Popeye (Arcade) Playthrough

A playthrough of Nintendo's 1982 license-based arcade game, Popeye.
Nintendo's Popeye, released two years after the movie starring Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall, was the first video game to ever feature the famous spinach-munching sailor.
Nintendo had initially begun work on a Popeye game back in 1981, but King Features Syndicate rejected their proposal. Instead of scrapping the project, Shigeru Miyamoto set to work creating a replacement cast of original characters based on King Kong. The resulting game, Donkey Kong, was one of the biggest arcade hits of the year.
Once Donkey Kong and its sequel had established Nintendo as a major player in the industry, King reconsidered their stance and granted Nintendo's licensing request, and when it was released at the end of 1982, Popeye became Nintendo's third major arcade success.
In Popeye, the goal is to collect the objects Olive Oyl tosses from the top of the screen while dodging Brutus's (Bluto's) attacks. There are three stages, each with its own unique layout, theme, and gimmick. In the first, Popeye has to collect hearts and can drop a bucket on Brutus's head to slow him down. In the second, he collects music notes and can launch himself from Wimpy's seesaw to reach Swee'Pea for bonus points. In the third, Popeye has to collect letters that spell "Help" as he avoids Bernard the Buzzard on a pirate ship.
Popeye can defend himself by punching dangerous objects out of the air, and if he grabs a can of spinach, he can temporarily knock Brutus out of play. Most of the time, though, it's a game of cat and mouse, and Popeye will have to thread a careful, defensive path through each stage if he wants to survive beyond the first few rounds. Much like Donkey Kong or Pac-Man, Popeye is a classic, simple game that is easy to pick up and play but is nuanced enough to keep people (and their quarters) coming back for more.
Aside from its license, one of the game's biggest draws was its graphics. The machine runs on the then typical Z80A processor (an enhanced 8088 chip, essentially), but the game outputs an interlaced 512x448 image which allows it to display super clean, high-resolution sprites atop a simple, low resolution background plane. It looks amazing, and the style still holds up. In 2023, it's pretty much the video game equivalent of Masahiro Sakurai: you can tell that it's no longer a spring chicken, but it has aged so gracefully that you could easily mistake as something far newer than it really is.
(Seriously, how does he still look so young? The dude is in his 50s!)
We rented the NES version countless times when I was a kid, and I always loved it. I still do, and I was stoked as a teenager to find out that the arcade version was even better. I've never been especially fond of games from the arcade's first "golden age" - as a kid growing up in the NES era, they always felt like they were just a bit before my time - but Popeye was one of the rare few from that generation that really managed to sink its hooks into me.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (www.nintendocom...) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!

[@NintendoComplete]

This arcade antique is one of my favorites of its time. How does it still look this good?!

[@OTHERJTRAIN]

Hi

[@rjcupid]

It really does look awesome to this day. Thanks for this one, it’s a great arcade classic.

[@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115]

Because there were people with skills on those days of yonder.

[@AndrewSouzaGames555]

​@@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115sim

[@jessehaaland7689]

This players a pro!

[@joemint5666]

A classic Arcade game! I think it was also the idea for Donkey Kong, Mario, and Pauline.

[@Mysticgamer]

Yep, Nintendo couldn't get the rights, so they made Mario and friends.

[@2바이오]

닌텐도요

[@Dorelaxen]

Finding an almost flawless condition marquee of this some years back at a flea market for 10 bucks was amazing. The movie is also a long time favorite of mine. Really got treated unfairly by critics, especially they criticisms of the story. I mean, what do you want? It's Popeye. Sailor man eats spinach, sailor man punches Bluto. I yam what I yam.

[@OmegaVideoGameGod]

What blew my mind if you dig into Popeyes history, Popeye and olive oil were based on two real people and Bluto was based on the red flake from the big trail which of you didn’t know was the first major movie John Wayne himself played in with the leading role.

[@rjcupid]

I used to play this in the late 80’s at a restaurant near me that had a whole arcade in it for the kids to play. I remember it being next to Galaga and Arabian. Those were the days!

