RSS
"The oldest fight in Nintendo history."
June 6, 2004 | 10:00 PM PSTby: Miguel Yanez
Matt's take:
Way back when, a little known game developer was given the opportunity to make his first game for Nintendo. It was a simple affair, as all games were at the time - a little blue and red chap bounced and climbed his way across the screen towards an angry ape. The little chap was Mario, the ape was Donkey Kong, the developer was Shigeru Miyamoto, and the rest was history.
Donkey Kong hit the arcades in 1981 and was an instant hit. Players took on the mantle of (an as yet unnamed) Mario for the first time in order to rescue the hapless Princess Pauline. She’d been kidnapped by a rather large monkey and was being held atop a tall tower. The arcade version had four stages to each level which repeated with greater degrees of difficulty.
By the time the game made it to the NES, the conveyor belt stage had been dropped, but three stages was still enough to keep the masses happy. Initially, the hero of the tale would have to make his way up a series of sloping platforms by climbing ladders. The beauty and the beast would be at the top of the level and the latter would chuck barrels down the slopes in an attempt to ruin the rescue. The player would have to jump these barrels to reach the top. The next stage sees the plumber riding a series of moving platforms to make it to the top, whilst dodging various devices of hurtage. The final stage in each level would involve unscrewing a series of rivets holding all the platforms in place. When all of these were removed, the monkey would topple from his place at the top of the level to land in an undignified heap.
Simple, but effective, and almost unanimously agreed as one of the best games in the classic canon. An extra feature (if you can call it that) to this edition is the high score save, but apart from that, this game stays true to the NES version in every respect. There’s bound to be a few of you reading this who’ve spotted a dilemma, and it’s one that will crop up again and again with this collection. This classic re-issue game will set you back around $20. That’s all well and good, but a lot of you will have it already, even if you no longer own a NES system. The game was a collectable item in Animal Crossing that could be downloaded to your Game Boy Advance and played on the go. Not only that, but it has also been released as a series of e-reader cards for the GBA peripheral, and at a smaller cost.
Stephen Speaks:
Donkey Kong the classic that started it all is released again, this time through on the Classic Nes series. The Nes version was actually a port of the 1981 arcade game. If you haven't heard of this game, I would be very more than a little shocked, but here goes. A mean monkey by the name of Donkey Kong grabs up a beautiful girl named Pauline. He climbs up the most rickety structures he can find, and dares anyone to try and stop him. Jumpman, later known as Mario steps up to save Pauline.
As I said earlier this is an arcade port, and the nes version has three levels from the arcade game. Why Nintendo didn't include the level with the conveyer belt is unknown to me, maybe it was limitations on the cartridge technology at the time. The 3 levels that are included are all varied. You will find the emphasis on gameplay is jumping, yeah I know big surprise. To finish each level you simply need to make it up to the top of each structure, except for the final level where remove brackets that hold the final building together. You can grab hammers to use against different enemies, and some items can be attained for extra points. After the player finishes the game, it restarts from the beginning, and every time you finish the game it gets more and more difficult. .
Donkey Kong is a great game, and a true classic. It is hard to really know how revolutionary this game is without seeing it first hand in the infancy of the Video Game age. Still I don't know how many gamers of today could appreciate its wonderfully original scope and vision. And with Nintendo already releasing it for the Gameboy Advance through the e-reader I feel that this game may be find only collectors and hardcore fans interested in it.
Way back when, a little known game developer was given the opportunity to make his first game for Nintendo. It was a simple affair, as all games were at the time - a little blue and red chap bounced and climbed his way across the screen towards an angry ape. The little chap was Mario, the ape was Donkey Kong, the developer was Shigeru Miyamoto, and the rest was history.
Donkey Kong hit the arcades in 1981 and was an instant hit. Players took on the mantle of (an as yet unnamed) Mario for the first time in order to rescue the hapless Princess Pauline. She’d been kidnapped by a rather large monkey and was being held atop a tall tower. The arcade version had four stages to each level which repeated with greater degrees of difficulty.
By the time the game made it to the NES, the conveyor belt stage had been dropped, but three stages was still enough to keep the masses happy. Initially, the hero of the tale would have to make his way up a series of sloping platforms by climbing ladders. The beauty and the beast would be at the top of the level and the latter would chuck barrels down the slopes in an attempt to ruin the rescue. The player would have to jump these barrels to reach the top. The next stage sees the plumber riding a series of moving platforms to make it to the top, whilst dodging various devices of hurtage. The final stage in each level would involve unscrewing a series of rivets holding all the platforms in place. When all of these were removed, the monkey would topple from his place at the top of the level to land in an undignified heap.
Simple, but effective, and almost unanimously agreed as one of the best games in the classic canon. An extra feature (if you can call it that) to this edition is the high score save, but apart from that, this game stays true to the NES version in every respect. There’s bound to be a few of you reading this who’ve spotted a dilemma, and it’s one that will crop up again and again with this collection. This classic re-issue game will set you back around $20. That’s all well and good, but a lot of you will have it already, even if you no longer own a NES system. The game was a collectable item in Animal Crossing that could be downloaded to your Game Boy Advance and played on the go. Not only that, but it has also been released as a series of e-reader cards for the GBA peripheral, and at a smaller cost.
Stephen Speaks:
Donkey Kong the classic that started it all is released again, this time through on the Classic Nes series. The Nes version was actually a port of the 1981 arcade game. If you haven't heard of this game, I would be very more than a little shocked, but here goes. A mean monkey by the name of Donkey Kong grabs up a beautiful girl named Pauline. He climbs up the most rickety structures he can find, and dares anyone to try and stop him. Jumpman, later known as Mario steps up to save Pauline.
As I said earlier this is an arcade port, and the nes version has three levels from the arcade game. Why Nintendo didn't include the level with the conveyer belt is unknown to me, maybe it was limitations on the cartridge technology at the time. The 3 levels that are included are all varied. You will find the emphasis on gameplay is jumping, yeah I know big surprise. To finish each level you simply need to make it up to the top of each structure, except for the final level where remove brackets that hold the final building together. You can grab hammers to use against different enemies, and some items can be attained for extra points. After the player finishes the game, it restarts from the beginning, and every time you finish the game it gets more and more difficult. .
Donkey Kong is a great game, and a true classic. It is hard to really know how revolutionary this game is without seeing it first hand in the infancy of the Video Game age. Still I don't know how many gamers of today could appreciate its wonderfully original scope and vision. And with Nintendo already releasing it for the Gameboy Advance through the e-reader I feel that this game may be find only collectors and hardcore fans interested in it.
November 20, 2009
