I've never really seen any release date information for the game, but since the Apple IIe came out in 83, I don't think it could be earlier than that, since the game doesn't work on earlier models.
I'm not sure I really consider stuff like that part of the platform genre, but then "platform game" was really a later concept that retroactively included a lot of of older games that may have had other influences. Before that, there was something that could be called a genre with side-view games where the player went up and down to different levels, and Donkey Kong and some other early platformers spun out from that genre, but I don't know that there really is a good name for it. I usually just call them ladder games.
EDIT: Hmm, I did get the game to load in Apple II Plus mode (but not regular Apple II mode), although it runs very slowly. So I guess it's up in the air.
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