[@melissaleoncreolenola]

Good memories of the 80s ❤❤ I miss it very much

[@cherokeefit4248]

@@melissaleoncreolenola I remember bump and jump arcade cocktail cab at the laundry mat in 1984 lol

[@melissaleoncreolenola]

@@cherokeefit4248 that's when arcade games was the 💩.... smh I'm from New Orleans and we had this arcade game place call Pennyland Arcades on Bourbon St. It's not there no more... it closed down before the Katrina disaster..

[@WLA-General]

Ahhh the 80s

[@silverdamascus2023]

Popeye is soon becoming a public domain character in USA, and he is already in the public domain in many countries like mine, my town has a burger restaurant themed around Popeye, and with spinach burgers. Nintendo should exploit this and rerelease this game without needing to pay a license.

[@MusicalMinerdude]

Would be miles better than what the Switch got...

[@michaelfields7088]

I own the actual arcade. My most treasured item.

[@grantcole1898]

If it weren’t for Popeye, we wouldn’t have Mario.

[@JanusHoW]

Rather, it was the inability of Nintendo to initially get the rights to Popeye that we got Mario.

[@cherokeefit4248]

I never played this game but the arcade port looks like a gem for its time. The blue colour on the cab is very distinctive.

[@BenJabituya]

Needs an Arcade Archives release exclusively for the Nintendo Switch, but of course, licensing is gonna be a major issue.

[@Sparkster64]

I can tell you that Sabec Limited created a ''remake'' of this game, but the game was so bad. In June, it was delisted from Switch and PS4, due the license got expired. So, hopefully Hamster can add this to the Arcade Archives, if it's possible.

[@avabethmcghee3048]

The animation got a genuine smile out of me.. would have LOVED this game when I was a kid. Always been a fan of Popeye.

[@kevyjoe413]

Man, the sprites are super high quality! I can’t believe this predated the Famicom.

[@JaylaisAwesome]

0:26. I’m not a fan of Popeye, spinach really isn’t healthy for people, before you ask me if I’m not a fan of Popeye why am I watching this. I’m just watching this because I remember watching a Popeye cartoon as a kid, and two, it’s because I found out Popeye was the original ideal game before Donkey Kong but nintendo said no. Either way Olive Oy loves Popeye because of his personality, and he is kind to her, meanwhile, Bluto is a piece of trash to her, and just wants to abuse her. You can tell that when she rejected him, he started acting like a baby and started pouting because she didn’t want to go with someone who had a really bad personality, and only wanted her, just to hurt her. What if Bluto ate the spinach, that means he could really beat Popeye’s butt!

[@richiebear1969]

RIP Shelly Duvall alive Olive Oyl.

[@Gleamoz]

This looks good. Someone tried to remake this with 3D graphics, but it wasn’t pretty. Dang that Brutus double jump got you!

[@thegreatcanadianlumberjack5307]

It's still really wild to think that without this game we probably would never of had Mario or Donkey kong.

[@williamcrowe2576]

🎶T'is printed through hiskry that women's a miskry, says Popeye the Sailor Man!🎶

[@MAR7INS]

Ótima Gameplay 🦊🧡

[@NintendoComplete]

Thanks! :)

[@Ryowhosakazaki]

This game needs to be in Arcade Archive. Not the crappy rebooted one.

[@Sparkster64]

The crappy rebooted one has been delisted finally. Rejoice, Popeye fans.

[@evanhanley6437]

NES did a fantastic job converting this!

[@VahanNisanian]

Won't see this on any future virtual re-releases of Nintendo Arcade games, unfortunately.

[@silverdamascus2023]

It depends, Popeye is soon becoming a public domain character, he already is in many countries.

[@MusicalMinerdude]

That asset-flipped remake on the Switch has NOTHING on this. Nor will it ever. But SHEESH the proper arcade version deserves the Arcade Archives treatment already!

[@WispyBlueBricksGPX]

great games still retain their charm after all these years

[@lu.cicerone.cavalheiro]

Surprisingly good-looking sprites for a 1982 arcade. Seems hard as balls because controllers, through.

[@knuclear200x]

Crazy to think that Popeye would've been a Donkey Kong game. Popeye for Smash when

[@dannewnam2701]

Content Advisory: Contains Tobacco Depictions

[@jamiegoguen7384]

I believe Miyamoto was involved in the creation of this game. One of his 1st

[@Seiko180]

love those little tunes when you get a heart

[@d_valroth]

I had the Atari 800 port, and seeing the same backgrounds with high res sprites is so odd. :)

[@sa3270]

It's a very unusual thing to see an interlaced game in the early 80s. I wonder what the first interlaced arcade game was?

