Popeye (revision D)| 1982 |
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Developer: Nintendo
Controls/Input Device: Control(joy4way), Buttons(1)
Number of Players: 2
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Developer: Nintendo
Controls/Input Device: Control(joy4way), Buttons(1)
Number of Players: 2
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SoundMix: Mono
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Popeye (revision D) VGMuseum Game Endings
Popeye (revision D) on CAESAR
Popeye (revision D) high score and replay at MARP
Popeye (revision D) on datObase
URL: Rules:
URL: Hints:
URL: Cheats:
URL: Reviews:
Popeye (revision D) VGMuseum Game Endings
Popeye (revision D) on CAESAR
Popeye (revision D) high score and replay at MARP
Popeye (revision D) on datObase
Mameinfo.dat entry:
0.37b10 [Yochizo]
WIP:
- 0.147u2: hap fixed clone Omega Fighter Special. The game fails to boot or finish post. After showing bad rom errors, the game resets.
- 0.147u1: Fixed maincpu rom loading.
- 0.122u7: Fixed gfx1/2/3/4/5 rom loading.
- 0.89u3: Changed Z80 CPU2 clock speed to 5MHz.
- 0.37b10: Yochizo added 'Omega Fighter' (UPL 1989) and clone Omega Fighter Special.
- 21st November 2000: Yochizo fixed some graphics bugs in the Omega Fighter / Atomic Robo-kid driver.
- 8th November 2000: Yochizo sent in a driver for Omega Fighter and Atomic Robo-kid.
- 25th April 1999: Dumped Omega Fighter Special.
LEVELS: 8 (restarts once)
Other Emulators:
* FB Alpha
* JFF
* Raine
Recommended Games (Star Force):
Catacomb
Vega
Espial
Night Star (DECO Cassette)
Nova 2001
Star Jacker
Stunt Air
Zodiack
Star Force
Alpha Mission / ASO
Alpha Mission II / ASO II
Astro Warrior (Mega-Tech)
Mission 660
Rafflesia
S.R.D. Mission
Truxton / Tatsujin
Tatsujin (Tourvision PCE bootleg)
Truxton II / Tatsujin Oh
Blast Off
Blazing Lazers
GunHed (Tourvision PCE bootleg)
The Next Space
Omega Fighter
Super Star Soldier (Tourvision PCE bootleg)
Lethal Thunder
Pollux
Strike Gunner S.T.G
Vimana
Explosive Breaker
Final Star Force
Galmedes
Gunlock
GunNail
Nebulas Ray
Super-X
Gekirindan
Viper Phase 1
Fever SOS
Mars Matrix: Hyper Solid Shooting
Romset: 2016 kb / 8 files / 457.8 zip
Credits Mameinfo and Mametesters Project Robert J. Rabgno et al.
0.37b10 [Yochizo]
WIP:
- 0.147u2: hap fixed clone Omega Fighter Special. The game fails to boot or finish post. After showing bad rom errors, the game resets.
- 0.147u1: Fixed maincpu rom loading.
- 0.122u7: Fixed gfx1/2/3/4/5 rom loading.
- 0.89u3: Changed Z80 CPU2 clock speed to 5MHz.
- 0.37b10: Yochizo added 'Omega Fighter' (UPL 1989) and clone Omega Fighter Special.
- 21st November 2000: Yochizo fixed some graphics bugs in the Omega Fighter / Atomic Robo-kid driver.
- 8th November 2000: Yochizo sent in a driver for Omega Fighter and Atomic Robo-kid.
- 25th April 1999: Dumped Omega Fighter Special.
LEVELS: 8 (restarts once)
Other Emulators:
* FB Alpha
* JFF
* Raine
Recommended Games (Star Force):
Catacomb
Vega
Espial
Night Star (DECO Cassette)
Nova 2001
Star Jacker
Stunt Air
Zodiack
Star Force
Alpha Mission / ASO
Alpha Mission II / ASO II
Astro Warrior (Mega-Tech)
Mission 660
Rafflesia
S.R.D. Mission
Truxton / Tatsujin
Tatsujin (Tourvision PCE bootleg)
Truxton II / Tatsujin Oh
Blast Off
Blazing Lazers
GunHed (Tourvision PCE bootleg)
The Next Space
Omega Fighter
Super Star Soldier (Tourvision PCE bootleg)
Lethal Thunder
Pollux
Strike Gunner S.T.G
Vimana
Explosive Breaker
Final Star Force
Galmedes
Gunlock
GunNail
Nebulas Ray
Super-X
Gekirindan
Viper Phase 1
Fever SOS
Mars Matrix: Hyper Solid Shooting
Romset: 2016 kb / 8 files / 457.8 zip
Credits Mameinfo and Mametesters Project Robert J. Rabgno et al.
History.dat entry:
Popeye (c) 1982 Nintendo.
Popeye is a superb and demanding platform game featuring characters from the famous King Features Syndicate cartoon show of the same name. The aim of the game is to rescue Popeye's girlfriend, Olive Oyl. This is achieved by catching a set number of objects thrown down by Olive from the top of the screen; such as hearts, letters and musical notes. Popeye is constantly pursued in his quest by love rival, Brutus (originally known as Bluto). Popeye must either run away from Brutus or grab some spinach and punch him off the screen (he will, of course, return).
