“Fix-It Felix Jr. was one of the most popular 2D platform games ever made. Launching in 1982, it became a pop culture sensation thanks to its colorful 8-bit graphics, simple controls, and addictive gameplay.”
―Official description
Fix-It Felix Jr. is one of the games of Litwak's Arcade in Disney's 2012 animated feature film, Wreck-It Ralphand its 2018sequel. It is an 8-bit platformer starring the titular hero, Fix-It Felix Jr., who must save an apartment building from being destroyed by his rampaging rival, Wreck-It Ralph. The game takes place in Niceland, a quaint town inhabited by numerous, pint-sized NPCs called the Nicelanders.
Developed by the fictional Japanese company, Tobikomi, Fix-It Felix Jr. is one of the oldest games in Litwak's, as the cabinet began operating back in 1982 (thirty years prior to 2012). Niceland is mainly a single tall apartment building with a forest surrounding it and a dump nearby. It also has scenic lakes, a starry sky with multi-colored stars, and is eternally set at nighttime. The game's screen acts as the characters' window into the human world. The head Nicelander, Gene, is mayor of the town.
Due to Ralph's desire to become a hero, the machine was temporarily marked as "Out of Order" and would be unplugged if they couldn't get him back. By the end of the movie, not only does Ralph return, he invites the characters from Q*bert and other homeless video game characters to join them as part of the game's "bonus level"; this notably spiked the game's popularity amongst the arcade visitors.
Plot
The game revolves around Wreck-It Ralph, a giant who lives in a tree stump. However, Ralph's home is moved to a dump and replaced by the Niceland apartment building. Enraged, Ralph decides to destroy the building, throwing out a Nicelander in the process. The Nicelanders then call for handyman Fix-It Felix Jr. to fix the building.
Gameplay
The player plays as Felix and must fix broken windows while avoiding bricks Ralph pounds out, as well as ducks. Sometimes, a Nicelander may leave a pie out their window, which Felix can eat to become invincible. After Felix fixes all of the windows in the stage, he completes it and goes to the next. The game lasts for 5 stages and after the 5th stage ends, the game is completed and the player is treated to an ending cutscene where Felix gets a medal and Ralph is thrown off of the building.
Places of interest
The Apartment: A large apartment building where Felix and the Nicelanders reside.
The Penthouse: The luxurious residence of Gene. It is known for hosting special events, such as the game's 30th anniversary party. One of its most notable features is Gene's bar.
Felix and Calhoun's Apartment: The home of Felix and Sergeant Calhoun. The apartment is modeled specifically to fit the couple's unique styles with its mix of homey and military aesthetics.
The Dump: Ralph's home. It is where Ralph's bricks are stored at the end of every gameplay session. The dump was renamed East Niceland after Ralph and Felix converted the area into a residency to house Ralph and the homeless video game characters that were invited to live in the game.
The Forest: The forest that surrounds the whole game. It features a large lake.
The Trolley: The transportation system that connects Niceland to Game Central Station.
Trivia
As part of Disney's marketing, a version of the game was playable on their website during the release of Wreck-It Ralph, along with playable versions of Sugar Rush Speedway and Hero's Duty.
The game is a parody of the classic Nintendo arcade game Donkey Kong, although the Jr. portion of the game's title could be a reference to the game Donkey Kong Jr., in which DK is the captive and Mario is the villain (and DKJr being the only Mario game to feature a villainous Mario).
The ducks seen as obstacles in the later levels resemble the ones from Duck Hunt.
Like Pac-Man, completing a certain number of levels of this game will cause it to crash and show a "kill screen" just like in this game and at the end of this film.
According to the DVD and Blu-Ray disc's main menu, the game's high score is 110,212, a possible reference to November 2, 2012, the film's release date. However, in the film itself, the score is 120,501 (December 5, 1901, Walt Disney's birth date) instead.
Although Fix-it Felix Jr. was supposedly first released in 1982 (one year after Donkey Kong's release), the DVD and Blu-ray's main menu for some reason claim the game was first made in 1981.
