Crazy Climber

 is a vertical scrolling arcade climbing game produced by Nichibutsu in 1980, and released in North America by Taito America. It was later released by UA Ltd. in 1982 for the Emerson Arcadia 2001 and other video game consoles. It is one of the most acclaimed games in Nichibutsu's library. A precursor to the platform game genre, "Crazy Climber" was the first climbing-themed video game—specifically, climbing buildings—before Nintendo's 1981 release "Donkey Kong".
The game was ported to the Atari 2600, Arcadia 2001, PC-8801 (released in December 1981), MZ-80B (released in January 1982), Famicom, Super Famicom and Sharp X68000. A sequel, "Crazy Climber 2", was released for arcades in 1988.
Description.
The player assumes the role of a climber attempting to reach the top of four skyscrapers. The climber is controlled via two joysticks.
Obstacles.
Some of these dangers appear at every level of the game; others make appearances only in later stages. Should the climber succumb to any one of these dangers, a new climber takes his place at the exact point where he fell; the last major danger is eliminated.
One ally the climber has is a pink "Lucky Balloon"; if he is able to grab it, the climber is transported up 8 stories to a window. The window onto which it drops the climber may be about to close. If the window that the climber is dropped onto is fully closed, the balloon pauses there until the window opens up again. The player does not actually earn bonus points for catching the balloon, but he is awarded the normal 'step value' for each of the eight floors that he passes while holding the balloon.
If the climber is able to ascend to the top of a skyscraper and grabs the runner of a waiting helicopter, he earns a bonus and is transported to another skyscraper, which presents more dangers than the past. The helicopter only waits about 30 seconds before flying off.
If the player completes all four skyscrapers, he is taken back to the first skyscraper and the game restarts from the beginning, but the player keeps his score.
The difficulty level of any game was modified to take into account the skill of previous players. Hence if a player pushed the high score up to 250,000 any novice player following would get thoroughly wiped out for several games, due to the increased difficulty level, and have to play until it dropped back down.
Musical cues used throughout the game include "Baby Elephant Walk", "The Pink Panther Theme", and "The Entertainer".
If the climber is not moved for several seconds, a voice says "Go for it!"
The Family Computer version had a special controller that could be used with it.
Reception.
In Japan, "Crazy Climber" was the third highest-grossing arcade game of 1980, just below "Pac-Man" and "Galaxian". "Crazy Climber" was also Japan's eighth highest-grossing arcade game of 1981.
In North America, "Crazy Climber" was among the top ten highest-earning arcade games in the summer of 1982.