Should any of Olive Oyl's items fail to be caught, they will fall into the water at the bottom of the screen. Popeye will then have only a few seconds to retrieve the object or a life is lost. Several other Popeye characters also make an appearance in the game; namely Wimpy, Swee'Pea, the Sea Hag, and her vulture Bernard. The game's three levels are the dock scene, the street scene and the shipboard scene. These repeat with increasing difficulty.
- TECHNICAL -
Most Popeye machines were upright cabinets, but cocktails were also available. The upright was in the standard Nintendo cabinet, the same one used in "Donkey Kong", "Donkey Kong Jr.", "Radar Scope", "Donkey Kong 3", and "Sky Skipper". Almost all other Nintendo titles used alternate versions of this same cabinet. "Mario Bros." was wider, "Punch-Out!!" was taller, etc., but they were still nearly identical. A dedicated Popeye machine will be blue, although you will sometimes see them in different colors (non-blue Popeyes are conversion cabinets).
Model No. TPP2-UP
Main CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 4 Mhz)
Sound Chips : General Instrument AY8910 (@ 2 Mhz)
Players : 2
Control : 4-way joystick
Buttons : 1 (PUNCH)
- TRIVIA -
Popeye was released in December 1982 in Japan.
Licensed to Atari for distribution in Ireland and Great Britain.
* Popeye From Strip To Screen : Popeye the Sailor, one of the most enduring characters in animation history, began not in motion pictures but in E.C. 'Elzie' Segar's 'Thimble Theater' comic strip. Born in Illinois, Segar began cartooning in Chicago in 1914. Graduating to his own strip for the Chicago American, Segar was then hired in 1919 by Hearst's New York Evening Journal to create the syndicated 'Thimble Theater' strip. 'Thimble Theater' depicted the adventures of Ham Gravy, his girlfriend Olive Oyl and her brother Castor. The venture was a success, expanding to an additional Sunday color page in 1924. Segar's comic strip used complex, rambling and frequently eerie narratives that attracted a devoted following, but it lacked strong central characters. In the 'Thimble Theater' of January 17, 1929, Ham and Castor decided to hire a crew to sail in search of the legendary Whiffle Hen. Walking up to a grizzled one-eyed mariner on a dock, Castor asked him, "Are you a sailor?" "`Ja think I'm a cowboy?" came the reply, introducing Popeye to readers.
* Move Over, Ham Gravy : Over a period of months, Popeye developed from a supporting character to the central figure in the hunt for the Whiffle Hen. When Segar finally brought the narrative to a close and tried to retire the sailor, outraged fans contacted the Hearst syndicate demanding more adventures with Popeye. Segar obliged them : the sailor replaced Ham as Olive's love interest, Castor Oyl was reduced to infrequent appearances, and the strip was renamed 'Thimble Theater, Starring Popeye'.
The early 1930s was a period of keen competition among American animation studios for market share. Central to the business strategy of most studios was the development of cartoon 'stars' whose popularity would ensure bookings by major theater chains. Disney followed the success of Mickey Mouse by developing new characters like Donald Duck and Goofy up from supporting roles in Mickey Mouse cartoons. Similar strategies were tried at Warner Bros., where Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck evolved from secondary roles in films starring other animated characters. One of the earliest examples of this took place at the Fleischer Studios, Inc. in New York, where the unpopular starring canine character Bimbo was matched up with a girlfriend in Dizzy Dishes (1930). The girlfriend eventually developed into Betty Boop, the studio's major character. With the popularity of Betty Boop at a peak in 1932, brothers Max and Dave Fleischer decided to introduce a new film series which would include another character to grow into a star. Fleischer rival Van Beuren Corporation had already signed an agreement to bring Otto Soglow's strip 'The Little King' to the screen. Max Fleischer, who was a great fan of Segar's strip, approached Hearst's King Features Syndicate for the right to use Popeye. The two companies signed an agreement on November 17, 1932.
* Betty introduces Popeye to the Big Screen : The production of the first Popeye film took place in secrecy. Veteran animator Roland Crandall was given space apart from the rest of the studio. There, he single-handedly animated the entire cartoon, aided only by the inclusion of some Shamus Culhane animation recycled from the earlier Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle (1932). The results were so satisfying that even before the film was released, the Fleischers and King Features amended the agreement granting the studio the right to produce and release animated cartoons featuring Popeye for a five year period.
Crandall's film 'Betty Boop Presents Popeye The Sailor' opened in the summer of 1933 as part of the 'Betty Boop' series. After a prologue in which newspapers herald the sailor's film debut, and Popeye sings 'I'm Popeye the Sailor Man', the film featured what was to be the standard 'Popeye' series plot, re-enacted with variations by the Fleischers for the next decade. Olive waits for Popeye to disembark from his ship at the dock. Bluto follows the couple to a fairground, where the two sailors compete for Olive's attentions through feats of strength. Bluto abducts Olive and ties her to a train track. As the locomotive approaches, Popeye and Bluto fight. Popeye defeats Bluto, and, through the magical powers of spinach, is able to stop the train and save Olive Oyl. Here, we see the essential difference between the Segar and Fleischer sense of narrative. Segar reveled in picaresque plots that coursed in unexpected directions for up to two years, exploring every novel twist and nuance of narrative. In anticipation of post-modernism, the very concept of plot was old-fashioned to the Fleischers. Hackneyed and ritualized story conventions were torn apart, recombined in odd juxtapositions, and satirized in endless variations.
The Fleischer Popeye cartoons were an instant success. "It might have been just a fluke, a lucky break, that the Segar characters fit the Fleischer style so well", recalls former Popeye animator Myron Waldman. "The animation of Olive Oyl in the mid-1930s was perfect. It fit her. The character had no elbows and the most prominent knees. When she spoke, the voice fit too. This was character. That's what made her so good".
