Popeye

Popeye
Developer	Nintendo R&D1
Publisher	Nintendo
System	Arcade, NES, Various others
Release Date	Arcade JP 1982 US 1982 EU 1982 NES JP July 15, 1983 US June 1986 EU October 1, 1986

Popeye is a classic arcade game created by Nintendo in 1981. Donkey Kong actually started out as Popeye, but was changed when Nintendo lost the license to use Popeye characters. After Donkey Kong's success, they made a new game based on Popeye.

Story

Popeye and Bluto are both in love with Olive Oyl. Popeye must gather gifts to prove his love for Olive Oyl.

Gameplay

In order to win, the player must gather a certain amount of an object on the stage (24 hearts, 16 musical notes, the letters in the word "Help", ect.). The player can walk, climb ladders, and punch, but is unable to jump.

The player must also avoid the enemies. Bluto runs around trying to clobber the player. The Sea Hag will appear at the edges of the screen and throws bottles and skulls at the player. In every level, there is a can of spinach the player can use to become temporarily invincible.

Olive Oyl, Swee' Pea, and Wimpy also appear in the game, but are only there as decoration.

Legacy

The background of Popeye's first stage can be heard in the modern version of Octopus in Game and Watch Gallery and Game and Watch Gallery 4.

Ports and Remakes

• Popeye was ported to the NES in 1983, making it one of the first games released for the system.
• In the same year, it was also ported to the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari XL, Colecovision, and Intellivision by Parker Brothers.
• In 1984, Parker Brothers ported Popeye to the Commodore 64.

Sequels

Though no exactly a sequel, Nintendo did make another Popeye game. In the tradition of Donkey Kong Jr. Math, Popeye no Eigo Asobi was very similar to the original game, but tried to teach players English.