1982, which soon got a Nintendo port for the NES.

You know the story of Popeye, where Popeye and his opponent Bluto always vie for Olive Oyl's affection. This adaptation is no different. You take control of Popeye (of course, who else?) who has to collect the items Olive drops down; i.e. hearts in the first stage, musical notes in the second stage, and the letters H-E-L-P that form up a ladder to rescue her in the third stage. But, knowing the puffy armed sailor, it won't be easy; 'cause Bluto will try anything to stop you. This is a game I have such a huge fondness for, and seeing as it's one of those inifinity stage number type arcade games, it'll be a great pleasure to talk about it here. You can move, climb up or down ladders and/or stairs, and press the A button to punch. If you grab a can of spinach (which only appears once until you get it and will appear again in the next stage), you can turn the tables and try to punch out that bully for 3000 points before the invincibility time runs out. ^^ Bluto will try to attack you physically; either by running into you, throwing bottles (which you can either avoid or punch out), try to bump you from the floor below you, or try to push you down or ram you down from the floor above you. What I like about the game is how each different stage has a different way of scoring bonus points, and the way that after the third stage, the game loops and gets gradually more challenging. When I was little, I played this game a lot (on the Power Joy); and having played the game again after a long time, I still find it overly enjoyable. It's amazing to me how well this game has aged, even twenty seven years later. One of my top favorite NES games, and a great one at that!
[youtube:Qf3161wYpso]

Peace!
EDIT: If a certain object or two that is dropped from Olive falls in the water, you have several seconds to get it. But if you so fail to recuperate it, you lose a life. Just a minor detail I forgot to mention

I like this game. Only played the arcade version though.

I played the arcade version too (back when I still could find my MAME32 CD). It's got elements that weren't in the NES game, like the beginning animation, and that Ham character Wimby (or whatever he's called). It's just as good as the NES game, though for some reason the arcade original seems slightly harder than the NES game.

I had the Commodore 64 port of this, it was fantastic and that version had Wimpy in it too from memory

Wimpy, that was his name! Thanks, chunky_droid. He was an amusing character in the cartoons.

I have this on the Commodore 64 too.

I like this game a lot. Mostly played the Atari 2600 version, exquisitely horrible graphics and all, but still a great fun game.

Wow, that actually looks like a decent port. I'd much rather have the VCA version (honestly what exactly is Nintendo waiting for? Their arcade stuff should already be there!), but this looks like it would be good in a pinch.

Yeah, the NES port is pretty good. I got Popeye for the Colecovision, that version isn't too shabby either.

Agreed, the Coleco version is pretty good, as was the case with most of their arcade conversions

Whoever made that video I shared obviously doesn't realize that he can punch the vulture in the third stage, even without the spinach. Of course, it took me several years to figure it out.