Attempting to seriously review every game I've played #5:
Being one of the first three games released for the Famicom in Japan, and being a port of an arcade game from two years prior, Donkey Kong really doesn't hold up too well. This is by far the most arcade accurate port of the game available at the time, and for the most part it still is one of the most accurate versions of the game short of the original arcade version itself (which Nintendo seem averse to re-releasing). However despite one of the design goals of the Famicom being to play Donkey Kong as accurately as possible, there are some unfortunate concessions made here. The cement factory stage is completely missing for one, arguably the largest piece of cut content, the cutscenes are missing, and the "How high can you get?" screen has been removed. There are also some minor changes made, such as the lack of point combos for jumping over multiple obstacles at once, and the game being physically shorter than its arcade counterpart, a result of the arcade version using a monitor rotated 90 degrees, creating a 3:4 aspect ratio as opposed to the standard aspect ratio of 4:3.
I'm not an expert on the original game, but it also seems as though barrel steering is missing here. In my experience barrels seem to decide whether to descend ladders purely based on RNG, while in the arcade version you could manipulate them by tilting the stick towards the ladder as a barrel approached it, which was invaluable for splitting up large clusters to make the game easier, as well as grouping barrels up for higher combos. Similarly I believe the fireball enemies behaved differently in the arcade version, being more likely to move upward when Mario was above them and downward when he was below. These changes aren't likely to matter to most people, but they undeniably make the game much more random, which can at times be very frustrating.
The game itself however is absolutely still Donkey Kong, with all the problems that entails. Jumping is stiff and awkward, hammers aren't really worth the trouble of getting them most of the time, and sometimes an impossible or near-impossible pattern will get sent your way with no way of avoiding it. The fall damage mechanic is somewhat baffling to me, as the threshold for dying from a fall is so short that even small falls can cost you a run. I have a lot more to say on my issues with the game's design, but I'll save them for when I review the arcade version on its own. Suffice to say, I don't think Donkey Kong is particularly good in the modern age. That being said it is still fun. Once you grow accustomed to the jank, there is still some amount of entertainment to be found here, I just can't recommend it to most people unless they have a particularly strong interest in Nintendo's history.
Being one of the first three games released for the Famicom in Japan, and being a port of an arcade game from two years prior, Donkey Kong really doesn't hold up too well. This is by far the most arcade accurate port of the game available at the time, and for the most part it still is one of the most accurate versions of the game short of the original arcade version itself (which Nintendo seem averse to re-releasing). However despite one of the design goals of the Famicom being to play Donkey Kong as accurately as possible, there are some unfortunate concessions made here. The cement factory stage is completely missing for one, arguably the largest piece of cut content, the cutscenes are missing, and the "How high can you get?" screen has been removed. There are also some minor changes made, such as the lack of point combos for jumping over multiple obstacles at once, and the game being physically shorter than its arcade counterpart, a result of the arcade version using a monitor rotated 90 degrees, creating a 3:4 aspect ratio as opposed to the standard aspect ratio of 4:3.
I'm not an expert on the original game, but it also seems as though barrel steering is missing here. In my experience barrels seem to decide whether to descend ladders purely based on RNG, while in the arcade version you could manipulate them by tilting the stick towards the ladder as a barrel approached it, which was invaluable for splitting up large clusters to make the game easier, as well as grouping barrels up for higher combos. Similarly I believe the fireball enemies behaved differently in the arcade version, being more likely to move upward when Mario was above them and downward when he was below. These changes aren't likely to matter to most people, but they undeniably make the game much more random, which can at times be very frustrating.
The game itself however is absolutely still Donkey Kong, with all the problems that entails. Jumping is stiff and awkward, hammers aren't really worth the trouble of getting them most of the time, and sometimes an impossible or near-impossible pattern will get sent your way with no way of avoiding it. The fall damage mechanic is somewhat baffling to me, as the threshold for dying from a fall is so short that even small falls can cost you a run. I have a lot more to say on my issues with the game's design, but I'll save them for when I review the arcade version on its own. Suffice to say, I don't think Donkey Kong is particularly good in the modern age. That being said it is still fun. Once you grow accustomed to the jank, there is still some amount of entertainment to be found here, I just can't recommend it to most people unless they have a particularly strong interest in Nintendo's history.