Donkey Kong was a platform arcade game made in 1981 by Nintendo. In the game you control a carpenter, Jumpman, who must save Pauline from Donkey Kong, Jumpman's pet circus gorilla, by climbing up unfinished buildings made of girders. Upon starting, we see Donkey Kong climbing up a ladder on 6 stories of girders. When he gets to the top, Donkey Kong stomps his way to the left of the screen, causing the girders to get bent. The game begins.

Pushing right on the joystick moves Jumpman to the right, pushing left on the joystick moves Jumpman left, pushing up will make Jumpman climb up a ladder (although, some ladders are broken. So, you cannot climb them.) and pushing down makes him climb down ladders. Pushing the fire button will make Jumpman jump.

The first level is a 6 story set of red girders. You must climb to the top while avoiding the barrels Donkey Kong tosses from the top left. In order to dodge the barrels, you must either jump over them, be somewhere on a ladder and have a barrel pass over/under you, or use a hammer. When you grab the hammer (by jumping into it), you can use it to break barrels. However, you cannot jump or climb ladders. Also, if you get stuck in that one frame where Jumpman has the hammer up in the air and a barrel hits you, you lose a life. Same if the barrel hits you behind.

Donkey Kong will also throw blue barrels that fall towards an oil barrel where Jumpman started. When the blue barrel makes it there, a fireball will come out and chase Jumpman by climbing up the ladders. The fireball's A.I. is pretty weak, as well as he is slow. So, he should not be much of a threat on the first board. He can be jumped over or defeated with the hammer as well.

Once you get to the top, Donkey Kong will carry Pauline up to the next level. Level 2 is a Pie Factory. It consists of shifting conveyor belts and large pies that will kill Jumpman. These pies can be jumped over or destroyed with a hammer. In this stage, Donkey Kong does not throw any barrels, all he does is ride the conveyor belt on the top. There is an oil barrel in the middle that spawns a fireball and due to the platform placement, this guy could be a bit of a pain. The last 2 ladders that lead to the end (top) of the level will get taller and shorter. You can only climb them when they are tall enough. But be careful! If you touch Donkey Kong, you lose a life.

In the 3rd stage, there are several platforms to the right of the screen, and 2 elevators to the left (where you start). In this level, Donkey Kong will throw springs. You also must be careful. As you have a great chance of falling. Falling too high kills Jumpman. After the first elevator, there are 2 platforms with 2 ladders connecting them with a fireball on them. Then is the next elevator and then some zig-zag platforms where the springs fall in between, which kill you as well. When you get to the top, you have to let the spring arch over Jumpman and then swiftly climb the ladder to Pauline. Off to the final stage.

The final stage has 5 stories of blue girders with 2 yellow supporters on each side of the girders. You must run or jump over them to remove them. To complicate matters, several fire foxes will chase after you. They are a bit smarter and faster than the normal fireballs. They can be jumped over and defeated with a hammer. Also, if you try walking over a hole where you removed a supporter, you will fall. So, you must jump over it. After removing all 8 supporters, the game ends and you are sent back to the start where the difficulty increases.

Graphics: 9

The graphics are pretty nice. The girders feature some good shading. The choice of red, yellow, and white for the fireballs work well. Donkey Kong looks like how a gorilla should: Large, hairy, and a tad scary. He also has some nice animations for beating his chest and throwing barrels. And makes some funny facial expressions. Jumpman has smooth walking and climbing animations, as well as an interesting death animation (he spins around then falls on his back with a Halo floating above his face.). Pauline has a nicely detailed dress and hair.


Sound: 6

The sound is alright for a game made in 1981. Although there is a very simple and repetitive tune playing in the background of each level (beside level 3), you will mostly be hearing the squeaky sounds Jumpman makes whenever he walks and the "boing" when he jumps. There is also a pretty good sound when Donkey Kong beats his chest, resembling a large drum sound. 


Addictiveness: 8

This game is quite addictive. The platforming is done at a fair pace, and gets faster as the game goes on. The difficulty makes it all the more fun and each level has an interesting gimmick to it to keep it from getting repetitive.


Story: 4

The story is pretty simple. As I explained before: Pauline is kidnapped by Jumpman's pet, Donkey Kong. But it is pretty interesting how Donkey Kong is Jumpman's pet.


Depth: 4

Not very much depth in this game. Just running, jumping over things, climbing things, that is truly all there is to say.


Difficulty: 7

This game is quite hard due to the fact you cant control your jumps in mid-air, the fact you can barely fall far to die, and the overall level design makes it difficult to menuver around. And later on in the game, Donkey Kong throws barrels relentlessly in the first level.


Overall:

Overall, this is a great yet simple platform game. It was the first apperence of Mario (Jumpman) and still remains a classic to this day. It was such a popular game, it was ported to numerous consoles (which I may review if this review gets positive reactions) such as the NES, A2600, Intel., ect. I highly recommend it.

Not bad. Though you kinda started it out like a walkthrough though. It was like a mix of a walkthrough and a review. I'm not really sure if there is anything wrong with that. One thing is that a walkthrough and a review are 2 different things. Also you can try to put more details when you talk about each category if you can. Anyhow, awesome job. keep it up.

Nice review. It kinda jumped between a walkthrough and a review though. But still, it was a great review, you probably could elaborate a bit more in the details though. I hope you make more!