Page 22 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #1

Crazy Kong control was slow and sluggish. sion for the NES. Here we have a
Finding the bottom of ladders could system perfectly capable of recre-
be difficult and it was missing the ating the arcade experience at
“How High Can You Get?” screen home. What does Nintendo do?
and music. Of course, the sound They left out the conveyor screen,
was fairly weak due to the “SID” limited the fireballs of the rivets
sound chip, which was designed screen to not ascend above the
more for second
music level, and
than raised the
games. second
All-in-all, level ham-
the ver- mer up one
sions level to
were where the
pretty im- fireball can’t
pressive reach.
Another similar game for their They had
(unlicensed copy as far as I know) time, es- the graph-
is Crazy Kong. Crazy Kong has a pecially ics, the
different sound chip and the music compared sound, eve-
is gone. Crazy Kong only throws to the rything, but
three barrels at a time and he other op- they chose
doesn’t move to pick up each one. tions available. Colecovision to use a smaller cart. The
It was more of a corner store/ Over the years, other versions average person didn’t seem to
bowling alley discounted game. popped up . In 1987, Ocean know any better. Many didn’t
Subtle changes have been made, gained the rights from Atari and know the missing conveyor screen
such as changing the level screen created a new C-64 version, as even existed. Those who did, set-
to, “How High Can You Try??” tled until Donkey Kong
Also, a different graphic is used for Jr. was released. DK
Crazy Kong on the other screens. Jr. included all four of
The end of the barrel screen the DK Jr. levels, but
girders have been cut off at the still lacked animation
ladders. and intermissions.
Crazy Kong Tips: Strangely enough,
The “black hole” level warp can be the Atari 7800 version
accomplished by climbing up the of Donkey Kong
first complete ladder on the barrels (programmed by
screen. Tap the joystick until Coleco) was an almost
Mario is hanging with one foot off exact duplicate of the
and jump to the right. If performed NES conversion. How-
correctly, Mario will fall through the ever, the sound was
floor and will warp to the second horrible and the resolu-
screen. tion not quite as sharp.
Another Crazy Kong trick is to Nintendo’s Game
get to the second conveyor screen Boy conversion was
(it’s faster). Grab the first hammer well done considering it
and run to the right side of the was on a small b/w
screen as the conveyor travels in Game Boy portable. They even added some
that direction. Once Mario well as an Amstrad PC version. additional levels.
reaches the far right, he will drop These featured more animation If you ever have a chance to
the hammer. However, it will still and all screens were present (even play (or buy) Donkey Kong on one
be there. If it is pointed down, it the High Score and Insert Coin of these great machines or home
will continue to hammer pies, even screens!). The Ocean versions fol- ports, don’t pass it up. The game
when Mario is on other levels. lowed the Japanese version: bar- is 17 years old, but it can sure take
Also, on the rivets screen: Don’t rels, conveyor, elevator, and rivets. one back to the past in a heartbeat.
use the top hammer, and it will Overall, it was set up as close to
turn into “Gold Bars” as a reward. the arcade machine as anything of
Also, notice the true Donkey Kong its time for the home systems.
image behind the large Crazy Later on the home-front, Nin-
Kong image. tendo created their own home ver-

Classic Gamer Magazine Fall 1999 22