

1996 · Nihon Bussan · Adventure
Hyper Crazy Climber
PlayStation exclusive
Hyper Crazy Climber, a PlayStation game based on Nichibutsu's cult classic Crazy Climber, melds the climbing play mechanic of its arcade ancestor with the trappings of Mario-era 2D adventure titles. At the beginning of the game, players choose one of three characters: a human boy or girl, or an insect-like climber.
- Released
- 23 February 1996
- Platforms
- PlayStation 3PlayStation VitaPlayStationPlayStation Portable
- Genres
- Adventure
- Developers
- Nihon Bussan
- Publishers
- MonkeyPaw GamesHamster CorporationNihon Bussan
- Modes
- Single-player
- Perspective
- Side view
- Themes
- ActionSurvival
About
Crazy Climber is a 1980 action video game developed by Nichibutsu and Jorudan and published by Nichibutsu for arcades. In North America, the game was also released by Taito. Ports for the Arcadia 2001 and Atari 2600 were published in 1982, followed by the Famicom in 1986 and X68000 in 1993.
With the goal of scaling a series of skyscrapers using two joysticks (one controlling the left side of the character's body, the other the right) Crazy Climber was the first in a "climbing games" genre which includes Nintendo's 1981 Donkey Kong. The genre eventually became better known as platform games and is defined by jumping and traversal between platforms, neither of which are found in Crazy Climber.
Keywords
- gravity
- high score
- playstation network
- digital distribution
- psone classics
- playstation tv support
- backwards compatibility
Media
The articlegameplay, story, development, reception
Gameplay
The player assumes the role of a climber attempting to reach the top of four skyscrapers. The climber is controlled via two joysticks, which control his respective four limbs. Windows open and close to hinder the player's progress, so do obstacles such as falling objects. The game ends when the player is unable to catch onto windows and falls to his death.
Development
Crazy Climber was designed by Shigeki Fujiwara of Nichibutsu, who would eventually create the Bomberman series for Hudson Soft. The player character was intended to be followed by a wall of fire, but was rejected by Nichibutsu. Programmers at Jorudan, including Toshikazu Sato and Kyoji Oda, were handed storyboards of the game design to work on for 5 months, with little assistance beyond quality control. Frustrated by not receiving credit for their work, they added an easter egg where if the player enters their initials as "JORDAN.LTD", it immediately turns into "JORDAN" while giving the player 2 extra credits as an in-joke. Nichibutsu never found out before players discovered the easter-egg, and Jorudan had cut ties with them at that point.
Reception
In Japan, Crazy Climber was the third highest-grossing arcade game of 1980, just below Pac-Man and Galaxian. Crazy Climber was also Japan's eighth highest-grossing arcade game of 1981.
In North America, Crazy Climber was among the top ten highest-earning arcade games in the summer of 1982.
Legacy
In 1981, Bandai Electronics manufactured a hand-held VFD version of the game. A board game was released by Bandai in 1981, exclusively in Japan.
A 1985 sequel titled Crazy Climber '85 was produced, but it was put into storage by Nichibutsu in favor of Terra Cresta. This unreleased sequel was eventually included in on the PlayStation version of Nichibutsu Arcade Classics.
Releases by platformdates and regions as published
Games like this
72Sonic Wings Special
1996 · Android, Arcade +5
High score · Often paired
PlayStation exclusive39Clock Tower: Ghost Head
1998 · PlayStation, PlayStation 3 +1
Adventure · Often paired
PlayStation exclusive70Peak Performance
1997 · PlayStation, PlayStation 3 +1
Often paired
PlayStation exclusive78Clock Tower
1996 · PlayStation, PlayStation 3 +1
Adventure · Often paired
Timed PlayStation73Bust-A-Move 4
1998 · Arcade, Dreamcast +5
High score · Often paired
PlayStation exclusiveThe Firemen 2: Pete & Danny
1995 · PlayStation, PlayStation 3 +1
Adventure · Often paired
PlayStation exclusive70Poy Poy
1997 · PlayStation, PlayStation 3 +1
Often paired
PlayStation exclusive76Namco Museum Vol. 1
1995 · Bundle · PlayStation, PlayStation 3 +1
Often paired
Collections3 collections
Platform libraries
Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.
