CRAZY CLIMBER

A copyright notice screen is displayed during the attract mode. There is a small routine that runs after that, that checks an encrypted data string of 'NIHON BUSSAN' against the actual screen RAM where that string should appear. If this is changed, the program adds 5 credits! Since the coin switch wasn't activated, it continues on with the attract mode until it returns to the copyright screen, at which point you’ll see the credits and are prompted to press player 1 or player 2. {Kerry Stillin}

If you enter the initials "JORDAN.LTD" for your high score, it chops off the “.LTD” part and adds two credits. This trick may be why the U.S. version was modified to only allow 3 characters (the Japanese version allows 10). A “fixed” version can be found at this SITE.

Each building has five 'enemies' you have to face and a preset segment where they will be encountered. For example, the 1st building has 1 flowerpot man, bird, 2 flowerpot men, kong, and 3 flowerpot men. In between these are normally quiet spots- sections where you can freely climb, only obstructed by windows. But on buildings 2, 3, and 4 (i.e. “angry” buildings), this certain variable is set to release the girders during the quiet spots. If you happen to die, this variable is cleared to 0, and you don't encounter any more girders during the 'quiet spots'. This seems like it was added to 'hurry you up' if you're milling around, and keeping the game going without making progress, but the delay is way too long – reason being, it takes 256 timer clicks to increment this variable the first time, but then a much lower number the next time (32, 40, 48, … based on the level).

The 'angry’ building mode is determined by this thing I call the 'pseudo level'. This 'pseudo level' number is set at the beginning of each building - to 0, 1, 2, or 3. If you die on that building, it gets reset to 0 - 'angry’ building mode is off. It gets incremented when this '35 minute life' counter gets down to nothing (the bug below describing this is only going to alter the 'pseudo level' for that building.). There are some other nuances, but the main thing with the girders in the quiet zone is this - the 'pseduo level' number is logically ANDed with 0x03. It's basically asking 'is it 1, 2, or 3' (which translates to buildings 2, 3, and 4) and throwing girders at you if it is. Well, if you can flick it from 3 to 4 on building 3, then the girders go away. Technically, since it's not 0, 'angry’ building mode is still on, but the girder aspect of it is gone. {Kerry Stillin}

Climb at a steady pace, but only when there is a clear path ahead. The game seems to throw up windows to block you if you move at the maximum speed. If your pathway is blocked a few windows away, don't crowd up against the closed windows. Leave yourself a couple more rows to move while waiting for them to open up. {Kerry Stillin}

If you have both arms on a window and push both joysticks UP, objects dropped from the condor and Mad Dropper will bounce off. On the 2nd building, if you instead pull both joysticks BACK, any falling steel girders will bounce off, but this only works for the first 15 floors.

On the 2nd building, when you arrive at the electrical sign, climb up the left side until you’re under the wire. Keep both joysticks pressed (one up and one down). After a few seconds you’ll become red with white hair and the wire won’t harm you (picture #1).

Double flower pots will always kill you.

It’s possible to climb through the falling sign (picture #2). It seemed to work best for me with my right hand up & left hand down then reach my left hand up and hold just before the sign hit; no joystick movement while the sign was going through me. {Troy Newman}

Sometimes after death/comeback, you are a few sections above where you died. You miss out on those climbing points, though.

Sometimes you can dawdle around on the top floor of the building (the little 1/4 window) and not reach up for the helicopter. Sometimes it will drop down to where you are and latch onto your hand and take you away. {Kerry Stillin}

Consolation bonus - if the helicopter is within earshot, and you never make it up there, it will eventually leave and take most of your bonus. You still get a portion of it. (it has been a long time since I did this- may not be completely accurate). {Kerry Stillin}

Kong quits switching sides after you pass.

