Hunter On Ice

“Hunter (or Hunter On Ice)” is a 2000 NES adaptation of “Ice Hunter (or Hunter: Prince of Ice),” a Commodore 64 video game, credited to Colosoftwares, 1983. Jean-François de Wergifosse is probably the developer for both the C64 and NES versions. Ice Hunter is a single screen platformer where you play as Thorak (or Hunter) the Inuit, Prince of Ice, who is searching for blocks to make a special igloo. Thorak has found a multi-level cave containing the blocks he needs for the igloo. He must get two blocks, one at a time, to a stream at the bottom of the cave, then stand on them to float down the stream. His main problem is the creatures that move around the screen – a Seal and a Dragon. These have to be avoided or if touched he loses one of four lives. The creatures though can be killed by dropping a block on top of them, or allowing them to fall through the gaps. A bird occasionally appears, and can be killed if its flight path is blocked. To get the blocks to the bottom of the screen, there are platforms over gaps, and to get a gap Thorak can walk on the platform to remove it then drop blocks through the gap to the level below. Thorak can’t fall through the gaps, but there are pillars that can be climbed up or down. At a certain level in the cave, Thorak can’t get back up, so he has to make sure he has two blocks to move to the stream. A power-pill can be collected, and these stun the creatures, which can then be touched to remove them. Once the blocks are floated away, then it’s off to the next cave, with more creatures. The levels start to scroll slowly to the left and appear again on the right of the screen.