Page 20 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #1
P. 20
by
Darryl
Guenther
Back in the day when play elements. Donkey
arcades and corner mar- Kong seemed to have a
kets were after school mind of his own, throwing
hangouts, one could ex- barrels whichever way he
pect to hear the “whacka- deemed necessary. The
whacka” sounds of Pac- fireballs (all levels except
Man, the lasers firing up in “rivets” screen) and firefoxes
Defender and the crackling, (“rivets” screen) roamed in a
shooting sound of Centi- very unpredictable manner
pede. There weren’t any (as fire generally does).
life-like PCM samples or 3D Other objects such as
graphics. That was much springs and mud pies were
of the charm of video not “alive,” but they were
games of the past; they kept in motion by the forces
were unique to themselves. around them. All of the ele-
They had characters who ments fit together so well,
only lived in that world. that it was easy to be swept
These games generated sounds himself continued on as well, star- away into that world.
that did not exist previously. Don- ring with all his friends in the Don- Much detail was also placed on
key Kong, by Nintendo, was one of key Kong Country series of games. control. It was very easy to find the
those games. It had the unique, Now that we’re familiar with the bottom of the ladders. Mario could
cutesy sounds necessary for a characters, let’s talk about the also jump off a structure and spring
good game. However, not only did game. Donkey Kong was not just back from any of the outer edges.
it have the sounds, it also had the based on cute, detailed characters, Timing was the essence, as one
cute on-screen characters. In fact, music, and interesting sound ef- never knew what pattern the bar-
a couple of the characters were to fects. It was much more! The en- rels could end up in by the time
be much more. They became mas- tire package was put together in they reached the player. Many of
cots that have stood the test of such a way that it seemed to come these details were left out of the
time. to life. The detail ranged from the home system conversions that fol-
Back in 1981, Nintendo re- characters themselves to the game lowed. In the arcade version, one
leased Donkey Kong (the mis- could leap off the end of a structure
translation of “Stubborn Monkey” only to be bounced back up from
in Japanese.) It was the brainchild the edge. Many home versions
of Shigeru Miyamoto. Mario, origi- (except a few by Atarisoft) just rico-
nally labeled “Jumpman”, was said cheted one backwards, without the
to have been modeled after Shi- upward spring. Even Nintendo’s
geru’s landlord. He didn’t actually home version left out the “spring-
become officially labeled as Mario back” jump.
until 1982, when he became the There were four screens to the
bad guy, capturing Donkey Kong game: The barrels, the rivets, the
in Donkey Kong Jr. Later on, elevator and the conveyor belt (left
Mario would star with his brother, out in most home conversions, ex-
Luigi (not “Loogy” for my Jr. High cept those by Atari and Ocean).
peers of the time), in Mario Bros. The rivets screen was always the
He then went on to star in the Su- screen that ended the level. Two
per Mario series. Donkey Kong different configurations of these
Arcade
Classic Gamer Magazine Fall 1999 20
