Popeye is that rarest of classic cartoons, in that, in pop culture terms, it seems to have completely vanished from mainstream consciousness over the last few generations.

The character was created in 1929, appearing in the King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre.

Though the comic was already a decade old at that point, Popeye soon became the lead character, and made the jump to animation in 1933.

I grew up watching Popeye cartoons from a variety of eras, perhaps most prominently The All-New Popeye Hour, which ran from 1978-1983.

We won’t talk about the awful, short-lived Popeye and Son from 1987.

Anyway, the point is that Popeye was still a big deal in the early 80s; so much so that Nintendo, following the success of Donkey Kong, were able to license the characters and create a single screen arcade platformer featuring the eponymous sailor man, his true love Olive Oyl, the dastardly Bluto (aka Brutus) and other elements of the series.

As it’s a port of a Nintendo game, just like Donkey Kong and Mario Bros, it feels a bit illicit playing Popeye on the Atari 2600, but is it worth playing?

Let’s take a look at it.

Unlike other single screen platformers, Popeye is very unusual in that the player character can’t jump.

Instead, he must avoid Bluto/Brutus while collecting items dropped by Olive Oyl, with the antagonist able to reach up between platforms and fling objects at poor Popeye when they’re on the same level together.

Naturally, Popeye can grab a can of spinach for a power pellet style effect, allowing him to knock Bluto off the screen once per stage.

Popeye also has a punch; if well timed, he can use this to deflect objects thrown at him, some of which apparently come from the Sea Hag, who you can’t actually see.

Collecting enough hearts on stage 1, love notes on stage 2, or X smooches on stage 3 will take Popeye to the next stage; completion of all three takes you back to stage 1, with increased difficulty.

Like wearing an onion on your belt, when it came to arcade games, it was the style at the time.

At first, it’s a little tough to get your head around the mechanics. It’s not as immediately obvious as many arcade or even Atari games of the era.

Yet it looks fine, if lacking in colours, on the old 2600, attempts a passable rendition of the cartoon theme tune and it plays pretty well too.

It’s actually really addictive and, dare I say it, better than Donkey Kong; certainly when comparing the 2600 versions of each game.

It might actually be one of the best platformers on the system, not that there’s that many on Atari’s old console!

Additionally, it works perfectly on the 2600+ and it’s not even that pricey to get; though games such as the aforementioned Donkey Kong and Mario Bros may seem more appealing due to the popularity of their arcade originals, I’d recommend getting hold of Popeye over either of them any time.

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