PlayStation Basement #55 - Arcade Hits - Crazy Climber

This review was originally published on the Console Purist Facebook group on September 14th, 2019. A few corrections have been made.

Hello, and welcome to PlayStation Basement! PlayStation Basement is a weekly review of an odd or obscure game for the original PlayStation. Games are rated Good, Bad, or Neutral. Now, let’s go!

Today is Engineer’s Day in Mauritius and Romania, and it is tomorrow in India and Tanzania. For this relatively unknown holiday, I have a game about buildings – Crazy Climber. Crazy Climber is an arcade game by Nichibutsu released in 1980. It seems to be overall a cult classic, so it’s perfect for this series. Various PlayStation versions were released throughout the console’s life, but we’re just going to look at the title named Arcade Hits – Crazy Climber. In a twist of foolishness, I actually thought I had a different game, as there were three (sort of four) Crazy Climber games released on the PS1, all only in Japan. In 1996, there was Hyper Crazy Climber, an enhanced version of the original game with a map and various worlds. In 2000, there was Crazy Climber 2000, a 3D version as was seen with other titles such as Centipede, Robotron X, and Breakout. There was also Nichibutsu Arcade Classics, released in 1995, which included Crazy Climber, Moon Cresta, and Frisky Tom on one disc, each with their own enhanced version similar to Namco’s Arrange Mode versions of their games. Surprisingly, 2002 also saw these games, with their enhanced versions included, split up into their own releases. I have that version, Arcade Hits – Crazy Climber, and there’s no 3D here like I thought there would be.

The cover art is basic. It shows the blocky character from the game with his green jumpsuit and chestnut head on a black background with the title, the company, and the phrase “Arcade Hits”. It’s pretty bare-bones, but this was a budget release late in the original PlayStation era. Despite this basicness, I like the simplicity of the packaging overall; it reminds me of the NES Black Box series.

Graphically, Arcade Hits – Crazy Climber is what you probably expect from an 80s arcade game. The original game has some basic graphics with simple colors. There aren’t too many details here, just a weird guy climbing a building and the weird stuff he encounters (people dropping stuff, huge birds, and giant gorillas). The enhanced game, Crazy Climber ’85, ups the graphics to near 16-bit levels (perhaps even a late NES release) that include background buildings, additional people to drop stuff (including what appears to be a disappointing appearance of Japanese cartoon blackface) and some shading. Stuff looks more textured here, but it’s not a huge jump. The games also include some original arcade art from many Nichibutsu arcade titles including MagMax, Tube Panic, Bonpa, and Cop 01. Unlike the cool museum you could walk through in the earlier Namco Museum titles or other compilations that allow the user to zoom in and pan around the artwork, Arcade Hits – Crazy Climber only gives you a basic image to view (other than for the Crazy Climber instruction cards). It’s alright but nothing amazing, especially as the UI covers up some of the posters a bit. One last thing – there’s an amazing image of a guy playing a cocktail arcade cabinet for the title screen and as an extremely short intro movie before the game starts. It’s really something. Anyway, the game graphics look pretty good with classic cartoon designs (other than that blackface), and the extras are a small bonus.

The sound of Crazy Climber is, again, probably what you expect from a game of this vintage. You have almost very punchy and sound effects and short musical cues in both titles. If you’ve played Donkey Kong or Galaga you’ll know what I mean. I really like the squishy climbing sounds and the climbers yell. Beyond that, the musick for the main menu/title screen is great. It’s an upbeat rock song that’s quite catchy. Soundwise, this game does a good job.

Finally, let’s talk about the gameplay. If you’ve never played Crazy Climber, you will probably be confused on your first few tries; I sure was. Basically, the original arcade game had two joysticks, each controlling one of the maniacal acrobat’s arms. The player needs to raise one hand up, push down on the ledge above to climb up, and then do the same with the other hand. You can also move sideways or diagonally in a similar way. The original setup is replicated here with the four face buttons functioning as a second d-pad/joystick. The goal is to climb to the top, avoiding the strange obstacles in your path. These include the previously mentioned apes, people who drop things out of windows, and a big bird. There’s also some other junk that falls too. If you do dodge all of this stuff (which sometimes feels impossible) and make it to the top, there is a helicopter to grab for bonus points. Crazy Climber ’85 adds some new movement to the ape in which it climbs the tower after the player, new layouts for buildings, and adds some powerups like a hardhat that blocks some attacks.

Arcade Hits – Crazy Climber does have one weird flaw – it doesn’t seem to be playable with a DualShock Controller. I don’t mean that the analog or vibration functions don’t work; I don’t expect them too (especially as they aren’t listed on the package anywhere). What I mean is that the game would not recognize any buttons I pressed when I had a DualShock Controller in the port; I had to switch to one of the older controllers. Be wary of this if you want to track this game down.

My controller seemed to have developed some odd issues around this time as discovered with some other games. We were still moving stuff in our house around, so it was hard to find a different one at the time.

Now should you track this game down? Well, Arcade Hits – Crazy Climber is cheap even now, but I think you are better off getting the compilation with Moon Cresta and Frisky Tom. It costs a little more, but it’s a better deal. This release feels a bit extraneous. Also, though the Crazy Climber ’85 version is a nice upgrade, it’s nothing drastic. If you don’t like Crazy Climber, this isn’t going to change your mind. I think that old arcade games are fun, but I would like to also get Hyper Crazy Climber and Crazy Climber 2000 sometime soon. I’ll have to do some training to get better with this one, practicing moving diagonally and getting a rhythm going. It’s not an easy game, but I don’t think anyone will require an engineering degree to climb high enough, just some practice.

Arcade Hits – Crazy Climber receives a Neutral.

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