Popeye (arcade game)

Popeye
Smashing Into Video! North American arcade flyer of Nintendo's Popeye arcade game.
Developer(s)	Nintendo R&D1
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Designer(s)	Genyo Takeda Shigeru Miyamoto
Platform(s)	Arcade (original) C64, NES, Magnavox Odyssey², ColecoVision, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit
Release	1983
Genre(s)	Platform game
Mode(s)	Single player, 2 players alternating
Cabinet	Standard, cocktail
CPU	Z80 (@ 4 MHz)
Sound	AY8910 (@ 2 MHz)
Display	Raster, 512 x 448 pixels (Horizontal), 288 colors

Popeye (ポパイ, Popai^?) is a 1983 arcade platform game developed and released by Nintendo based on the Popeye characters licensed from King Features Syndicate strips and animated shorts. Unlike most platform games, the player cannot jump; the only button is "punch." The game was licensed by Atari for exclusive release in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and featured in an Atari designed and manufactured cabinet. Some sources claim that Ikegami Tsushinki also did design work on Popeye.

The Popeye characters were originally going to be used in the game that later became Donkey Kong. However at that time on the development of the game, Nintendo could not get the licenses to use the characters.

Ben Falls holds the world record score of 3,023,060 earned on December 20, 2011, according to Twin Galaxies International Scoreboard.

The Family Computer (Famicom) saw an educational sequel on November 22, 1983: Popeye no Eigo Asobi, an English teaching game akin to the later Donkey Kong Jr. Math.

The object of the game is for Popeye to collect a certain number of items dropped by Olive Oyl, depending on the level — 24 hearts, 16 musical notes, or 24 letters in the word HELP — while avoiding the Sea Hag, Brutus and other dangers. The player can make Popeye walk back and forth and up and down stairs and ladders with a 4-way joystick. There is a punch button, but unlike similar games of the period, no jump button. Conversely, Brutus can jump down a level and also jump up to hit Popeye if he is directly above.