* Step Aside, Mickey : Segar's characters were not the only things consistent with the Fleischer style. Both Segar and the Fleischer staff shared a fondness for a poetically improvisational language. When Popeye's original voice artist, William 'Red Pepper Sam' Costello, left after the first few pictures, he was replaced by a studio in-betweener named Jack Mercer. Much of the dialogs of the Popeye cartoons was post-synched with little attention to synchronized mouth action. Mercer, Mae Questel (Olive's voice, except for the 1938-41 period, when Margie Hines was the voice artist) and William Penell or Gus Wickie, who voiced Bluto, often ad-libbed dialogs during recording sessions, particularly Popeye's 'asides' and pun-filled conversations. Added to this was a progressive softening and increased complexity of Popeye's character, paralleling changes in the strip. Popeye cartoons became the Fleischers' leading attraction. By 1938, Popeye replaced Mickey Mouse as the most popular cartoon character in America.
The Fleischers rummaged through the Segar strip for supporting characters. Bluto, the animated series' antagonist, was a minor character in the Segar strip, appearing only in 1933's 'The Eighth Sea'. Longer-lived strip characters that joined Popeye on the screen included hamburger maven J. Wellington Wimpy, Swee'Pea, Eugene the Jeep and Poopdeck Pappy. While in the comic strip, Popeye gained his great strength from rubbing the Whiffle Hen, the Fleischers added the gimmick of Popeye's power being largely dependent on the ingestion of spinach. Farmers in America's self-styled 'spinach capital' of Crystal City, Texas set up a statue of Popeye in gratitude for the publicity.
As early as 1935, the Fleischers sought backing for a feature-length animated film from their distributor Paramount. Paramount refused to risk money on a feature. In an attempt to persuade the company that longer animated films could be profitable, Max Fleischer initiated the production of three two-reel color 'specials' starring Popeye, beginning with 'Popeye The Sailor Meets Sinbad The Sailor' (1936). Although these 'specials' were often billed over their accompanying feature, Paramount still refused to back the animated feature.
Conditions changed after the success of Disney's 'Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs' (1937) and the Fleischers received money for the eighty minute Gulliver's Travels. According to some sources, the film was originally to have Popeye in the role of Gulliver, but the idea was scrapped early in the planning stages. Perhaps this was unwise. According to internal Paramount correspondence, the Popeye shorts were far more profitable to Paramount than Disney's films were to his distributor, RKO. The sailor's box-office appeal might have helped the Fleischer features. Gulliver's Travels (1938) and the company's next feature, Mr. Bug Goes To Town (1941), bombed, leading to the failure of Fleischer Studios, Inc.
* Post-Fleischer Popeye : The successor company, Famous Studios, continued with the production of Popeye cartoons. Many of these were remakes of earlier Fleischer films. Much of the supporting cast of the Fleischer versions were replaced by new characters, such as identical nephews Pip-Eye, Peep-Eye, Poop-Eye and Pup-Eye. A redesign of the major characters included white U.S. Navy uniforms for Bluto and Popeye (in keeping with their war-time service in the armed forces), and more comely fashions for Olive. Upgraded technology, including the introduction of color to the series in 1943 with Her Honor The Mare and 3-D in Popeye The Ace Of Space (1953), tried to rejuvenate the series. None of these strategies were able to breathe much life into the films. Spooky Swabs (1957) brought theatrical release of Popeye films to a close.
The success of the black and white Popeye cartoons on television in the 1950s inspired several revivals of the series by such talents as Gene Deitch, John Halas and Joy Batchelor, Jack Kinney, and Hanna-Barbera. Hampered by limited budgets and rushed production schedules, none of these came close to the Fleischer or Famous theatrical versions. The less said about Robert Altman's live-action feature with Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall as Popeye and Olive Oyl, the better. What has endured are the original qualities of the Segar and Fleischer works. In fact, Segar's strips have been reissued by Nostalgia Press and the Smithsonian Press. The earlier Fleischer films, which shared the shabby urban or surreal exotic locations and working-class orientation of the Segar originals, retain a vitality and charm that still appeal to a large group of devoted fans today.
* Bluto/Brutus issue : Bluto's name was changed to Brutus after the theatrical Popeye cartoon series went out of production in 1957. It was wrongly believed that Paramount Pictures, distributors of the Fleisher Studios cartoon, owned the rights to the name Bluto. (King Features owned the name all along as Bluto had been originally created for the comic strip.) However, with poor research, they couldn't realize this, and renamed him Brutus to avoid copyright problems. "Brutus" appeared in the 1960-1962 Popeye television cartoons (with his physical appearance changed, making him obese rather than muscular), but he is again "Bluto" (and back to his original muscular physique) in the 1978 Hanna-Barbera Popeye series and the 1980 live-action Popeye movie, as well as the 1987 Popeye and Son series also by Hanna-Barbera. The character was named Bluto in the 2004 movie "Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy". Nintendo used the name "Brutus" for the character in this arcade game.
- UPDATES -
REVISION D (used on most Popeye machines) :
* First level has a black background.
* Default high score is 32,600.
* First nickname on the default high-score table is GET.
* Spinach can only be used once per level, and it is not restored after you lose a life.
* The ladder at the center of the first level can only be used to go down.
* Extra Life dip-switch can be set at 40,000, 60,000, 80,000, or None. The default is 40,000, meaning you get an extra life at 40,000 points.
