Roc'n Rope
1983 · Platform · Arcade
Overview
Roc'n Rope (1983) is Tokuro Fujiwara's Konami arcade game, described as the first "wire action" game, in which an archaeologist fires a harpoon rope to climb towards a phoenix.
Deep Dive
The archaeologist carries a flashlight and a harpoon gun. He climbs rocky ledges by firing ropes, stuns dinosaurs and red-haired cavemen with the light, or waits until they get caught on a rope and fall. Phoenix feathers and eggs make him briefly invulnerable.
Developer Story
Fujiwara designed it at Konami, which released it in Japan in March 1983 and worldwide in April, with Interlogic publishing in North America. It is counted among Konami's early arcade hits alongside Scramble, Frogger and Yie Ar Kung-Fu.
Did You Know?
- It became the basis for Capcom's Bionic Commando (1987); Fujiwara later worked at Capcom.
- Coleco made Atari 2600 and ColecoVision versions in 1984.
Sources & further reading
- Roc'n Rope — Wikipedia
