Donkey Kong

"Ignoring the awful brouhaha from the Nintendo 64 games of these characters, think back to a simper time . . ."

OPENING STATEMENT
Almost everyone has played some version of Donkey Kong. But all of those Donkey Kong Country games are not the real Donkey Kong. This is Donkey Kong, right here with its eccentric presence, and with Nintendo star power in full bloom, before they were known (kind of like a European Sylvester Stallone movie - without the porno). And yet the misadventures of Mario rescuing Princess Pauline from the evil clutches of the Kong is still a worthwhile experience today.

GAMEPLAY--8
Well, this is a new twist on the classic save the princess story. Donkey Kong his holding the princess prisoner at the top of the level. Mario has to rescue her from the evil clutches of Donkey Kong. There are many obstacles to hamper Mario’s progress, such as rolling barrels, so he must be very careful where he goes. Without quick reflexes and anticipation, the swift movement of the game will simply leave you in the dust. There is always a reason when gameplay is still classic almost twenty years later.

GRAPHICS--7
Many of you are going to read that score and gasp. Back in the early eighties, these graphics were above average. The coloring and the detail were spectacular. Currently, these graphics are impressive alone in the fact that they were good in a time long ago, and we treasure that. Other than that, they are not good. They are colored nicely, but everything looks a little bit, well, blobby. You would have thought they would have spruced them up a bit for their run in Donkey Kong 64, but they did not.

MUSIC--6
SOUND--4
The music for the time was quite good, and I always have kind of liked the nostalgic video game music. But, it got too repetitive for my tastes. The song was ten seconds long before it started over again, and pretty soon you were asking for duct tape to cover over the speaker.

The sound effects are even more disappointing, as they are even more repetitive. All of the effects sound like noises you could record on a cassette at home, instead of something that should be heard in a definitive video game. A clink here, a whoosh there. These are probably the most disappointing thing about Donkey Kong. I know this is an early arcade game, but titles like Sinistar and Joust are so far ahead of Donkey Kong in this department, it is sad really.

CONTROL--9
This control is spectacular. A game like Donkey Kong is perfectly suited for the arcades. Using the classic arcade setup, Mario responds perfectly to your commands. This was the part of the game I expected to be the worst when I first played it, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was the best. There are never any problems with the control, unless the buttons you are using get damaged.

FUN--7
This game just did not grip me as much as some of the other arcade games did. It was fun yes, and it was fairly original, it just was not gripping. I do think that the game starts out slow, and becomes more fun as you go along, because the levels become better, and better thought out. Also, you get into it a little bit as you go on.

CHALLENGE--MEDIUM
Well, I found this game somewhat challenging. Especially so on the first time I played it. Some of the levels are MUCH more difficult than others, and this disparity really annoyed me. The falling or rolling objects at times can be literally impossible to dodge due to the setup of the levels, and this really should have been fixed. Because it leads to unneeded and unfair deaths.

REPLAY VALUE--MEDIUM
As I said before, Donkey Kong just did not grip me and that led to me not wanting to play it again. Sure, I used enough quarters to fill every washing machine in a laundromat, but that was because I was bad at the game, and I wanted to beat it. (I am hyper-competitive. What can I say? I am one of those kids that will scream at people in gym class who miss a shot, even though the game is meaningless.) Some people have played it again and again, but I played through it a few times and I have never touched it since.

PROS
*Controls perfectly, a rarity in arcades.
*Found more places than any game but Skee-Ball.
*Still seems to be found in a new game once a year.

CONS
*Graphics never were spectacular.
*Confusing level maps.
*Monkey lovers may detest plot.

CLOSING STATEMENT
This is a true classic, and everyone should play it, even if just for the fact that it really put Nintendo on the map. I am just saying there are better options for your hard earned quarters. This game gave birth to platforming, the career of game-genius Miyamoto, and Mario, so it really is one of the forefathers of video gaming. Yes, it is better than many games, it is still a good bet, but look for some Grade AAA titles before putting your coins or tokens into Donkey Kong.

OVERALL--7

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/08/00, Updated 05/13/02