REVISION F (designed especially for novice players) :
* First level has a colored background.
* Default high-score is smaller than on Revision D : 25,600.
* First nickname on the default high-score table is KAC.
* Spinach is restored after you lose a life.
* The ladder at the center of the first level can be used to go up or down.
* Extra Life dip-switch can be set at 20,000, 30,000, 50,000, or None, with 20,000 as the default.
BOOTLEG :
* No copyright
- SCORING -
Collecting a heart, note, or letter on the...
1st floor : 50 points(1)
2nd floor : 100 points(1)
3rd floor : 300 points(1)
4th floor : 500 points(1)
Punching the punch-bag : 30 points
Punching a bottle : 100 points
Punching a skull : 100 points
Punching Bernard : 1,000 points
Using Spinach power to knock Brutus into the water : 3,000 points
Dropping the bucket on Brutus' head when he's on the...
1st floor : 4,000 points
2nd floor : 2,000 points
3rd floor : 1,000 points
Hitting Swee'Pea's platform from below : 500 points(1)
NOTE : The Punch button is not required to punch Brutus or Bernard when Popeye has Spinach power.
(1) denotes values that are doubled if Popeye has Spinach power.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* A Display Glitch : On the musical note level, you can stand at the point on the edge where you 'wraparound' and if you punch a bottle in the right spot, it'll erase part of the 'THRU' sign. This can be done on both sides.
* LEVEL ONE :
1) On the first level, Olive Oyl stands at the top of the screen and throws 24 hearts (one at a time) down to the bottom, hoping that Popeye will catch them all. If a heart reaches the bottom of the screen, you will have about 10 seconds to pick it up before it breaks, costing you one life. Try to catch the hearts as high as possible, since they decrease in value as they get closer to the bottom.
2) When Brutus harasses you, cross the edge of the screen from left to right and wait for him to stop directly underneath the bucket. Hit the punching bag at this point and the bucket will fall onto his head, rendering him helpless for a while. This will score you points based on which floor Brutus is on when you hit him (see Scoring above) and give you some time to catch a few more hearts.
3) Like in the cartoons, Popeye becomes stronger after eating Spinach. A can of Spinach moves between the second and third floors of the screen and you can have Popeye eat it by punching the can. Afterwards, Popeye will turn red and become stronger than Brutus for about 10 seconds (shorter in later levels). If you can punch Brutus at this time, he falls into the sea, temporarily knocking him out, and you will be awarded 3000 points.
4) Brutus will eventually recover so make good use of this time by catching as many falling hearts as possible. They don't move, and they are worth twice as much when Popeye is under the influence of Spinach, so catching some of the higher hearts can really help your score. And since extra lives are only awarded at a very high score (40000 points on most machines; 20000 points by default on Revision F machines), you should be as greedy as possible.
5) Spinach can only be used once per level, and it is never restored after you lose a life (except in Revision F, see Updates above). Do not use it too soon. Collect about two thirds of the total number of hearts, and have as many hearts fill the air as possible before getting the Spinach.
6) If you want to risk getting 4000 points instead of 2000, do not use the punching bag immediately. Wait until you have punched Brutus (best done after eating Spinach) and position Popeye to the punching bag. After Brutus comes out of the sea, he will move underneath the bucket on the bottom floor. With some practice and timing you should be able to drop the bucket onto his head for 4000 points. NOTE : Touching Brutus while the bucket is on his head is not fatal. But be careful, because after the bucket comes off he can easily knock out Popeye.
7) To make up for his lumbering slowness, Brutus is capable of throwing beer bottles at Popeye. You should try to force him to throw bottles as often as possible (four at a time) instead of avoiding them, so you can score extra points.
8) The Sea Hag also throws bottles, except she only throws one at a time. The Sea Hag materializes on the edge of the screen for a moment, chucks a bottle, and disappears. She can also be on both sides of the screen at once. So if you are caught between two Sea Hags or between Brutus and the Sea Hag, you will have to be quick on the joystick and Punch button to survive.
* LEVEL TWO : The second level is much like the first, except Olive Oyl is dropping musical notes now (16 of them, one at a time). The major difference is the layout, with Wimpy on the plank in the lower left corner. If Popeye jumps off the second floor, he will be catapulted up to the third floor. With some careful timing, you can even make Popeye leap all the way up to the fourth floor, where Swee'Pea is waiting on a balloon platform. Touching the bottom of Swee'Pea's platform will score 500 points (1000 points while under the influence of Spinach).
* LEVEL THREE :
1) The setting for the third level is a ship, with a sliding platform on the top floor. At the beginning of the board you should be able to slide Popeye across the platform several times, catching the letters H-E-L-P that Olive Oyl is dropping directly above.
2) Every time Popeye catches a letter, one step is added to a ladder which goes up to Olive Oyl. When the ladder is finished, Olive Oyl is rescued. This is the most difficult level because a total of 24 letters are needed to complete the ladder and save Olive Oyl. Bernard, the vulture, will constantly appear from the left side of the screen. While sliding back and forth across the platform, you should try to punch Bernard as many times as possible, to score 1000 points per punch.
3) After Popeye has rescued Olive Oyl on the third level, there will be an intermission that will have Popeye's face while "I'm Popeye The Sailor Man" plays followed by Popeye blowing his pipe and going "Toot! Toot!". Afterwards, the game begins again with increased difficulty.
