Ice Climbers get a bad rap. Maybe it's their questionable jumping mechanics. Maybe it's cuz they kicked everyone's ass in Super Smash Bros Brawl. Maybe because they got nerfed in Smash Ultimate. For the sake of time let's focus on their NES title.

The Ice Climbers were controversial even before the game made it's blackbox debut in 1985. The Japanese thought it would be fun to hit seals over the head with hammers, but Nintendo of America didn't want to offend leftists so they changed them to Yetis or sheep or whatever.

The game was actually released as an arcade title and contains more levels and improved gameplay. There are score multipliers, extra music, and you can choose which mountains you want to play. Complete 8 mountains to move on the 2nd batch of levels. The stages aren't in order of difficulty, so you need to know which mountains to climb and which to skip.

Try the two player if you get a hot minutel. It's really fun to play with your girlfriend and struggle to make it to the top only to realize you forgot to hit record. There is a free version of Ice Climber for Nintendo online subscribers, but if you want the definitive Ice Climber experience with all the bells and whistles you need to check out the Arcade Archives ediiton of Ice Climber (vs.) on the Nintendo eShop now.