Popeye 2 Longplay (C64) [50 FPS]
87Developed by Bizarre Developments and published by Alternative Software in 1991.
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I have a lasting memory from my childhood with this game. I remember the game crashed after the second level and I must have worked my way through the entire stock of C64 tapes that the shop had; I must have had 4 separate tapes and they all did the same, so I never did see the rest of the game.
That was 1991...
The year is 2013 and I fire up the tape image of Popeye 2 to do this longplay. I get as far as level 3 and.......it crashes, exactly the same as my real tapes. At least this cleared up the issue that there must have been wrong with the master tape that they used to duplicate all of the tapes.
So...2013...I downloaded the disk version of the game and was very pleased to find out that this version was complete and worked, so I was finally able to finish the game. The bad news is that the game it really wasn't worth the 20 years wait to finish it.
The objective on each stage is to climb to the top of the level through multiple screens and rescue Olive Oyl from the dastardly Bluto; pretty simple stuff.
There are obstacles and hazards on each screen, from falling weights to bombs that you must defuse. Much of the games difficulty and frustration comes from the fact that things on one screen are still functioning even when you flick to another screen. If a bomb fuse sparks into life on the screen Popeye is currently on, it will explode even if you manage to enter a different screen; if it's lit, you must put it out.
A related frustration are objects like barrels, anvils and weights that fall vertically from the top of the screen. You have no warning where they will appear and they drop with such ferocious speed that you'll have no time to avoid them if they appear over head. This is compounded by the number of times I would climb a ladder and the screen would flick to reveal a barrel about to crush Popeye at the top of the ladder.
On certain screens, a Goon will rise from behind a crate/barrel and Popeye must defeat it to progress. In order to fight the Goon, Popeye must grab a can of spinach that flies up from the bottom of the screen. The spinach effect lasts a very short time (shown by the bicep indicator in the bottom left) and you must back off and collect another can before re-engaging the Goon. This process is tiresome enough, but some of the screens are designed so that you can't collect the spinach easily and by the time you do grab it and get up to fight the Goon, the spinach effect has already worn off. The fights with Bluto at the end of each level function in exactly the same way.
The game looks crap, sounds crap and has a horrible multi-load every 2 levels (4 levels in total). The final insult is after completing the 4th level is that there is a further multi-load just to see the final end screen, accompanied by a ropey-sounding Popeye theme tune.
If nothing else, I can finally say that I completed the game and have seen the ending, although playing it is an hour of my life that I'll never get back.
#retrogaming