On ALL levels, Brutus can reach from underneath or bend down from higher floors to lower ones. Be careful that you are not underneath him.
When the game restarts from the first level with increased difficulty, the Sea Hag will start throwing down deadly bouncing skulls from the edges of the screen that must be punched when they are bouncing upward. You must also make sure that there are no skulls directly above Popeye, since they drop down a floor or two and hit him on the head.
Continue to avoid Brutus, Bernard, the beer bottles, and the skulls, and keep catching whatever Olive Oyl throws down.
- PORTS -
* Consoles :
Philips G7000 Videopac [FR] (1982)
Philips Odyssey [BR] (1983)
Nintendo Famicom [JP] (July 15, 1983) "Popeye [Model HVC-PP]"
Nintendo NES [EU] (September 1, 1986) "Popeye [Model NES-PP]"
* Computers :
Commodore C64 [EU] (1984)
- CONTRIBUTE -
Edit this entry: http://www.arcade-history.com/?&page=detail&id=2015&o=2
Licensed from Alexis Bousiges under a CC Attribution 3.0 License
Popeye (c) 1982 Nintendo.
Popeye is a superb and demanding platform game featuring characters from the famous King Features Syndicate cartoon show of the same name. The aim of the game is to rescue Popeye's girlfriend, Olive Oyl. This is achieved by catching a set number of objects thrown down by Olive from the top of the screen; such as hearts, letters and musical notes. Popeye is constantly pursued in his quest by love rival, Brutus (originally known as Bluto). Popeye must either run away from Brutus or grab some spinach and punch him off the screen (he will, of course, return).
Should any of Olive Oyl's items fail to be caught, they will fall into the water at the bottom of the screen. Popeye will then have only a few seconds to retrieve the object or a life is lost. Several other Popeye characters also make an appearance in the game; namely Wimpy, Swee'Pea, the Sea Hag, and her vulture Bernard. The game's three levels are the dock scene, the street scene and the shipboard scene. These repeat with increasing difficulty.
- TECHNICAL -
Most Popeye machines were upright cabinets, but cocktails were also available. The upright was in the standard Nintendo cabinet, the same one used in "Donkey Kong", "Donkey Kong Jr.", "Radar Scope", "Donkey Kong 3", and "Sky Skipper". Almost all other Nintendo titles used alternate versions of this same cabinet. "Mario Bros." was wider, "Punch-Out!!" was taller, etc., but they were still nearly identical. A dedicated Popeye machine will be blue, although you will sometimes see them in different colors (non-blue Popeyes are conversion cabinets).
Model No. TPP2-UP
Main CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 4 Mhz)
Sound Chips : General Instrument AY8910 (@ 2 Mhz)
Players : 2
Control : 4-way joystick
Buttons : 1 (PUNCH)
- TRIVIA -
Popeye was released in December 1982 in Japan.
Licensed to Atari for distribution in Ireland and Great Britain.
* Popeye From Strip To Screen : Popeye the Sailor, one of the most enduring characters in animation history, began not in motion pictures but in E.C. 'Elzie' Segar's 'Thimble Theater' comic strip. Born in Illinois, Segar began cartooning in Chicago in 1914. Graduating to his own strip for the Chicago American, Segar was then hired in 1919 by Hearst's New York Evening Journal to create the syndicated 'Thimble Theater' strip. 'Thimble Theater' depicted the adventures of Ham Gravy, his girlfriend Olive Oyl and her brother Castor. The venture was a success, expanding to an additional Sunday color page in 1924. Segar's comic strip used complex, rambling and frequently eerie narratives that attracted a devoted following, but it lacked strong central characters. In the 'Thimble Theater' of January 17, 1929, Ham and Castor decided to hire a crew to sail in search of the legendary Whiffle Hen. Walking up to a grizzled one-eyed mariner on a dock, Castor asked him, "Are you a sailor?" "`Ja think I'm a cowboy?" came the reply, introducing Popeye to readers.
* Move Over, Ham Gravy : Over a period of months, Popeye developed from a supporting character to the central figure in the hunt for the Whiffle Hen. When Segar finally brought the narrative to a close and tried to retire the sailor, outraged fans contacted the Hearst syndicate demanding more adventures with Popeye. Segar obliged them : the sailor replaced Ham as Olive's love interest, Castor Oyl was reduced to infrequent appearances, and the strip was renamed 'Thimble Theater, Starring Popeye'.
The early 1930s was a period of keen competition among American animation studios for market share. Central to the business strategy of most studios was the development of cartoon 'stars' whose popularity would ensure bookings by major theater chains. Disney followed the success of Mickey Mouse by developing new characters like Donald Duck and Goofy up from supporting roles in Mickey Mouse cartoons. Similar strategies were tried at Warner Bros., where Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck evolved from secondary roles in films starring other animated characters. One of the earliest examples of this took place at the Fleischer Studios, Inc. in New York, where the unpopular starring canine character Bimbo was matched up with a girlfriend in Dizzy Dishes (1930). The girlfriend eventually developed into Betty Boop, the studio's major character. With the popularity of Betty Boop at a peak in 1932, brothers Max and Dave Fleischer decided to introduce a new film series which would include another character to grow into a star. Fleischer rival Van Beuren Corporation had already signed an agreement to bring Otto Soglow's strip 'The Little King' to the screen. Max Fleischer, who was a great fan of Segar's strip, approached Hearst's King Features Syndicate for the right to use Popeye. The two companies signed an agreement on November 17, 1932.