On building #4, if the sign falls in your column, there’s not much you can do, but there is a “Hail Mary” that might work. It may not work any more often than surviving with both hands down, but here it is. If the sign is coming down your column and there is nowhere to go horizontally, try to climb up into its path and then hold. Sometimes it will pass over you, taking a bunch of bonus points, but leaving you alive. {Kerry Stillin}

The U.S., Japanese, and German Nichibutsu flyers mention a gondola (picture #4), but there's none in the game, nor is there one hidden in the code or any trace there ever was one.  It's also mentioned on one of the cocktail table instruction carts (picture #5).

BUG: The game will make a brief “screech” sound when it’s first powered up.

BUG: The attract mode shows the climber will sometimes get stuck in sections where the only path is up the middle of the building.

BUG: With falling signs, sometimes you'll see pink, purple, or reversed ones.

BUG: When you die, sometimes the game will place you several floors higher from where you were.

BUG: On the 1st building, if you wait around for about 35 minutes, girders will fall on you! Normally the windows would close on your hands long before then. There isn’t a specific area on where to safely wait, but I’ve been able to reproduce it at floor 140 on building 1 several times. You can move your hands a bit without advancing floors, or sometimes you cab keep shifting from one side to the other, in a 4-window section. The bonus timer only counts down to 3000 and stops. In the code, every time it clicks down, it affects another variable. When this other variable is incremented 256 times, the girders will fall (picture #3 and video). Theoretically, it might be possible to exploit this. The variable that triggers the 'extra' stuff (such as 4 bird poops instead of 2, girders in the quiet zone, extra flower pot guys) gets initialized with the building number - 0, 1, 2, or 3. The counter that winds up getting bumped when this 'timer' variable is decremented to zero retains its value across buildings, but gets reset when you die. If you could get it close to flipping when you're at the top of building 3, progressing to building 4, and triggering the bump, you could eliminate the girders on building 4. Removing the girders from building 4 would do wonders as far as difficulty goes. You still have to luck out with the falling signs at the top of 4, but at least you're up there without much of a fight. To set this up though, you've got to find a place to camp out on building 3 and by wasting all of your bonus, which kills off close to 30K in bonus points that you’d get for completing that building. {Kerry Stillin}

BUG: Bonus counter - when you die, the bonus counter doesn’t drop from 10,000 to 9,900 until several floors past where it usually ticks down.  Based on that, you can climb about 10-13 floors and kill yourself with a closing window and not have the score clock down to 9900.  There must be some internal counter that measures the time between the bonus clicks, which gets reset when you die.  On your second man, you'll start back up with 10,000 bonus. You can try it again with the second man, but it's frustrating.  {Kerry Stillin}

BUG: Color shock - you momentarily change color after you get shocked by a wire. Sometimes the color change sticks until the top of the building. {Kerry Stillin}

BUG: “Crazy” window - window opening and closing repeatedly very fast. This usually happens after the balloon drops you off. {Kerry Stillin}

BUG: Minimum bonus - after your bonus drops to a certain level, it won't go lower. On the 1st building, it stops at 3,000. {Kerry Stillin}

BUG: Passed sign/girder - you are clearly hit as evidenced by the 'hit' sound, but you don't fall. {Kerry Stillin}

BUG: Paused balloon - if you grab the balloon and it takes you up 8 floors to a closed window, it will pause there until the window opens. {Kerry Stillin}

BUG: Radar out of sync - sometimes after you die and come back, the green radar blip is in the wrong place on the building. Sometimes there is a second blip tracking the true 'you'. It disappears when you catch up to it.

BUG: Safety window - there seems to be certain areas where you can stop and wait, without having a window close on your hands. {Kerry Stillin}

BUG: Spark - sometimes after the electric sign, there is a spark graphic in the next section or two just sitting there. It doesn't harm you and it doesn’t move. {Kerry Stillin}

BUG:  “Phantom" death - sometimes you’ll fall to your death for no apparent reason.

RUMOR: Someone claimed the 12th building in the Deluxe version of Crazy Climber is on fire with animated moving flames everywhere (LINK).  The flyer for the deluxe (Nichibutsu) cabinet versions of Crazy Climber (LINK) does actually depict a building on fire, but there’s no difference in the code, and no flame graphics.

 

 

 


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