Pickaxe Pete
{{Short description|1982 video game}}
{{Refimprove|date=December 2009}}
{{Infobox video game
|title = Pickaxe Pete (Europe)
Pick Axe Pete! (US)
|image = Pickaxe Pete Coverart.png
|caption =
|developer =
|series =
|released = 1982
|genre = Platform
|modes =
|platforms = Philips Videopac (EU)
Magnavox Odyssey² (US)
}}
Pickaxe Pete is a video game released in 1982 as cartridge number 43 for the Philips Videopac console. It was published in North America for the Magnavox Odyssey² as Pick Axe Pete!. In Brazil, it was re-branded as Didi na Mina Encantada (Didi in the Enchanted Mine) for the Odyssey, featuring the character Didi from the TV series Os Trapalhões on the game cover.{{cite web|title=Didi Na Mina Encantada!|url=http://odysseymania.classicgaming.com.br/ody9437.html|website=Odyssey Mania|accessdate=December 6, 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111115192723/http://odysseymania.classicgaming.com.br/ody9437.html|archivedate=November 15, 2011|language=Portuguese}} Pickaxe Pete is a platform game that followed in the wake of Donkey Kong before the term existed; a 1982 issue of Joystik magazine labeled it a "climbing game". It was designed and programmed by Ed Averett, who wrote the majority of the games for the system.
A U.S. national competition, "The Pick Axe Pete Pick-Off," was held at the World's Fair in October 1982.{{cite web|last=Cassidy|first=William|title=Pick Axe Pete - Overview|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=16545|website=AllGame|accessdate=December 6, 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114203714/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=16545|archivedate=November 14, 2014}}{{cite web|title=Pick Axe Pete Pick-Off News Coverage|url=http://www.the-nextlevel.com/odyssey2/media/videos/video.php?id=11|website=The Odyssey2 Homepage|accessdate=December 6, 2016}}
Gameplay
The player controls a miner named Pickaxe Pete who starts in the middle of the screen with a pick-axe. There are three doors from which boulders are coming, bouncing down the mine-shafts; every time Pete destroys one of these he gains 3 points, although the axe wears out after a while and disappears. When two boulders collide, they explode, and out comes either a pick-axe which floats to the bottom of the screen, a key which floats to the top, or nothing. If Pete has no axe, the player can either jump over boulders (gaining him 1 point), or get to the bottom of the mine to retrieve a new axe (gaining a 5-point bonus). If Pete collects a key then he can enter the doors, which lead him to the next level.
Reception
In a December 1982 review, US magazine Joystik called the game "Odyssey's new entry in the Donkey Kong lookalike contest". The reviewer gave it a 3/10 for graphics and 7/10 for gameplay and concluded:
{{blockquote|text=We're not overly thrilled by the graphics of this game—there's just nothing spectacular about the way it looks. But we think most "level game" fans will enjoy Pick Axe Pete{{'}}s challenging game play.}}
References
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External links
- {{IAg|Pickaxe_Pete_1982_Philips_EU_US}}
Category:Video games developed in the United States
Category:Magnavox Odyssey 2 games
Category:Magnavox Odyssey 2-only games
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