* Betty introduces Popeye to the Big Screen : The production of the first Popeye film took place in secrecy. Veteran animator Roland Crandall was given space apart from the rest of the studio. There, he single-handedly animated the entire cartoon, aided only by the inclusion of some Shamus Culhane animation recycled from the earlier Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle (1932). The results were so satisfying that even before the film was released, the Fleischers and King Features amended the agreement granting the studio the right to produce and release animated cartoons featuring Popeye for a five year period.
Crandall's film 'Betty Boop Presents Popeye The Sailor' opened in the summer of 1933 as part of the 'Betty Boop' series. After a prologue in which newspapers herald the sailor's film debut, and Popeye sings 'I'm Popeye the Sailor Man', the film featured what was to be the standard 'Popeye' series plot, re-enacted with variations by the Fleischers for the next decade. Olive waits for Popeye to disembark from his ship at the dock. Bluto follows the couple to a fairground, where the two sailors compete for Olive's attentions through feats of strength. Bluto abducts Olive and ties her to a train track. As the locomotive approaches, Popeye and Bluto fight. Popeye defeats Bluto, and, through the magical powers of spinach, is able to stop the train and save Olive Oyl. Here, we see the essential difference between the Segar and Fleischer sense of narrative. Segar reveled in picaresque plots that coursed in unexpected directions for up to two years, exploring every novel twist and nuance of narrative. In anticipation of post-modernism, the very concept of plot was old-fashioned to the Fleischers. Hackneyed and ritualized story conventions were torn apart, recombined in odd juxtapositions, and satirized in endless variations.
The Fleischer Popeye cartoons were an instant success. "It might have been just a fluke, a lucky break, that the Segar characters fit the Fleischer style so well", recalls former Popeye animator Myron Waldman. "The animation of Olive Oyl in the mid-1930s was perfect. It fit her. The character had no elbows and the most prominent knees. When she spoke, the voice fit too. This was character. That's what made her so good".
* Step Aside, Mickey : Segar's characters were not the only things consistent with the Fleischer style. Both Segar and the Fleischer staff shared a fondness for a poetically improvisational language. When Popeye's original voice artist, William 'Red Pepper Sam' Costello, left after the first few pictures, he was replaced by a studio in-betweener named Jack Mercer. Much of the dialogs of the Popeye cartoons was post-synched with little attention to synchronized mouth action. Mercer, Mae Questel (Olive's voice, except for the 1938-41 period, when Margie Hines was the voice artist) and William Penell or Gus Wickie, who voiced Bluto, often ad-libbed dialogs during recording sessions, particularly Popeye's 'asides' and pun-filled conversations. Added to this was a progressive softening and increased complexity of Popeye's character, paralleling changes in the strip. Popeye cartoons became the Fleischers' leading attraction. By 1938, Popeye replaced Mickey Mouse as the most popular cartoon character in America.
The Fleischers rummaged through the Segar strip for supporting characters. Bluto, the animated series' antagonist, was a minor character in the Segar strip, appearing only in 1933's 'The Eighth Sea'. Longer-lived strip characters that joined Popeye on the screen included hamburger maven J. Wellington Wimpy, Swee'Pea, Eugene the Jeep and Poopdeck Pappy. While in the comic strip, Popeye gained his great strength from rubbing the Whiffle Hen, the Fleischers added the gimmick of Popeye's power being largely dependent on the ingestion of spinach. Farmers in America's self-styled 'spinach capital' of Crystal City, Texas set up a statue of Popeye in gratitude for the publicity.
As early as 1935, the Fleischers sought backing for a feature-length animated film from their distributor Paramount. Paramount refused to risk money on a feature. In an attempt to persuade the company that longer animated films could be profitable, Max Fleischer initiated the production of three two-reel color 'specials' starring Popeye, beginning with 'Popeye The Sailor Meets Sinbad The Sailor' (1936). Although these 'specials' were often billed over their accompanying feature, Paramount still refused to back the animated feature.
Conditions changed after the success of Disney's 'Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs' (1937) and the Fleischers received money for the eighty minute Gulliver's Travels. According to some sources, the film was originally to have Popeye in the role of Gulliver, but the idea was scrapped early in the planning stages. Perhaps this was unwise. According to internal Paramount correspondence, the Popeye shorts were far more profitable to Paramount than Disney's films were to his distributor, RKO. The sailor's box-office appeal might have helped the Fleischer features. Gulliver's Travels (1938) and the company's next feature, Mr. Bug Goes To Town (1941), bombed, leading to the failure of Fleischer Studios, Inc.
* Post-Fleischer Popeye : The successor company, Famous Studios, continued with the production of Popeye cartoons. Many of these were remakes of earlier Fleischer films. Much of the supporting cast of the Fleischer versions were replaced by new characters, such as identical nephews Pip-Eye, Peep-Eye, Poop-Eye and Pup-Eye. A redesign of the major characters included white U.S. Navy uniforms for Bluto and Popeye (in keeping with their war-time service in the armed forces), and more comely fashions for Olive. Upgraded technology, including the introduction of color to the series in 1943 with Her Honor The Mare and 3-D in Popeye The Ace Of Space (1953), tried to rejuvenate the series. None of these strategies were able to breathe much life into the films. Spooky Swabs (1957) brought theatrical release of Popeye films to a close.
