NES - Donkey Kong
September 26, 2008 - 12:42 am - Posted by Sean R.
I’ve played many home versions of Donkey Kong, but this one may be the best, however that shouldn’t come as a surprise considering Nintendo invented the game in the first place.
The hero is a little plumber with a big mustache named Mario who was originally called Jumpman. The villain is a giant ape named Donkey Kong. The two main characters would go on to become legends in the game industry.
Each stage involves navigating Mario up a series of girders while jumping over barrels and fireballs in order to rescue a girl being held hostage by Kong.
Hammers allow you to smash oncoming barrels and fireballs, but don’t get overconfident because the hammer does not make you invincible.
You can also seek additional bonus points by grabbing out-of-the-way items like umbrellas and pocketbooks.
Donkey Kong’s graphics are nearly identical to the arcade, but the stages have been “flattened” to better fit a TV screen. The coin-op arcade used a vertically-oriented monitor.
Three out of the four screens are included. Missing is the conveyor belt screen, but that was never too popular anyway.
The audio is faithful to the arcade, but Mario’s loud squeaky shoes are slightly obnoxious.
Two skill levels are included, but the “expert” level is relatively tame. Perhaps I’ve just become a Donkey Kong whiz over the years, but I was able to clear the first few sets of screens without much trouble.
This NES translation has it quirks but ultimately succeeds in bringing the arcade experience home.
2 Responses to “NES - Donkey Kong”
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WRONG! Kind of.
“Hey, I know that monkey! His name is Donkey.”
While the character would eventually switch professions to plumber and adopt the name Mario, in Donkey Kong he was a carpenter named Jumpman. Also, the woman was eventually named Pauline, though I think that was added in later.
@Luke: Wrong? No way
I know Mario was originally called Jumpman. I have that in my post. You must of overlooked that.
As for Pauline, from what I recall, when Mario was called Jumpman, she was just called ‘The Lady’.
From my experience, it would seem that most Japanese people are pretty literal with their translations when it comes to naming things.