'Popeye' for Atari 8-bit Computers Available Now

popeye-titlePopeye was first released in 1982 by Nintendo for Arcade machines. Later, it was one of the first titles released for Nintendos’s home console ‘Nintendo Entertainment System’.

It is a fixed-screen platform game, where Popeye has to catch items dropped by Olive Oil. The item varies depending on the level, starting with hearts, followed by musical notes and letters. After the hero catches a certain amount of items, he can go to the next level.

As usual, it is not a breeze to catch Olive’s lovely items. Popeye has to avoid being hit by his enemies (Brutus, Sea Sag) directly or by objects thrown by them.
popeye2The action button makes Popeye to punch, which can be used to destroy the objects that comes on his way, as well as to knock out a spinach can, which will give him super power for a while. You cannot hit the enemies directly, though.

This game is a conversion from the Atari 5200 for the Atari 8-bits computers, and as the original, it very well done, with a good background music and graphics. The colours are not exactly the same, but having Brutus and Olive Oil ginger doesn’t hurt its quality at all. The controllers are a little hard when using an emulator keyboard – It is hard to find the exact point where you can go up or down the stairs. I imagine playing with a joystick is the way to go here.

The game has three levels, and the gameplay still holds up very well even after 30 years. Recommended!

Download: AtariAge
Popeye 8-Bit Forum Thread: http://atariage.com/forums/
Popeye Atari 5200 Forum Thread: http://atariage.com/forums/
Emulator: http://www.virtualdub.org/altirra.html

Author: Paulo Garcia

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