The success of the black and white Popeye cartoons on television in the 1950s inspired several revivals of the series by such talents as Gene Deitch, John Halas and Joy Batchelor, Jack Kinney, and Hanna-Barbera. Hampered by limited budgets and rushed production schedules, none of these came close to the Fleischer or Famous theatrical versions. The less said about Robert Altman's live-action feature with Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall as Popeye and Olive Oyl, the better. What has endured are the original qualities of the Segar and Fleischer works. In fact, Segar's strips have been reissued by Nostalgia Press and the Smithsonian Press. The earlier Fleischer films, which shared the shabby urban or surreal exotic locations and working-class orientation of the Segar originals, retain a vitality and charm that still appeal to a large group of devoted fans today.
* Bluto/Brutus issue : Bluto's name was changed to Brutus after the theatrical Popeye cartoon series went out of production in 1957. It was wrongly believed that Paramount Pictures, distributors of the Fleisher Studios cartoon, owned the rights to the name Bluto. (King Features owned the name all along as Bluto had been originally created for the comic strip.) However, with poor research, they couldn't realize this, and renamed him Brutus to avoid copyright problems. "Brutus" appeared in the 1960-1962 Popeye television cartoons (with his physical appearance changed, making him obese rather than muscular), but he is again "Bluto" (and back to his original muscular physique) in the 1978 Hanna-Barbera Popeye series and the 1980 live-action Popeye movie, as well as the 1987 Popeye and Son series also by Hanna-Barbera. The character was named Bluto in the 2004 movie "Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy". Nintendo used the name "Brutus" for the character in this arcade game.
- UPDATES -
REVISION D (used on most Popeye machines) :
* First level has a black background.
* Default high score is 32,600.
* First nickname on the default high-score table is GET.
* Spinach can only be used once per level, and it is not restored after you lose a life.
* The ladder at the center of the first level can only be used to go down.
* Extra Life dip-switch can be set at 40,000, 60,000, 80,000, or None. The default is 40,000, meaning you get an extra life at 40,000 points.
REVISION F (designed especially for novice players) :
* First level has a colored background.
* Default high-score is smaller than on Revision D : 25,600.
* First nickname on the default high-score table is KAC.
* Spinach is restored after you lose a life.
* The ladder at the center of the first level can be used to go up or down.
* Extra Life dip-switch can be set at 20,000, 30,000, 50,000, or None, with 20,000 as the default.
BOOTLEG :
* No copyright
- SCORING -
Collecting a heart, note, or letter on the...
1st floor : 50 points(1)
2nd floor : 100 points(1)
3rd floor : 300 points(1)
4th floor : 500 points(1)
Punching the punch-bag : 30 points
Punching a bottle : 100 points
Punching a skull : 100 points
Punching Bernard : 1,000 points
Using Spinach power to knock Brutus into the water : 3,000 points
Dropping the bucket on Brutus' head when he's on the...
1st floor : 4,000 points
2nd floor : 2,000 points
3rd floor : 1,000 points
Hitting Swee'Pea's platform from below : 500 points(1)
NOTE : The Punch button is not required to punch Brutus or Bernard when Popeye has Spinach power.
(1) denotes values that are doubled if Popeye has Spinach power.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* A Display Glitch : On the musical note level, you can stand at the point on the edge where you 'wraparound' and if you punch a bottle in the right spot, it'll erase part of the 'THRU' sign. This can be done on both sides.
* LEVEL ONE :
1) On the first level, Olive Oyl stands at the top of the screen and throws 24 hearts (one at a time) down to the bottom, hoping that Popeye will catch them all. If a heart reaches the bottom of the screen, you will have about 10 seconds to pick it up before it breaks, costing you one life. Try to catch the hearts as high as possible, since they decrease in value as they get closer to the bottom.
2) When Brutus harasses you, cross the edge of the screen from left to right and wait for him to stop directly underneath the bucket. Hit the punching bag at this point and the bucket will fall onto his head, rendering him helpless for a while. This will score you points based on which floor Brutus is on when you hit him (see Scoring above) and give you some time to catch a few more hearts.
3) Like in the cartoons, Popeye becomes stronger after eating Spinach. A can of Spinach moves between the second and third floors of the screen and you can have Popeye eat it by punching the can. Afterwards, Popeye will turn red and become stronger than Brutus for about 10 seconds (shorter in later levels). If you can punch Brutus at this time, he falls into the sea, temporarily knocking him out, and you will be awarded 3000 points.
4) Brutus will eventually recover so make good use of this time by catching as many falling hearts as possible. They don't move, and they are worth twice as much when Popeye is under the influence of Spinach, so catching some of the higher hearts can really help your score. And since extra lives are only awarded at a very high score (40000 points on most machines; 20000 points by default on Revision F machines), you should be as greedy as possible.
5) Spinach can only be used once per level, and it is never restored after you lose a life (except in Revision F, see Updates above). Do not use it too soon. Collect about two thirds of the total number of hearts, and have as many hearts fill the air as possible before getting the Spinach.
6) If you want to risk getting 4000 points instead of 2000, do not use the punching bag immediately. Wait until you have punched Brutus (best done after eating Spinach) and position Popeye to the punching bag. After Brutus comes out of the sea, he will move underneath the bucket on the bottom floor. With some practice and timing you should be able to drop the bucket onto his head for 4000 points. NOTE : Touching Brutus while the bucket is on his head is not fatal. But be careful, because after the bucket comes off he can easily knock out Popeye.
7) To make up for his lumbering slowness, Brutus is capable of throwing beer bottles at Popeye. You should try to force him to throw bottles as often as possible (four at a time) instead of avoiding them, so you can score extra points.
