"Climb vines! Eat bananas! See bizarre vine-climbing alligators chew your head!"

Once again, I am leaping into the breach, trying futilely to convince the world that these moldy old games are truly worthy of the mantle that they collectively wear. Although people have often disagreed with me, I remain convinced that no matter how good modern games are (and a lot of them are very good indeed), you don't need the flashy graphics, blood, or eye-candy FMV to make a great game. All you need are visuals you can stand to look at, a good engine, and excellent, well-balanced gameplay. And where better to look for these things than in the sequel to the mighty Donkey Kong, one of my all-time fave raves?

Donkey Kong Jr., while not quite the twenty-four-karat classic that its Big Bro is, is still a good game. It's one of those games you can lose all track of time with while you're playing; and you also become unbearably frustrated every time you die, but still feel compelled to continue on until you master the damn thing. That's a great game, IMHO.

The graphics are good for the time (let's all invoke some historical perspective here and try not to compare this to Sonic Adventure or Tekken Tag Tournament). My personal favorite moment is when Junior falls from a vine and you lose a chance; his spazzy, eye-popping look of utter disbelief is worth a quarter all by itself.

The gameplay is mostly functional, but good; you can climb, swing from vine to vine, and drop fruits on those alligators-who-think-they're-squirrels, to start with. Later on, things do become more complicated, but that's all you need to master to play the game.

What can I say? Although it isn't as good as the first (what sequel is?), it's still a blast to play. Plus, you have the chance to see Mario in his only appearance as an utter villain! (The sneaky little plumber must have been trying to show his range. Unfortunately, since his expression never changes, he ended up typecast as a hero forever, despite his best efforts.) Now get out there and climb those vines, eat those bananas, and try not to let anything bite you, ok?

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99