ColecoVision · 1983
Mountain King
A scrolling platform game in which an explorer climbs a mine and temple, retrieves a golden crown, and races it to the mountaintop before time expires.
- Publisher
- CBS
- Format
- Cartridge
- Genre
- platform game
- Released
- 1983
01
Overview
The player navigates a multi-level mountain built from platforms and ladders, gathering diamonds and locating a flame spirit to unlock a temple that holds the golden crown. Once the crown is taken, bats and a large spider make the final ascent to the peak a timed challenge. After collecting the crown, the game plays Edvard Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Peer Gynt.
02
Why it matters
It is part of a 1983 multi-system release that brought the same mine-and-crown platforming to several early consoles and computers. Its use of a Grieg orchestral piece during the escape sequence gave the game a distinctive audio identity for its era.
03
The physical edition
A typical complete copy includes the original box, instruction manual, and game cartridge, though contents can vary by region and distribution. Packaging for this title is sometimes seen under different publisher branding, so verify the edition on the box and label.
04
Playing it today
It runs on an original ColecoVision with a standard controller and on many modern emulators, including the Phoenix VGS emulator for the ColecoVision. The one-player game uses only joystick movement and is accessible without special accessories.