C&VG


Popeye
By Parker Brothers
Coleco Vision Games System

 
Published in Computer & Video Games #27

Popeye

OK, you landlubbers, clap your eyes on this review all about my lady love - Olive, that no good slob Brutus and yours truly Ordinary Seaman Popeye.

First thing I notice is me darlin Olive shouting for help at the top of the stairs - where this big bully Brutus is trying to keep her prisoner. So I reaches for me spinach but that snivelling Sea Hag pal of Brutus keeps movin' it.

You can help Popeye save Olive in this latest home version of Nintendo's hit arcade game.

Popeye

To complete the first screen Popeye has to catch all the hearts that Olive is throwing down - without letting Brutus catch him.

If you manage to grab your spinach, you can punch Brutus into the middle of next week but - take care as the green stuff is in short supply.

When all the hearts have been caught screen two appears with Olive trapped at the top of a building. This time she is showering her true love with musical notes. Run up and down the ladders and along the platforms to catch them in the shortest time.

To make things even more difficult there is an ugly green monster - affectionately known as the Sea Hag - who keeps lobbing empty beer bottles at you. If one of these makes contact it's curtains for you and Brutus for Olice so you have to dodge 'em or punch 'em to stay in the game.

Screen three's going to take all the spinach our hero can get an, as the advertisements for the game say, "I doesn't suggest ya tries it if ya eats yer spinach in a quiche". This is the toughest challenge in the game - with moving platforms, several flying beer bottles and a big black bird which can knock you off the platforms.

To rescue Olive on this final screen you have to catch the letters making up her desperate message - Help.

This is a most accurate copy of the amusing arcade which I would place in the top ten games available for Colecovision.

With Q-bert and new Popeye is looks as if Parker Brothers are really going to excel themselves on the Colecovision in a way they have not so far achieved on the other machines. £29.95 from Parker stockists.

Verdict

Cutest game for Colecovision so far.