Climber

Climber is a rudimentary action-platformer for the Watara Supervision that essentially functions as a stripped-down, budget take on platformers. It revolves entirely around a single, central gimmick: using climbing spikes to traverse blocks. In a library filled with basic arcade clones, Climber attempts to offer a slower, more puzzle-oriented platforming experience, but it is heavily hampered by the console's severe hardware limitations.

The premise is as straightforward as the title suggests: your goal is to ascend a series of short levels by navigating platforms and avoiding roaming enemies. However, instead of simply jumping over obstacles, your primary mechanic is the ability to place climbing spikes to bridge vertical gaps. This turns the game into a methodical exercise in pathfinding. You have to figure out exactly where to drop them without trapping yourself, falling, or leaving yourself vulnerable to the wandering, pixelated hazards that patrol the platforms.

Visually, Climber is incredibly crude, even by the already low standards of the Supervision. The sprites are blocky, primitive, and highly indistinct, often making it difficult to figure out exactly what it is you are supposed to be climbing away from. Worse, the game falls victim to the system’s notorious LCD ghosting. When your character or the enemies move across the screen, a thick smear of gray trails behind them. For a game that requires precise placement and timing, the blurring turns simple evasion into a frustrating ordeal.

The controls only add to the friction, feeling stiff and unresponsive when you are trying to quickly build an escape route in a panic. It’s a game of patience that demands a high tolerance for clunky mechanics and eye-straining visuals. While the core concept of manually building your own path upward is a neat twist on the standard arcade platforming formula, the sloppy execution makes Climber one of the more tedious, messy entries in the catalog.