"Popeye" - NES/Famicom

Moving into day two, we still have some enthusiasm left. I'm ready to write another review. I don't hate NES games yet or need a break from our relationship, which is good since I've only reviewed two games.

I'm having fun. Are you having fun? Good.

----- Introduction -----

Oh man, another game I hated as a kid. And that's saying a lot because I loved Popeye (enough to obtain a few collections of his cartoons and watch them a few times, as well as catching it on Boomerang at every opportunity).

First of all, Popeye is another one of these instant-release arcade ports for the Famicom that came out in Japan with the system. It's the last of the three (the other two being Donkey Kong, and Donkey Kong Jr.). I used to think it was the worst, but we'll see how I feel about it now. More important than talking about the game's history in this case, I think, is talking about the cartoon.

Let me say this in the most biased way possible: the 1930s Fleischer Studio Popeye cartoons are some of the best cartoons ever made. They feature the gradual change of Popeye from an ugly guy who likes to fight people to an ugly guy who likes to fight mean people, for vigilante justice. A lot of the cartoons are hilarious, sometimes unintentionally, and often completely intentionally. They were ahead of their time in a lot of ways even if they were successful then, and let's just be honest, writing and performing your own theme song and dance whenever you show up on the scene is a valuable behavior that we should all imitate as often as possible.

Popeye the Swag-wailor Man remains a personal chart-topper.

Unfortunately it all went downhill (in my humble opinion) when the cartoons went from being mostly black-and-white "Felix the Cat"-style cartoons (the above is an exception) to colorful "Looney Tunes"-style cartoons. Some people like those ones better but they're wrong. Old-school Popeye was way cooler.

Anyway, how about we play that game.

----- Playthrough -----

Popeye's arcade game outing features the man himself running around, collecting hearts, music notes, and letters falling from his love Olive Oyl, while avoiding the fat 'n' mean Brutus (traditionally Bluto, but Brutus after issues arose with acquiring the name during a studio change), until eventually he collects enough and she loves him enough to show him the mercy of sending him to the next stage.

LET THE POWER OF MY LOVE COMPEL YOU TO PUSH FORWARDS, POPEYE!

There are three levels to run around collecting falling stuff in, and Brutus makes a fairly compelling chasing enemy. He's not really that smart, but he does have a few tricks up his sleeve. He'll occasionally jump down a floor to attack you, or jump and punch upwards to the floor above. If you stand on the same level as him, sometimes he'll throw some bottles at you, which you can punch for points.

He has a lot of empty bottles because of his loneliness-induced alcoholism. Popeye always wins, boys.

If you watched the linked cartoon at the beginning of the post, you'll catch that the last stage appears to be (maybe it's not) a reference to one of my favorites, the "Popeye Meets Sindbad" cartoon. It might not be, but I mean there's a ship, and a bird. And Popeye. It seems like a reference to me.

That's basically how he defeated the giant bird in the cartoon, too.

Once you beat a run of the game it starts over at level 1, as you might suspect, except now there's a witch dropping skulls on you for some reason. I don't know who she is or why she doesn't like Popeye, but she's a woman so he can't just punch her lights out, so you have to deal with it.

She may also be an eggplant-human-hybrid.

----- Review -----

Intuitive Design: Good

How easy is it to intuitively understand the game?

As with most arcade games, it's pretty easy to pick up and play. It's immediately obvious that you can walk left and right, go up and down stairs, and the objective seems clear even for a child.

Satisfaction: Good

How rewarding does playing the game feel?

Getting the spinach and punching Brutus out is pretty fun. Collecting the falling things is pretty instantly rewarding and gives satisfying boodly-doos. Punching the bottles, birds, and skulls is also fun. Beating a level feels like a good challenge.

Game Depth: Shallow

How deep is the gameplay?

These are still arcade ports so this probably won't change for awhile. There are three levels, and Popeye can't really do that much in the game world. There are a few surprises (you can knock a bucket on Brutus' head, for instance), but mostly the game's pretty predictable and offers little replayability aside from score running.

Sound Design: Minimal, Fine

How's the sound?

Popeye has a little more by way of music and sound than the Donkey Kong games reviewed so far, but it's still pretty minimal. A basic loop of some bass notes plays constantly, with bleep-bloops playing on various actions. There is a level win jingle which is fun.

Graphics: Fine

How's it look?

The renderings of the characters vary from cute and good, to pretty bad. Olive Oyl and Brutus look pretty good, but Popeye himself is some super-deformed monster with an ugly grimace on his face. I think the one pixel to the side is supposed to be his pipe, but it's unclear. Overall though, it's easy to see what you're doing and the graphics don't really get in the way, so there's little to complain about.

He looks like he needs
to use the bathroom, mostly.

Personal Chord: No

Does the game have that undefinable "something" for me?

I like it, it's fun, but it does not have t-shirt appeal. I like Popeye, but the things I like about Popeye don't really translate well into game form. The 1930s cartoons strike a personal chord, but the game does not.

Play or Cray: Play

Should you waste your precious time?

Popeye is fun. Go ahead and play it. Like the previous games reviewed though, expect to play for a few loops and be ready to move on.

-----