Pick Axe Pete is a platform style game of climbing and running that was popular in about thirty different country, with each country boasting a different title for the game. It is a game very similar to the arcade hit classic Donkey Kong, and the story involves a little miner dude, obviously called Pete, moving around a screen. The game’s graphics are two-dimensional and the entire game takes place from the third person perspective in a side view, again, very similar to Donkey Kong.
It was published by the North American Philips Consumer Electronics Corporation in the early eighties.
The story of Pick Axe Pete is as simplistic as the game play. Pick Axe Pete is a little miner guy, and he is working in the Misty Mountains trying to make a name for himself and earn his fame and fortune. The platform that is supposed to represent the girders of a high rise in Donkey Kong have been converted to a mine for Pick Axe Pete. Rocks are bursting from the walls of the mine and undetermined intervals and Pick Axe Pete must destroy them with his pick or avoid them entirely as he tries to navigate the mine and
earn gold for himself. Often times, there will be gold within the exploding wads of rock that he destroys with his pick. Sometimes the rock will hold other goodies, and sometimes, alas, it is just a rock. Not all of the rocks can be broken with Pick Axe Pete’s pick, and these must simply be destroyed.
Pick Axe Pete features several power-ups and also has a unique style of play. Instead of starting at the bottom of the screen and working his way up to the top, Pete will start in the middle and there will be three doors scattered around each level. He will have to collect keys to maneuver through the doors. However, the keys may be located up or down from where Pete starts, and he will have to navigate the entire level, so starting in the middle really doesn’t put him anywhere nearer to his goal. As he picks up power ups and moves toward doors, he will be quite weak and open to attack from the boulders, since he will be in corners and will be less maneuverable.
Pick Axe Pete is a classic arcade style action game that is really quite a lot of fun. It features a different theme in a game style that is friendly and standard, making for a nice blend of fresh and comfortable.
