For 1983, I bet this was a pretty decent port. Home versions of arcade games were all the rage, and it's quite serviceable compared to other arcade ports.
However, in current year, I'd rather just play the arcade version. You can get the real arcade rom on switch, and arcade emulation is trivial on modern computers.
However, in current year, I'd rather just play the arcade version. You can get the real arcade rom on switch, and arcade emulation is trivial on modern computers.
This game's existence is a blight. Not the original Donkey Kong - the arcade game is real fun and good - but specifically this NES version for gaslighting multiple generations that Donkey Kong was significantly worse than it was. This is one of the most harmful and incompetent ports of a game out there, and it goes far beyond just a missing stage (though cutting out 25% of a game is still pretty bad!). Barrel patterns are simplified and significantly less aggressive, making 25m pretty much a formality. The hammer does not flash to signify when it's about to expire, but still extends its jingle upon hitting a barrel, so you lack any real way to time when you drop your hammer. The speed of enemy fireballs is pitiful, making both 75m and 100m trivial to time. 100m also is incapable of spawning more than four fireballs at once, AND they get skittish and don't like crossing gaps, so just leaving them all in the corner is easy. And, if you didn't notice, those three levels are the entire game! Every single bit of the arcade game is compromised and gutted, from the removal of stages and cutscenes, to the simplification of patterns, to the difficulty only really increasing by a factor of "it's faster now" to the lack of basic courtesy in tells. And THIS is the most commonly re-released version of the game that many would say truly defined Nintendo as a video game publisher? Even for its time period, it's a pitiful effort.
anyone else here for the Nintendo Switch icons?
for a lot of people this port holds some nostalgic value to them as maybe it was their first venture into Donkey Kong, but for me NES Donkey Kong will always be that one game in Brawl's Masterpieces section where you only get 30 seconds to play it before you're booted out
this is like Diet Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong doesn't throw that much barrels at you in 25m, there's less Fires in 100m and they're not as aggressive, that's not even mentioning the complete absence of the main man the PIE FACTORY or 50m. granted there's a Donkey Kong Original Edition that actually adds 50m back (as well as the additional scenes of Donkey Kong taking away Lady and climbing the ladder, something that's missing in the vanilla NES version), but this version is difficult to come by so good luck finding a 25th Anniversary Edition Wii! anyway all these factors make NES Donkey Kong an easier, faster, and more boring experience than the Arcade version, I don't even think it gets around to the Arcade's difficulty until the 4th loop and by that point, why are you not playing the Arcade version instead?
UPDATE: right after I typed that last paragraph, I went back and switched over to the "Game B" selection in the title screen and okay nevermind the difficulty here is a bit closer to the Arcade version here. Game B is the way to go for this version but there's still a reason why the Arcade version is better which I'm going to mention right now.
if you're not playing this on actual hardware never reset the game because once you do, your scores are GONE. damn it's already bad enough that there's no in-game leaderboard but the game can't even properly save the scores when the game is turned off? what's even the point of going for scores in this version? is a kid back in the day supposed to take a picture of their score in their old ass 80's camera and show it off to their friends in school? almost all of the game's replayability is destroyed from that alone.
if there's something this port does have going for is that compared to all the other ports at the time where they all tend to look like bootlegs in some shape or form, the graphics are actually really close to the Arcade version outside of a few nitpicks like the darker color palette, more boxed aspect ratio, only using white for the HUD, and the replacement of the Jumpman life sprites with a simple number count instead. on a less nitpicky detail, likely due to the boxy aspect ratio, 100m is missing the platform above Donkey Kong which after he falls down into the ground, the platform drops which allows Jumpman and Lady to reunite together. since it's not there in this version I'm going to assume Jumpman quickly built an extra platform to reach her instead, also the two maintain their distance in this version for some reason, I guess Lady smelled too much like Donkey Kong for Jumpman to get any closer. also this version introduces the iconic title theme that would later be used as a part of Donkey Kong Country's title theme, it's kinda weird to think that this iconic tune wasn't even in the Arcade version.
anyway just play the Arcade version, it's on Switch, you can probably get it to work on your PC, it has the PIE FACTORY without you having to patch the game or find a rare special edition, don't have much else to talk about besides go check out my Arcade review where I actually go into a little more detail. most solid 4/10 game ever.
donkley cough
for a lot of people this port holds some nostalgic value to them as maybe it was their first venture into Donkey Kong, but for me NES Donkey Kong will always be that one game in Brawl's Masterpieces section where you only get 30 seconds to play it before you're booted out
this is like Diet Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong doesn't throw that much barrels at you in 25m, there's less Fires in 100m and they're not as aggressive, that's not even mentioning the complete absence of the main man the PIE FACTORY or 50m. granted there's a Donkey Kong Original Edition that actually adds 50m back (as well as the additional scenes of Donkey Kong taking away Lady and climbing the ladder, something that's missing in the vanilla NES version), but this version is difficult to come by so good luck finding a 25th Anniversary Edition Wii! anyway all these factors make NES Donkey Kong an easier, faster, and more boring experience than the Arcade version, I don't even think it gets around to the Arcade's difficulty until the 4th loop and by that point, why are you not playing the Arcade version instead?
UPDATE: right after I typed that last paragraph, I went back and switched over to the "Game B" selection in the title screen and okay nevermind the difficulty here is a bit closer to the Arcade version here. Game B is the way to go for this version but there's still a reason why the Arcade version is better which I'm going to mention right now.
if you're not playing this on actual hardware never reset the game because once you do, your scores are GONE. damn it's already bad enough that there's no in-game leaderboard but the game can't even properly save the scores when the game is turned off? what's even the point of going for scores in this version? is a kid back in the day supposed to take a picture of their score in their old ass 80's camera and show it off to their friends in school? almost all of the game's replayability is destroyed from that alone.
if there's something this port does have going for is that compared to all the other ports at the time where they all tend to look like bootlegs in some shape or form, the graphics are actually really close to the Arcade version outside of a few nitpicks like the darker color palette, more boxed aspect ratio, only using white for the HUD, and the replacement of the Jumpman life sprites with a simple number count instead. on a less nitpicky detail, likely due to the boxy aspect ratio, 100m is missing the platform above Donkey Kong which after he falls down into the ground, the platform drops which allows Jumpman and Lady to reunite together. since it's not there in this version I'm going to assume Jumpman quickly built an extra platform to reach her instead, also the two maintain their distance in this version for some reason, I guess Lady smelled too much like Donkey Kong for Jumpman to get any closer. also this version introduces the iconic title theme that would later be used as a part of Donkey Kong Country's title theme, it's kinda weird to think that this iconic tune wasn't even in the Arcade version.
anyway just play the Arcade version, it's on Switch, you can probably get it to work on your PC, it has the PIE FACTORY without you having to patch the game or find a rare special edition, don't have much else to talk about besides go check out my Arcade review where I actually go into a little more detail. most solid 4/10 game ever.
donkley cough
It's Donkey Kong alright. On the NES! Not much wrong with it really, it's just about what you'd expect. Significantly easier than the arcade version, but at its core it's still Donkey Kong. Still a good game, albeit very, very short (they were really trying to get their money's worth by making the original in arcades so difficult). The NES version makes the game's length more of a problem since it is way easier, and running through the 3 actual levels is a complete breeze. But, besides that, it's Donkey Kong. I'd much rather play this than Nintendo's other old arcade offerings cough Mario Bros. cough, even if this is a dumbed-down port.