Here is two re-reviews for Donkey Kong on the Colecovision. These will be followed by updated DK reviews for the 7800 and NES.
Comments?
2012/7/24: Colecovision: Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior
-
VideoGameCritic
- Site Admin
- Posts: 18181
- Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm
-
crimefighter1
- Posts: 90
- Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm
2012/7/24: Colecovision: Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior
The elevators screen is missing one key obstacle...the bouncing springs, making this level EASIER.
-
iceman1
- Posts: 1
- Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm
2012/7/24: Colecovision: Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior
Hmmm...I've read your site for more than a decade, and did some copyediting for you way back, because I have a lot of respect for your reviews even when I don't agree. And this is one of those times.
DK was unquestionably a huge leap forward on the Colecovision compared to the (deliberately?) awful 2600 and Intellivision versions, hence the love back then. But I'd grade the game at a C or C- for several reasons. It's full of bugs, as articles have amusingly detailed. The elevator screen is hardly perfect since the springs are absent. An entire floor on each level is missing due to the horizontal stretching. There's no effort to present the screens in the order of the arcade version. And so on.
Even as a young teen I thought it was a first/rushed programming effort, especially since I also had the unauthorized CoCo clone Donkey King for comparison (one if the best on any platform until the Amstrad CPC got the all-time definitive version for 8-bits in the '80s.
Anyhow, if you'd care to comment on whether you took any of those flaws into account, it'd be interesting.
DK was unquestionably a huge leap forward on the Colecovision compared to the (deliberately?) awful 2600 and Intellivision versions, hence the love back then. But I'd grade the game at a C or C- for several reasons. It's full of bugs, as articles have amusingly detailed. The elevator screen is hardly perfect since the springs are absent. An entire floor on each level is missing due to the horizontal stretching. There's no effort to present the screens in the order of the arcade version. And so on.
Even as a young teen I thought it was a first/rushed programming effort, especially since I also had the unauthorized CoCo clone Donkey King for comparison (one if the best on any platform until the Amstrad CPC got the all-time definitive version for 8-bits in the '80s.
Anyhow, if you'd care to comment on whether you took any of those flaws into account, it'd be interesting.
-
crimefighter1
- Posts: 90
- Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm
2012/7/24: Colecovision: Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior
Other home versions have the same issue with the barrels board...that's not held against any of them. But the rivets board on the Colecovision is one of the very few missing one level. The order of the boards is more in line with the Japanese version.
-
Teddybear1
- Posts: 130
- Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm
2012/7/24: Colecovision: Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior
I missed out the first time around on these two..
I was only able to play Donkey Kong on the 2600 & the Intellivision in the early 80's. What a couple of disappointments......
It wasn't until I played it on the Commodore 64 (with all four screens) in 1985 that my regret turned into joy.
After acquiring a Colecovision a few years ago I was impressed. What a great pack-in game. The spoiled kids who got a Coleco in 1982 had bragging rights!
Anyone who recently picked up DK Arcade for the Intellivision has the bragging rights now - how do you like them apples? (Sorry, bad Good Will Hunting reference)
On the other side of the coin.....I was always impressed with the 2600 & Intellivision port of Donkey Kong Jr. Both were difficult and stayed true to the arcade version. But they ain't like DK Jr. for the Colecovision. A beautiful version all the way. If I'm not mistaken didn't the Critic drop it a third of a grade (A- to B+)?
Nice rewrites. The old stuff never gets old to me.
I was only able to play Donkey Kong on the 2600 & the Intellivision in the early 80's. What a couple of disappointments......
It wasn't until I played it on the Commodore 64 (with all four screens) in 1985 that my regret turned into joy.
After acquiring a Colecovision a few years ago I was impressed. What a great pack-in game. The spoiled kids who got a Coleco in 1982 had bragging rights!
Anyone who recently picked up DK Arcade for the Intellivision has the bragging rights now - how do you like them apples? (Sorry, bad Good Will Hunting reference)
On the other side of the coin.....I was always impressed with the 2600 & Intellivision port of Donkey Kong Jr. Both were difficult and stayed true to the arcade version. But they ain't like DK Jr. for the Colecovision. A beautiful version all the way. If I'm not mistaken didn't the Critic drop it a third of a grade (A- to B+)?
Nice rewrites. The old stuff never gets old to me.
-
VideoGameCritic
- Site Admin
- Posts: 18181
- Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm
2012/7/24: Colecovision: Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior
Great feedback guys - keep it coming.
Some comments:
crimefighter - Nothing gets by you guys! That's a very astute observation about the spring that I didn't catch.
iceman - Your points are well taken, and I actually dropped the grades for both games for some of the very reasons you mentioned. I dropped DK from A- to B+, and DK Jr from A to B+. I still think they are both a lot of fun, and definitely better than average for the Colecovision.
The grades also reflect a bit of how they stack up to the Atari 7800 and NES versions, which will be updated shortly. My friends and I had a DK marathon a few week back, giving me a chance to overhaul some really old reviews.
Some comments:
crimefighter - Nothing gets by you guys! That's a very astute observation about the spring that I didn't catch.
iceman - Your points are well taken, and I actually dropped the grades for both games for some of the very reasons you mentioned. I dropped DK from A- to B+, and DK Jr from A to B+. I still think they are both a lot of fun, and definitely better than average for the Colecovision.
The grades also reflect a bit of how they stack up to the Atari 7800 and NES versions, which will be updated shortly. My friends and I had a DK marathon a few week back, giving me a chance to overhaul some really old reviews.
-
Irenicus1
- Posts: 421
- Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm
2012/7/24: Colecovision: Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior
Makes me wonder? Is Mario the bad guy in any other games?
-
Ikaris1
- Posts: 25
- Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm
2012/7/24: Colecovision: Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior
Like I said before (http://dmrozek.websitetoolbox.com/post/Donkey-Kong-Colecovision-Vs-Atari-7800-5792255), I think that Donkey Kong for Colecovision is a masterpiece. Not a faithful conversion, but a beautiful "tribute" to the coin-op, with its own patterns and personality, and just one true flaw: it's too easy. From an actual point of view B+ is ok, but I can only imagine what an impact it had on kids used to VCS and Intellivision versions...!