Donkey Kong (Video Game Review)

Video Game Review
Donkey Kong
Arcade
1981
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo

The original arcade Donkey Kong has become one of the most famous games in the world. It stars two of Nintendo’s world famous mascots and has been the focal point of films like The King of Kong. Behind all the nostalgia and popularity lies an entertaining game. Although it’s not as in-depth an experience as later Mario or Donkey Kong titles would become, the original Donkey Kong is a game that manages to hold its own. While it was never worth the price of what a full price game is today, it was, and still is an easy way to lose a lot of quarters.

The story of Donkey Kong is simple. A big ape named Donkey Kong has kidnapped a lady (later renamed Pauline in future versions of the game) and taken her to a construction site. It’s up to Jumpman (later renamed to Mario) to rescue her. Donkey Kong’s incessant stomping has warped some of the platforms making it difficult for Mario to reach Pauline (as evidenced by the opening scene of the game). Donkey Kong tries to stop Mario by throwing various obstacles in the way like barrels and springboards. Every time Mario gets close, Donkey Kong grabs Pauline and heads for higher ground.

There are four levels in the game. The first three have the same objective in that you have to reach the highest plateau. Once you do, Donkey Kong yanks Pauline and whisks her away to the next level. The fourth level requires you to remove the support rivets for the level’s structure. This is done by walking over them. Once the eighth and final rivet is removed, Donkey Kong takes a brutal fall and Pauline is rescued. However, the game doesn’t end there as the game starts over again with harder obstacles to avoid. The game only sees an end once Mario loses all his lives or after the 22^nd round of levels due to a hardware glitch.

Mario has two ways of dealing with enemies: he can either avoid them by jumping over them, or if he can find a hammer, he can use it for a limited amount of time to bash them. The downside to the hammer is that Mario can only move left or right while using it and not go up or down ladders. As well, once Mario grabs a hammer, there’s no way to manually relinquish it; he holds onto it until the power-up ends.

If there’s one major issue with Donkey Kong, it’s the controls. They are incredible stiff. Mario is moved using the joystick and you press a button on the console to make him jump. However, jumping feels mechanical. It doesn’t feel fluid or natural at all. Miscalculated jumps are the easiest way to lose a life in the game because Mario seems to have trouble making it over a gap of a few pixels. There’s no room for error which means that you have to be on your toes since the controls are so stiff.

The game looks great graphically considering the hardware. Mario, Donkey Kong, and all the other pixelated items look good. There is no slowdown even when there are many objects on screen. It’s a single screen game but there’s plenty of action on screen so you never feel boxed in by the environment.

The sound is a bit unbalanced. While some of the sound effects sound like something you’d hear from a 1970s alarm clock—like Donkey Kong’s roar—other sound effects are quite interesting and do a good job at adding to the atmosphere of the game. Three of the four levels have music as well (plus a theme for whenever you get your hands on the hammer power-up); which was not as common a concept in games as it is today. Although don’t expect much from the three tunes as they’re just a few notes played repeatedly over and over again. It’s not as bad as it seems because not only is it not in the least bit annoying but it, like the sound effects, really bring out a vibrance to the gameplay. There is no music for the third level which seems kind of weird, though.

Even with the control issues, Donkey Kong is a fun game to play because it provides an interesting challenge. While there have been countless stories about how people have been obsessed with trying to get the scoring world record for the game, it’s still fun to play with friends amongst yourselves while seeing who can get the highest score. Even though the game is single-player, it’s still fun to stand around the cabinet with a bunch of buddies and see who is better at the game.

All things considering, Nintendo’s Donkey Kong has aged considerably well. It was and never will be the price of a full-retail game but playing it for short bursts a few quarters at a time is worth it. If you find a Donkey Kong arcade machine in your travels, give it a shot. The only thing you have to lose is a couple of quarters and a few minutes.

☆☆☆