Opening the Vault on a 42-Year-Old Retro Game: Ice Climber, the Bird-Grabbing, Hammer-Toting Eskimo Adventure of the '90s.

 

Looking back at the Famicom era, most of us had a long list of personal favorites. However, only a handful of titles allowed you to play alongside friends or siblings simultaneously—without the usual fighting over the controller that ended in a tearful complaint to your parents.

One of those gems is Ice Climber, the hammer-wielding Eskimo game famous for its bird-grabbing finale. In this game, players take control of the blue and pink Eskimos, racing to smash through layers of ice blocks to reach the summit. Whether you were competing to grab the condor at the top or playing solo to test your survival skills, this is a title every '90s kid knows by heart.

With January 30, 2026, marking the 42nd anniversary of its release, let’s take a trip down memory lane and revisit the story behind this classic

Ice Climber is a classic platformer released by Nintendo in 1985 (with the arcade version debuting in late 1984). While it was released for both arcades and the Famicom console, most players likely remember it from those legendary '10,000-in-1' multicarts rather than a standalone cartridge.

The game follows the protagonists, Popo and Nana, as they scale 32 vertical levels of ice-covered mountains to reclaim stolen vegetables from a giant condor. In single-player mode, you control Popo, a young boy in a parka who uses his hammer to smash through ice blocks and defend himself from enemies like seals and birds. Interestingly, the seals have a unique mechanic: they can push new ice blocks to repair the holes you've just smashed!

The core fun of the game lies in its two-stage level design. The first stage requires you to use your hammer to break through ceilings, creating a path to jump upward. This demands precise timing and constant vigilance against enemies when playing solo. Once you reach the second stage (the bonus level), the challenge ramps up—you no longer need to smash bricks, but the platforming becomes much more demanding.

However, the real excitement begins in the 2-player simultaneous mode. Both players must race to the top as quickly as possible, because the screen scrolls upward with the leader. If you’re too slow and get left behind at the bottom of the screen, it results in a lost life. This led to various playstyles: some players would agree to cooperate during the first half, only to turn on each other in the second half. Since only one person can grab the condor at the very end, it becomes a frantic competition—a true highlight of the gaming experience in that era

For those looking to relive the past, there’s no need to waste time hunting down original Famicom consoles and cartridges (plus, good luck finding a modern TV with the right ports to plug it in!). All you need is a Nintendo Switch—and if you don’t have one yet, go get one! By subscribing to Nintendo Switch Online, you can jump right back into the action and play with your friends to recapture those old memories.

Ultimately, if anyone wonders why we still play these ancient games, it’s not just because of the gameplay—it’s about revisiting the memories of who we were back then