Donkey Kong Strategy > Basic Donkey Kong Strategy

Is grabbing the top hammer safer?

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homerwannabee:
As I continue to play this game it seems that on a decent number of occasions I get hit with a barrel while trying to go for the hammer.   It seems I would actually be better off just forgetting about the top hammer, and just trying to get to the top.

Since people have played this game with no hammer, I was wondering on the barrel stages is it really safer to play with the top hammer?

This is an important question because if it is easier to play without the top hammer, than it would than likewise be easier to get to a killscreen without picking up the top hammer.

stella_blue:

When you get hit by a barrel (I'm assuming it's a wild barrel?), how are you trying to grab the hammer?  Is it a standard vertical jump, or are you trying to execute a backjump/barrel smash combo?  I frequently die, particularly on Level 1-1, during the backjump scenario.  I find it leaves me vulnerable, especially if I'm parked for more than a split-second, waiting for the next barrel.  I'll have to rethink my approach, since the extra 100 points isn't really worth it (to me, at least).

Fast Eddie:
personally id say it is easier to skip the top hammer. although if you climb the short ladder anyway its probably best to grab it ...its pretty marginal but youll want to incorporate the hammer sooner or later anyway...

i did play a couple of 'just go for the killscreen' runs for the first time in a year+ recently, which i played no hammer on the barrel screens...it was most fun id had playing dk in ages not caring about points and i love how the screens just fly by when you skip the hammers...

8)

ChrisP:
I did that too a couple weeks ago!

I made, I think, three "speed run" attempts skipping both hammers but got lazy/dumb in all three games and didn't go all the way.

I liked how fast the screens were going by, but on the flipside, going at a pace of like 38K/level makes it feel like your score isn't moving at all...

In any case, while I finished the screens faster, I didn't find skipping the hammer to be "easier" than getting it. It was (marginally) harder, and would probably be much harder for a player who isn't good at barrel-dancing. The upper hammer is definitely more "defense" than offense. It clears the way to that final ladder.

Are you getting 1/16thed? For me (though I didn't have a name for it at the time because I read very little in the way of strategy), that was one of the last major lessons that I had to get down before I "cleared the runway" for my first kill screen.

Another major issue was the situation where you get under the hammer and you have two spaced barrels coming at you, and the timing is such that you have to jump the first barrel, grabbing the hammer in the process, and then smash the second when you land. It's very easy to time that jump wrong, or to not realize until it's too late that the gap between the two barrels isn't big enough. (Actually, come to think of it, I still die that way on a not-so-rare basis...)

Finally, there is a particular left-tilting wild barrel that Kong throws when you're under the hammer. You can easily avoid that one every time, but you have to be standing near the edge, and it's very easy to die there until you figure out the range of that safe spot.

Those are the three big issues I can think of.

(BTW, on L1-L4 you will DEFINITELY get hit by assassination-barrels under the hammer. In fact, there is no spot in the game where you are more consistently vulnerable than exactly that one: under the top hammer on the first levels. Unlike the L5+ ones, the wild barrels he throws at you there can't be avoided.)

marinomitch13:
I, personally, find skipping the top hammer safer -though maybe not easier. Going from Kong's ladder to the top right ladder can be tough sometimes without using the top hammer and it often requires good barrel steering/avoidance/jumping skills, so this actually makes it harder a fraction of the time than getting the hammer would be. However, skipping the hammer (assuming you are finishing barrel stages consistently with 6200-6500 left on the timer, makes it seem like you are flying through the game. This helps at lot if your main problem is simply staying focused (like me  ;D )

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