Review scoopings 4/5 · Mar 5, 2022
Wow, How Is This So Much Better Than The First Donkey Kong???
Look: 8/10 As far as I can tell, only 2 screens (Hm, a lot of stuff online says 4 screens, but it seems to be the same 2 basic formats nonetheless). First one has platforms and ladders type setup, while the 2nd screen is basically straightforward "ladders" (well, chains heh). Nothing super special, decent colors, but I do love the …
Look: 8/10 As far as I can tell, only 2 screens (Hm, a lot of stuff online says 4 screens, but it seems to be the same 2 basic formats nonetheless). First one has platforms and ladders type setup, while the 2nd screen is basically straightforward "ladders" (well, chains heh). Nothing super special, decent colors, but I do love the Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr, and Mario sprites. Building that nostalgia before the true Nintendo era. ... Hm, actually, now that I look back at the screenshots (I was too busy playing the game to really notice this ha), I love how the water looks in the 1st screen and the look of the grass platforms. Those grass platforms, in particular, set such a precedent for future platformers, particularly Super Mario World of course but still. Love it.
Sound: 8/10 Heh, that absurd (potentially annoying) high pitched ticking as you climb up a vine. And the music is typical early 80s hype arcade music. But the music at the beginning, and oh wow the screen ending jingle, are excellent. Especially that screen ending jingle gives me heavy Mario vibes, you can see the buildup toward the console era of gaming that I love so much. Gah so excited! This game gave me so much nostalgia, even tho I'm not sure if I ever played it when young. I have a feeling I did because I felt much more comfortable with this than the first Donkey Kong and it almost felt like Dig Dug/Ms Pac Man where I felt like I had played it before.
Play: 8/10
Whoa, I like these controls, but oddly, it makes me want to replay, like, that early climbing-windows Japanese game and other awkward controls climbing games where you have two separate arm functions and give em another shot. The collision masks are much better in this game than the original Donkey Kong. It was honestly fun getting used to the controls and its mechanics; being able to shift left or right with joystick due to incoming enemies; and playing a classic arcade game I believed I had no exposure to otherwise. I liked how you grab to the vines from the jump, indeed the jump mechanic was just better than most of its contemporaries'. Almost everything is super solid with the controls and mechanics: responsive, accurate with switching back and forth between vines as enemies come, and collision masks for enemies/yourself. Only weirdness is some of the platforms, like at the top of the first screen, when you are close to the step up but your collision mask makes jumping clunky. 
Otherwise, tho, the controls are super tight and mechanics logical and fun to get to know, even the jumping/collision masks usually. The 2nd screen wasn't quite as much fun (and that's not only cuz it's harder ha), with quite different mechanics tho still the quality climbing gameplay aspects. It was fun sliding back down the chains quickly but still avoiding the horizontally flying birds ha.
Feel: 8/10
Gotta love the reversal of good and evil here. Eternally. Great concept and idea. I came into this iffy because I did not enjoy the first Donkey Kong, but wow, this has the right type of climbing gameplay and sound and "feel" indeed. I didn't realize I had nostalgia for it, and even if I didn't, the Mario-vibes jingles give a nostalgic feel regardless. I had to pause the game to get a screenshot of the celebration screen after the 2nd screen, so it's shaded/darker than in reality, but still wanted to show the happy sprites ha and Mario dead \m/ 
But then, after all that, I was disappointed to just see the first screen again (presumably with higher difficulty). I know that's the "thing" for early 80s games, but I was hoping for at least 3 unique screens.
Attachment: 8/10 Still, much better than the first Donkey Kong and, honestly, most platformers from this era. Lord knows, when I first started this project, I probly would have rage quit, but I can see improvements in my timing and understanding of these early 80s mechanics. Seems like I will have to completely readjust for the Nintendo Hard console era, then the PS1 era I am so looking forward to, then the PS2 era! But for now, I finally feel pretty good at these early 80s games, particularly arcade games! Not that I love them enough to repeatedly replay them on my own, or do the "re-cycled" screens to score higher and higher as many arcade gamers enjoy (I still have that RPG/console mindset of a set ending/just complete the set number of screens/etc.), but I definitely foresee loading this up on MAME when people are over (or, indeed, tonight when I go out to my family's, some friends are coming out too, as well as my brothers) and have classic arcade games like this Ms Pac Man Head On Scramble Dig Dug Space Invaders etc loaded up/accessible for people to play for fun. I hope that becomes a norm at get-togethers more often!
Completion: 2 screens Playtime: 35mins
