My Played Video Games Review: Donkey Kong for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
Donkey Kong is an arcade platform game produce by Nintendo in Japan in 1981. It was one the ancestors of the platform games we enjoy today. The game was ported to the Nintendo's Family Computer (Famicom) in 1983 as one of the first 3 launch games. The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) port was released in North America and Europe in 1986.
I got to play this massively popular game during the late 1980s. Only rich and upper middle-class kids have a NES by then in the Philippines. Thankfully, a neighbor had one.
The Story
Try to save Mario's girlfriend Pauline from the big bad gorilla Donkey Kong. Donkey Kong has kidnapped and taken her to the top of a construction site. It is up to you to help poor Mario save Pauline before the time runs out
The Graphics and Sound
As one of the early NES games, The 1980s graphics were fine for the time. The characters were rendered properly. And the developers' decision to make Mario wearing a hat easily made him the best character in the whole game. The platforms really look colorful and nice after every level.
I loved the melodic music in this game. Mario's running movement goes well synchronizes with the music that it has become so iconic in gaming.
The Gameplay
The gameplay of this game is nothing less than legendary. Start at the bottom of a level, get to the the top, and avoid the moving hazards or enemies. Keep going until you reach the girl. That's basically it.
There are only four levels, but they are different enough so that each require a different strategy to finish. What's more, every 4th level you beat, the stages start again at a higher difficulty.
Since the game never end, your final goal in playing the game is to get that highest score possible. Collecting items, destroying enemies or hazards with a hammer, and finishing levels as fast as you can get good scores. It all does not sound so exciting but it is addictive enough.
The title screen has got 4 options. The top option, 1 Player Game A, is the arcade style version. 1 Player Game B is the difficulty set to hard. The bottom two options are the same, except you and player 2 take turns for every life spent.
The game is fine when beating levels and for getting the high scores. The replay value is pretty damn good for a very old game because the controls are very tight and responsive.
My Verdict
Donkey Kong is a timeless video game classic that is known to anyone who considers themselves a true gamer. It is simple and easy to learn yet moderately difficult to master. Just play it.
Play it on the NES or on emulators. Enjoy this piece of gaming history.