Sky Skipper

Though Nintendo is not afraid to rehash its past with remakes and virtual console releases of old games, such as otherwise forgotten titles like Clu Clu Land and Urban Champions, much of their earlier arcade input remains completely neglected. One of these forgotten games is Sky Skipper, an interesting airplane shooter that bears some resemblance to the dos classic Sopwith, and the nes title Sky Kid, though Sky Skipper preceded both of them. In Sky Skipper, you star as a nameless pilot who must rescue anthropomorphic playing card royalty from the machinations of evil Donkey Kong clones who have somehow transported themselves back in time. You do this by stunning the Donkey Kong clones with your bombs, and picking up the grateful cards while the evil monkeys are stunned. This is easier said than done though, as you have to aim accurately, avoid the monkeys' projectiles, and make sure to refuel gently and safely. Sometimes this feels like rubbing your stomach while patting your head, but the controls, though they have a steep learning curve, never let you down once you learn them, and the uniqueness of the design keeps you playing.



Sky Kid only came out in japanese arcades, though it did get a downgraded atari 2600 port in America. The port doesn't play horribly, but the blocky graphics ruin much of the game's charm, and the lack of a horizontally scrolling play field and only one donkey kong per screen means that the gameplay is also completely simplified. Nintendo didn't even attempt to port the game to the NES, probably because the scrolling in both directions would have been too much for early famicom/nes carts to handle. While Sky Skipper is not a great lost classic, it is a small gem from Nintendo's oft-forgotten arcade era, and hopefully it'll get a virtual console or wiiware release at some point in the future.