[@41walmart]

i could never win on this game damn you bluto

[@vdog4799]

I used to LOVE this gane!. DUDE! You have the best game channel ever!!!👍👍😁

[@NintendoComplete]

I did too! :) Tyvm!

[@Bobaklives]

The nostalgia of that music in the arcade style ❤

[@xxHUNGRY4THETRUTHxx]

Though extremely limited, this was actually quite good for the Atari 2600 (one of my favorites from that old relic)

[@spoonshiro]

Classic game, classic cartoon! Pretty amazing animation for 1982 as well.

[@isaacmorales8732]

14:43 what was she saying to Popeye?

[@barnabarinludocratique6262]

Good question

[@MarkCabaniss]

I look forward to seeing you give the _Hamtaro_ games a spin.

[@WakandaForever1776]

my heart was racing just like when this game came out

[@Rachel-sp2kv]

I loved this game, wish I could play it right now🥰

[@MatthewBenson321]

Never knew there was an arcade game, I only played the NES version which clearly was underwhelming in terms of graphics. Does anyone know why Nintendo was so infatuated with Popeye? The story behind Donkey Kong for example, then finally getting the actual license.

[@solarflare9078]

Because Shigeru Miyamoto loved Popeye

[@MinbadTheFourth]

Nice! One of my fav ^^ You're always on the good stuff :) gg man

[@brianwashington8919]

Holy crap I just remembered this game out of nowhere. Use to play the heck out of it.

[@samuellayton3539]

I find it immensely funny the King Features decided not to allow Nintendo have the license because they hadn’t proved themselves yet in the video game space, yet nearly 40 years later they grant the license to a company best known for making Calculator on Switch. What a world.

[@mahendrap1960]

I played this game on my childhood

[@VegazParrelli1981]

This game looks like it takes a ton of precise timing

[@hotcheetos9168]

Pretty cool thank you love all the vids!!

[@PaulNat360]

some of Bluto’s moves were removed in the nes version

[@LightStreak567]

I remember watching the cartoon show when I was a kid.

[@JaylaisAwesome]

Same, a little.

[@armageddon3325]

Will this arcade be available in the playstation store soon ??

[@SomeOrangeCat]

The care and effort definitely went into the character art and not the background art.

[@w20h]

When we used to play in nes version, we made fun: brutus knows shoryuken?

[@fredstahl8372]

I used to play this at chuck e cheeses !!!!! Time flies!!!!!😢

[@Eazy-ERyder]

I remember this!

[@playtimeallthetimecbeebies2272]

Thumbs up if Yo Gabba Gabba! brought you here.

[@TallSilentGuy]

MANDELA EFFECT: I could have sworn that when you ate the spinach and punched out Bluto he would fly through the air laying horizontally and drumming his fingers in thin air. Did I dream that?

[@Jeff-gj7ko]

You really need to eat your spinach to play this game. It's a hard one!

[@saloriumtoledo6623]

Never tried arcade version. But had NES version. Arcade seems having more mechanics than NES. Also I don't know, is it harder in NES or on arcade. Because on NES I had a lot of suffer to pass even the first level. Good work and thanks for the upload!

[@michaelfields7088]

Arcade is harder. The NES version allowed you to climb up and down on the ladder and Brutus seems to draw into you when you get the spinach as well. Brutus was more aggressive in the arcade too.

[@saloriumtoledo6623]

@@michaelfields7088 Oh, then it's harder. No wonder why, since it's an arcade.

[@michaelfields7088]

@@saloriumtoledo6623 I actually own the arcade and play it religiously every day and I have the nes version emulated on my nes mini.

[@saloriumtoledo6623]

@@michaelfields7088 Oh, that's cool! I have only my old Taiwanese NES clone. What I got in 1990s. Never had a chance to try arcade. Lucky you.

[@jonathanpatriciom]

hermoso this game,,,, whats years ago this??????? thankyou

[@NintendoComplete]

It's from 1982.

[@robsonlaranjeiras3473]

Classic game.

[@Gustyguy]

I remember that horrible modern remake of this arcade gamw

[@Sparkster64]

Annnnnnnnnnnd it's gone. Been delisted from Switch and PS4.

