"A pretty darn fun game!"

Donkey Kong would have to be my favorite Atari 2600 games. It is the debut for the little red plumber we now know today as Mario and the evil monkey we know as Donkey Kong, and not to mention some princess! Donkey Kong had a simple concept and few levels, but proved to be very challenging, fun, entertaining, and addictive game. I may say this game isn't that great later on but in the short and long run this game is very valuable to add to your collection.

In Donkey Kong, you play as Mario the plumber. He is trying to save his princess who Donkey Kong has kidnapped. Donkey Kong is aware of Mario being around and is not very pleased by it so unleashes lots of attacks on Mario to try and seize his rescue of the princess.

There are two different level layouts throughout the game. The first one is a bunch of sloping floors slowly leading to the top floor where the princess is held. When you get to the top of the stage, you need to climb up the final stair to save the princess. The hard thing about the first level layout is that the barrels can fall down any set of stairs that they want to, even the ones that are broken and you can't. The second level layout is made of four levels each connected by four set of stairs. There are also two trap doors on each floor besides the bottom that when Mario walks over will disappear. To complete the level Mario must walk over all of the trap doors. In this level Donkey Kong will not unleash barrels but snakes that will try to unleash a deadly bite on Mario.

In every level you see a hammer usually located at the top of the level. The hammer is the only and most useful item to Mario in the whole game. The hammer allows Mario to smash all barrels and beat all snakes that come in contact with him while he has the hammer. However, having the hammer disenables Mario to jump or climb ladders.

Mario is also given a small amount of abilities, but each of them is good and bad in their own way. First of all, Mario can jump. This is very useful. Mario can jump over just about anything in this game that poses a threat to him, which becomes a necessity to beating the game. Mario can also climb ladders that aren't broken. This is also a necessity to beating the levels.

Graphics
For the Atari 2600 they aren't that bad actually. Though Donkey Kong looks nothing like a monkey, and Mario looks like he weighs a couple hundred pounds, and the barrels look like pizzas, the animations were the best. They were very good and clear. Unlike in most Atari games, the main character actually looked like he was walking instead of sliding. Top notch for the Atari 2600. The colors are also pretty good. I liked the lighting and color selection for this game especially. Bravo to Coleco for these graphics.

Sound
Also exceptionally well. There wasn't any background music as of just about any Atari 2600 game, but the sound effects were very good. Mario jumping and moving are the highlights of the sound. They are made of chimes as usual, nothing new. Also good job to Coleco for not trying to make the graphics too bad that they were annoying.

Game Play
If you know what you are doing, this game is very fun. It isn't though if you don't know that you can jump over barrels, which I didn't at first. The only flaw that I saw in the game play was that there was only two level designs in the whole game. They are exactly the same every time and they never get harder. Having the levels repeat, takes a lot away from the game also making too easy. This takes a lot out of the fun and replay value of the game.

Challenge
The first level is a little bit too easy, and the second level is about right. The first few times you play the game, it is quite challenging, but after a while, the game gets too easy. Even without using the hammer, the game play just gets so repetitive that you can almost tell which ladder the next barrel will go down.

Replay Value
Unfortunately, this is also a pretty bad part of the game. The game is fun, however it doesn't give us the replay value of other Donkey Kong games let alone other Atari 2600 games.

Overall
It was a great attempt by Coleco. They almost perfected the graphics and sound, but the game play got them, and left them for dead. It is a fun game, but repetitive.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/25/06