Ice Climber/Walkthrough

Types of floors

 * Breakable ice: This type of ice can be chipped away at with the climbers' hammer. It can be up to two layers thick, with the bottom layer of variable height.  Note that if a Topi fills a gap with ice, that ice will be breakable, and only fill the top layer, not the bottom.
 * Unbreakable ice: Ice that is a solid square and has a criss cross pattern, or looks slightly three dimensional, cannot be broken with a hammer. Unbreakable ice can also be stacked vertically to create a barrier that you can not run through.
 * Conveyor ice: Any type of ice, whether it's breakable or unbreakable can be conveyor ice. If the ice has diagonal lines running through it, the climbers will slide to one direction once they land on that ice.  If a topi fills a gap with ice, the new ice will also move in the same direction as the rest of the floor.  Running in the opposite direction causes you to run at half speed, while running in the same direction causes you to run at double speed.
 * Cloud platforms: Mountain floors that do not contain ice contain moving cloud platforms.  These platforms are solid, and as such, cannot be jump through, only on.  Use them to reach higher cloud platforms, new ice floors, or to chip away at the ice above.

Advanced strategies

 * Collecting just one piece of Corn from fifth bonus level grants player an extra life. Selecting 5th level from menu won't give the same effect, you need to beat 4 levels to reach 5th where this will work.
 * Your fastest attack is your jump while facing opponent with your back. Your hammer takes slight delay before it hits, so you can just use this jump to easily kill the bird in later levels where the bird is faster. This doesn't work on enemies that are on the ground.
 * Remember that you can wrap around from one side of the screen to the other. You do not have to overcome barriers if you can just run to the other side of the screen where you have more room.
 * You can kill the bird with your hammer, but only if the hammer is held overhead when you reach the bird. The hammer is behind your head early on in the jump animation, so don't try to hit the bird when it's really close to your head.
 * When trying to chip away ice over a cloud platform, concentrate on one section. You only need to make a hole at least two ice chips wide. Once the cloud platform moves away from the section you're trying to focus on, get off and get back on the next cloud that passes by.  Patience and tenacity will get you up the mountain quicker than random strikes anywhere the platform takes you.
 * You can temporarily stop sliding on conveyor ice by swinging your hammer repeatedly. Use this to prepare yourself for another jump.
 * Tiny platforms of ice two bricks wide can be the most difficult to jump off from. Because your climbers need a good running start in order to jump laterally, make sure you start running from the far edge and time your jump carefully, or you will fall off the platform before you have time to jump.

Bonus round strategies

 * You have 40 seconds to complete the bonus round by reaching the peak of the mountain and jumping in to the condor's claws.
 * There are no enemies here, so you do not have access to your hammer.
 * If you have to decide between taking the time to collect a vegetable, or completing the bonus round in time, complete the bonus round because you earn a lot more points for that than for collecting vegetables.
 * On the other hand, take as much time as you need to complete the bonus round because there is no bonus for unused time.
 * In order to complete the bonus round, you must jump such that your hands literally touch the condor's claws. The condor changes directions occasionally.  Jump well enough in advance of the condor's arrival over your head to touch his claws.

Arcade/FDS differences

 * Instead of a single set of 32 stages, there are 48 stages split up across two sets of 24. The player can choose to complete the stages in any order desired, although you swap back and forth between sets every 8 stages.
 * The second set of stages has a unique color scheme (example shown to the right). In the arcade version, the Condor at the top is replaced by a Butterfly.  In the FDS version, this is switched back to a Condor, but it's colored blue.
 * If you successfully clear the 8th stage before the stage sets switch, you will be treated to a super bonus level, in which you must merely ascend to the top where a flag has been posted. The platforms are typically composed of single blocks spaced very narrowly apart, and set up so that it's actually easier to rise from one level to another than usual.
 * The arcade version has one new enemy, the Bee, which flies straight across the screen. In the FDS version, the Bee is replaced by another Nitpicker who behaves in the same manner.  Additionally, the seals are replaced by the small Abominable Snowmen from the American version of the game.
 * The game features new hazards, such as blizzards which blow gusts of wind across the screen that augment or hamper your jumping, depending whether you jump with the wind or into it. Additionally, the cloud platforms may hover up and down as they cross the screen.