The Ice Climbers are the pair of playable protagonists from the game Ice Climber, released in the pre-Super Mario Bros. era of NES games. When playing one player, the player plays as Popo. When playing two player, player one plays as Popo, while player two plays as Nana in Ice Climber.
See Ice Climbers (SSBM) and Ice Climbers (SSBB) for fighter info.
Character description
In Super Smash Bros. Melee
- Main article: Ice Climbers (SSBM)
The Ice Climbers made their debut appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series in the GameCube installment, Super Smash Bros. Melee as a dual-controlled pair of fighters. They (as a singular entity) are one of the 14 default characters available from the start.
Their inclusion in Melee came as a bit of shock as they seemed quite out of place compared to the other characters featured in the initial trailer for the game. They were largely forgotten relics of the NES era, so to see Masahiro Sakurai include them in the game's roster (complete with a full 3-D makeover) alongside such major players as Mario, Link, and Donkey Kong was understandably confusing. As it turns out, they were selected over other considered retro characters (including Balloon Fighter) to be representatives of the NES period in Nintendo's history.
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
- Main article: Ice Climbers (SSBB)
Rumor
During the development of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it came to light that Masahiro Sakurai was considering excluding characters that appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee from Brawl's roster. Naturally, fans around the internet began speculating as to who, if anyone, would not return. One particularly widespread rumor involved the Ice Climbers.
According to a French gaming site, Sakurai appeared on an unspecified Japanese radio program dealing with video games and allegedly "confirmed" three newcomers to Brawl: Bowser Jr., Ridley, and a The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker-influenced version of Young Link. However, he also supposedly announced that three veterans would not be returning - the Ice Climbers, Mr. Game & Watch, and Young Link.
Several fans debunked the rumor, citing the fact that the radio program Sakurai "appeared" on had never been named. Also, it seemed to have been the only source of these major revelations (no mentions of any of the above characters being included or removed were to be found in the translations of Sakurai's diary on the pre-relaunch DOJO!!). Additionally, in the case of the Ice Climbers and Mr. Game & Watch, many felt it'd be counter-productive to remove two unique characters with original movesets for absolutely no reason at all. Regardless, the rumor persisted for over a year, up until the confirmation of the Ice Climbers' return in Brawl in September 2007.
In the game
While the Final Smash for the Ice Climbers has been confirmed, not much else has been mentioned regarding them. They appear to have been graphically updated, taking advantage of the Wii's enhanced technology.