It’s time for another trip into the wayback machine. We’re setting our sights this time on 1981, and on one of the classics that graced the Atari 2600 in my house. Get ready gang, because it’s on…it’s on like Donkey Kong.
Worst. Label. Ever.
The hours of frustration that hatched from the simple act of guiding a plumber up a series of ramps and ladders while ducking barrels and fireballs were countless. It bears mentioning that I had no idea they were fireballs back then…on the 2600 they looked like ducks. Fiery rubber ducks of doom. Hey, I was 7.
"Beavers and DUCKS!"
Nobody knew that this title would spark an absolute revolution in gaming, giving us our first glimpse of that intrepid adventuring plumber, Mario. There are over 50 titles for various platforms that trace their lineage directly to Donkey Kong. That’s a freaking franchising fantasy, folks.
The original Donkey Kong was a jumping platformer, counting on timing and planning to get up the ladders to the princess…over and over and over again. DK would flee between two levels, the ramps-n-barrels uphill slog and the fire-duck-pit-of-doom parallel platform fest, showing as much variety as the North Korean Baskin Robbins (Vanilla or headshot.)
Those aren't pepperoni pizzas, either.
The red button was used to jump (boodoo do woooodoo), the joystick itself to move side to side (dit dit dit dit dit dit dit) to avoid the barrels (boodoodleeeooo boodoo do wooodoo). Those parentheticals right there are for those who played the game…you’re welcome for that weeks long earbug. (Also, I just caused spellcheck to completely throw in the towel.)
Donkey Kong was an addictively simple game, one that left you yearning for high scores day after day. I can still recall rampant feelings of jealousy at my big brother’s scores, the desire to kick him in the shin when I couldn’t keep up with his barrel-hopping madness. I may have given in to that desire from time to time. I may have suffered a few noogies for my insolence. I do have to concede the household high score to him, though. I never mastered his barrel-jump-hammer-grab-barrel smash scorebuilding technique. But then, he never mastered collecting Scotch, so we’ll call it even.
I remember Donkey Kong fondly. It may not have been among my favorites of all time, but it sure was a lot of fun to monkey around on Nostalgia Street.
It’s time for another trip into the wayback machine. We’re setting our sights this time on 1981, and on one of the classics that graced the Atari 2600 in my house. Get ready gang, because it’s on…it’s on like Donkey Kong.
The hours of frustration that hatched from the simple act of guiding a plumber up a series of ramps and ladders while ducking barrels and fireballs were countless. It bears mentioning that I had no idea they were fireballs back then…on the 2600 they looked like ducks. Fiery rubber ducks of doom. Hey, I was 7.
Nobody knew that this title would spark an absolute revolution in gaming, giving us our first glimpse of that intrepid adventuring plumber, Mario. There are over 50 titles for various platforms that trace their lineage directly to Donkey Kong. That’s a freaking franchising fantasy, folks.
The original Donkey Kong was a jumping platformer, counting on timing and planning to get up the ladders to the princess…over and over and over again. DK would flee between two levels, the ramps-n-barrels uphill slog and the fire-duck-pit-of-doom parallel platform fest, showing as much variety as the North Korean Baskin Robbins (Vanilla or headshot.)
The red button was used to jump (boodoo do woooodoo), the joystick itself to move side to side (dit dit dit dit dit dit dit) to avoid the barrels (boodoodleeeooo boodoo do wooodoo). Those parentheticals right there are for those who played the game…you’re welcome for that weeks long earbug. (Also, I just caused spellcheck to completely throw in the towel.)
Donkey Kong was an addictively simple game, one that left you yearning for high scores day after day. I can still recall rampant feelings of jealousy at my big brother’s scores, the desire to kick him in the shin when I couldn’t keep up with his barrel-hopping madness. I may have given in to that desire from time to time. I may have suffered a few noogies for my insolence. I do have to concede the household high score to him, though. I never mastered his barrel-jump-hammer-grab-barrel smash scorebuilding technique. But then, he never mastered collecting Scotch, so we’ll call it even.
I remember Donkey Kong fondly. It may not have been among my favorites of all time, but it sure was a lot of fun to monkey around on Nostalgia Street.
And now here's a present...you can play the original Donkey Kong right here!
What was your favorite frustrating game?
Most of the truly frustrating games of yesteryear involved spending a quarter at the local arcade (hence, most of the frustration, because I had to pay for the privilege). One I used to burn a lot of quarters on at the mall arcade was the game Xevious. Anyone remember that one?
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