[@Gustyguy]

@@Sparkster64lamo it was that bad eh?

[@Dorian_Scott]

I have _very_ little experience with Popeye. I've seen a bit of the terrible live action movie (Popeye's musical number) and I've only discovered this game about maybe... two years ago? "Rerez" talked about the Switch & PS4 remake of this game on "Just Bad Games." Basically, an unfinished shovelware title.

[@therealobanir]

The developers threatened to sue John Riggs when he gave it an honest review

[@Dorian_Scott]

@@therealobanir WTF!?

[@AndrewSouzaGames555]

Eu Joguei a versão de nes desse incrível jogo

[@smiteriuszryceriusz1258]

Arcade best Port

[@sylasDC]

Is there actually a good ending or does it keep going over and over and over again. Are you going to do another one where it shows the ending ending

[@NintendoComplete]

I don't think there is an ending.

[@sylasDC]

@@NintendoComplete That's kind of what it looked like you just keep doing it over and over again and just keeps getting stormed or in stronger but an actual ending didn't look like it so it wouldn't surprise me.

[@michaelr9839]

Classic. Whomever is playing has the skills to pay the bills! Nice work

[@NintendoComplete]

Thanks!

[@JaylaisAwesome]

@@NintendoCompleteYou did an amazing job!

[@vijilrani3080]

Classic vintage nes 🎮

[@jamesborlan2850]

One of my favorite arcade games Now whether anyone thinks its based on the cartoon or comics or even the robert altman film from 1980 is totally debatable Even then, this is the perfect companion piece with donkey kong Which begs an interesting question How come idw didnt do a popeye mario crossover I mean if popeye crossed over with mars attacks, rick and morty crossed over with dungeons and dragons, sonic crossed over with mega man, and if there are so many tmnt comic crossovers I can't see why mario can't cross over with the sailor man that inspired the plumber himself Plus wario and bluto/brutus Twice the fun in that regard

[@celinesenden4142]

My favorite arcade games are donkey kong mario bros street fighter alpha 2 super street fighter 2 turbo bosconian jr pac-man and teenage mutant ninja turtles

[@RlsIII-uz1kl]

I've always preferred Popeye over Donkey Kong.

[@2바이오]

나큰80년대에현대88게임프라자에서패미콤을사고서비스로준이오락팩을받고기뻐한

[@jessehaaland7689]

This players a pro!

[@cosmicj3122]

Public domain = Soon on Switch Online..

[@silverdamascus2023]

When Mario, Donkey Kong and Pauline were created, they were meant to be Popeye, Bluto and Olive, but Nintendo couldn't get the rights and created orignal characters. Then, thanks to the money from the Donkey Kong arcade game, Nintendo did get the rights to the Popeye franchise to make another game.

[@AndrewSouzaGames555]

Interessante

[@GaryBeltz]

I wants me girl Bluto!

[@PabloPaiva]

The best player ever

[@joascsantos3839]

Era muito bom, joguei muito com meu irmão na minha infância. Bons tempos

[@AleksandrVolkov1805]

Where mario was born.

[@ThetrollISBACK-hv7uv]

11:21😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@alexsgaming1729]

0:05

[@vijilrani3080]

The enemy are playing likr cowards

[@bodisimo1019]

Verify your channel please

[@benitosierrajr3958]

“Based on King Kong”, seriously, is that what your description say? Donkey Kong still retains it’s Popeye influences when they were making the game because of the love triangle, there are some King Kong influences, but Donkey Kong is mostly influenced by The Sailor Man.

[@luisfernandomiguelpiris252]

POPEYE EL MARINO

[@MrDario1971]

😢😢😢

[@SERGEY_LIGHTNING]

V

[@JaxRetroGamer]

The description has misinformation here is a better version of it I made. Nintendo always had the rights to Popeye before they made Donkey Kong originally it was going to be a Popeye game but due to limitations they couldn't get the characters to look right so the idea was scrapped and Donkey Kong was made a Year Later Nintendo had the technology and made a Actual Popeye Game! This is the truth and Nintendo never lost the rights so yeah please change the description.

[@renevaldez5717]

Childhood memories.😢😢😢😢😢

[@tolgamemisoglu]

tolge myLittlpony Disney 😂😊