Donkey Kong

Name: Donkey Kong
Year: 1985
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Genre: Arcade
Hours Played: Countless
Beaten: N/A

Donkey Kong is a strange beast (the game, not the ape).  Released in 1981, it was the world's first platformer, and it took the world by storm, but by 1985 (the release of Super Mario Bros) it was already obsolete.

All the action in Donkey Kong takes place in a single screen, no scrolling.  There's three different levels that repeat endlessly (four in the original arcade version), and the point is to get the highest possible score.  For any gamer born later then 1979, the first three levels are a lot of fun (wondering what comes next), but once you've cleared the third board, it's hard to maintain much intrest in playing.  In modern times, having to beat the game more then once (Ghost & Goblins, Bubble Bobble, etc) is considered a cop-out by the programmers; while I know this was a common practice in arcade games at the time (Pac-Man, Space Invaders, etc), it still feels a little cheap, especially for a console game released alongside Super Mario Bros.

Honestly, I feel bad criticizing Donkey Kong - it invented jumping in sidescrollers, and without it we wouldn't have Super Mario Bros - but unlike Super Mario Bros, it's not a game that's aged well.  Even as far as one-screen platformers go, I'd much rather play Bubble Bobble then this.

Graphics & Animation: 2 (Average)
The graphics here are iconic and colorful.  Donkey Kong himself lacks a few of the animations from the arcade version, but overall this is graphically a very faithful rendition of the arcade game.

Music & Sound: 2 (Average)
There's only one level theme, plus a few short songs for things like the title screen and level start, but everything sounds pretty good here.  Again, a very faithful arcade port.

Controls & Level Design: 3 (Good)
The controls are spot-on.  You'll never feel like you died due to poor controls.  Because the fireballs cheat, sure, but never because of poor controls.  Other innovations like being able to move while you jump would come later, but for the first sidescroller with jumping, the controls hold up surprisingly well.

Story & Presentation: 1 (Bad)
The arcade version has a bunch of cut scenes before and after each level, showing Donkey Kong carrying off Pauline, Mario's heart breaking, etc.  Most of that is lost here - the only one that made it is their reunion at the end of the third stage.

Length & Replayability: 0 (Awful)
It's just the same three levels, over and over and over.... Once you've beat the third stage, there's just not that much else to do here.

Total: 8 (Average)