Page 36 - Old School Gamer Magazine Issue #43 FREE Edition

released in 1983. This is an 8K port, which allows for the game to have three of the four screens from the arcade game (vines, sparks, and chains). Despite this, this version
is very limited when compared to the original game. The graphics are very basic. Donkey Kong looks like he did in the Coleco port of that game (e.g., gingerbread man), but Jr., despite being drawn in only one color, looks more like an ape. There are no fruits on any of the levels
for the player to drop on enemies, taking away an important aspect of the gameplay. The Snapjaws are here, but they are rendered as just two horizontal lines attached to a rectangle. They are animated, but they don’t go up and down the vines. At least the one Nitpicker
is better drawn and recognizable. Perhaps the best-looking of the three screens is the sparks level, though it does not feature any sparks! The only enemies on this screen are the Snapjaws. The chains level only has three keys
for Jr. to push up, instead of six. There’s some of the intro music when a level starts, but that’s about it. The sound effects are limited and, in fact, some of them are grating. There are problems with how the game controls as well, with the jump not working very well. Sadly, this is not a very good port of the game, but it is a decent effort.
ATARI 8-BIT/ATARI 5200
features a nice title screen, all four game screens, all game elements, and the animations at the end of each level. Each of the screens is
an accurate representation of the arcade original, despite having differences in the colors. Jr. is drawn in diapers, as in the arcade, and all the enemies look as they
are supposed to. The Snapjaws are nicely animated and have their teeth, the sparks flash as they are supposed to, and the Nitpickers open their beaks as they fly. The initial music and in-game music for each level are present as well, and the sound effects are as close to the arcade originals as they can be. The animations of Mario pushing Kong’s cage play in the three appropriate screens, and there is the animation from the chains screen, though it has been changed from the one in the arcade. Instead of Kong falling with Jr. catching him, then walking off screen with Mario chasing
them so Kong can kick him, the chain screen vanishes into a black background with a floor platform. Kong drops, kicks Mario while falling, and then Jr. joins Papa Kong with both raising their arms in celebration. I’m not sure why
this was changed, but it still works. Control for this game is smooth, making this a winning port. A cheat in this version works by holding
the Shift key while typing “BOOGA,” which lets the player: (1) Press K
to become invincible and (2) Press S to skip the current level. The game was never officially released for the Atari 5200; however, homebrew programmers hacked the 8-bit version to make it work
on the 5200. In fact, the original version has been hacked to visually match the arcade game better. It is available for 8-bit computers and the 5200.
ATARI 7800
This port was released in 1988 by Atari; however, it is unknown who programmed this version. This
port has a nice title screen that lets the player select the difficulty and number of players, and it features all four screens from the arcade. The graphics on this version are colorful and closely match the original arcade graphics. Jr. is wearing his diapers, and all the enemies look as they should. They are all also properly animated. Though the animations at the end of the vines, platform, and spark levels are missing when the player finishes, the music does play. The chain screen does feature a partial animation with Mario and Kong falling, and Jr. holding Kong before he reaches the floor. Neither Donkey Kong nor Jr. walks off screen for Mario to chase them, so we don’t see Kong kicking Mario. Controls
on this version work very well, but you do have to be very precise when jumping over enemies or jumping between platforms. Where this port falters is the sound effects and music. Given the game is limited to TIA sounds, this limits the system’s ability to reproduce the arcade sound effects and music. A POKEY chip would have done wonders for that! I should note that this port has also been hacked to make the graphics look even closer to the arcade game. It’s freely available, and I recommend it.
Released in 1983 and programmed by Kevin Sacher and Jeff Milhorn for Atari, this port of the game
is one of the best for its time. It
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OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE • ISSUE #43