8) The Sea Hag also throws bottles, except she only throws one at a time. The Sea Hag materializes on the edge of the screen for a moment, chucks a bottle, and disappears. She can also be on both sides of the screen at once. So if you are caught between two Sea Hags or between Brutus and the Sea Hag, you will have to be quick on the joystick and Punch button to survive.
* LEVEL TWO : The second level is much like the first, except Olive Oyl is dropping musical notes now (16 of them, one at a time). The major difference is the layout, with Wimpy on the plank in the lower left corner. If Popeye jumps off the second floor, he will be catapulted up to the third floor. With some careful timing, you can even make Popeye leap all the way up to the fourth floor, where Swee'Pea is waiting on a balloon platform. Touching the bottom of Swee'Pea's platform will score 500 points (1000 points while under the influence of Spinach).
* LEVEL THREE :
1) The setting for the third level is a ship, with a sliding platform on the top floor. At the beginning of the board you should be able to slide Popeye across the platform several times, catching the letters H-E-L-P that Olive Oyl is dropping directly above.
2) Every time Popeye catches a letter, one step is added to a ladder which goes up to Olive Oyl. When the ladder is finished, Olive Oyl is rescued. This is the most difficult level because a total of 24 letters are needed to complete the ladder and save Olive Oyl. Bernard, the vulture, will constantly appear from the left side of the screen. While sliding back and forth across the platform, you should try to punch Bernard as many times as possible, to score 1000 points per punch.
3) After Popeye has rescued Olive Oyl on the third level, there will be an intermission that will have Popeye's face while "I'm Popeye The Sailor Man" plays followed by Popeye blowing his pipe and going "Toot! Toot!". Afterwards, the game begins again with increased difficulty.
On ALL levels, Brutus can reach from underneath or bend down from higher floors to lower ones. Be careful that you are not underneath him.
When the game restarts from the first level with increased difficulty, the Sea Hag will start throwing down deadly bouncing skulls from the edges of the screen that must be punched when they are bouncing upward. You must also make sure that there are no skulls directly above Popeye, since they drop down a floor or two and hit him on the head.
Continue to avoid Brutus, Bernard, the beer bottles, and the skulls, and keep catching whatever Olive Oyl throws down.
- PORTS -
* Consoles :
Philips G7000 Videopac [FR] (1982)
Philips Odyssey [BR] (1983)
Nintendo Famicom [JP] (July 15, 1983) "Popeye [Model HVC-PP]"
Nintendo NES [EU] (September 1, 1986) "Popeye [Model NES-PP]"
* Computers :
Commodore C64 [EU] (1984)
- CONTRIBUTE -
Edit this entry: http://www.arcade-history.com/?&page=detail&id=2015&o=2
Licensed from Alexis Bousiges under a CC Attribution 3.0 License
cheat.dat entry:
00000000 8FDD 00000099 FFFFFFFF Infinite Credits
00000000 8800 00000008 0000000F Infinite Lives
00000000 890F 0000007D FFFFFFFF Always Have Spinach Power
00000000 8916 00000070 FFFFFFFF Extra Speed
00000000 9403 00000004 FFFFFFFF Always Red
00000000 88C8 00000010 FFFFFFFF Change Music
00000000 890F 0000007C FFFFFFFF Freeze falling objects
00000000 8805 00000001 FFFFFFFF New Spinach with Each Life
00000000 8930 0000000C FFFFFFFF Disco Bluto
00000000 8947 000000FF FFFFFFFF Bluto is Scared of Staircases Bonus - if this is activated when Bluto has a barrel on his head, the barrel will stay on for the rest of the level.
00000000 9465 0000007F FFFFFFFF Spinach Stays on Top
00000000 9465 00000057 FFFFFFFF Spinach Stays on Bottom
00000000 89E1 00000028 FFFFFFFF Errant Spinach (^)
00000000 89E1 000000D8 FFFFFFFF Errant Spinach (v)
00000000 8958 00000001 FFFFFFFF Errant Olive (>)
00000000 8958 00000002 FFFFFFFF Errant Olive (<)
00000000 890A 00000000 FFFFFFFF One Heart at a Time
Credit Pugsy's MAME Cheat file
00000000 8FDD 00000099 FFFFFFFF Infinite Credits
00000000 8800 00000008 0000000F Infinite Lives
00000000 890F 0000007D FFFFFFFF Always Have Spinach Power
00000000 8916 00000070 FFFFFFFF Extra Speed
00000000 9403 00000004 FFFFFFFF Always Red
00000000 88C8 00000010 FFFFFFFF Change Music
00000000 890F 0000007C FFFFFFFF Freeze falling objects
00000000 8805 00000001 FFFFFFFF New Spinach with Each Life
00000000 8930 0000000C FFFFFFFF Disco Bluto
00000000 8947 000000FF FFFFFFFF Bluto is Scared of Staircases Bonus - if this is activated when Bluto has a barrel on his head, the barrel will stay on for the rest of the level.
00000000 9465 0000007F FFFFFFFF Spinach Stays on Top
00000000 9465 00000057 FFFFFFFF Spinach Stays on Bottom
00000000 89E1 00000028 FFFFFFFF Errant Spinach (^)
00000000 89E1 000000D8 FFFFFFFF Errant Spinach (v)
00000000 8958 00000001 FFFFFFFF Errant Olive (>)
00000000 8958 00000002 FFFFFFFF Errant Olive (<)
00000000 890A 00000000 FFFFFFFF One Heart at a Time
Credit Pugsy's MAME Cheat file
