Donkey Kong Strategy > Basic Donkey Kong Strategy

Is grabbing the top hammer safer?

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up2ng:
Great topic George!

In my opinion, skipping the top hammer is significantly easier than getting it.

In fact, for intermediate level players who have an outside shot at having a break out game and reaching a kill screen, skipping the top hammer throughout the game might save them a man on average.  That's because it's a very common mistake to climb up the short ladder without accounting for the fact that Kong could be throwing a wild barrel right onto your head while climbing the ladder (Level 5+), and with so many barrel screens to get through, this will often eventually happen to a player at some point during a long game.  Once you get even slightly deeper into the game most of the time so that the majority of your barrel screens are Level 5+ barrels, you will want to learn how to safely climb up the LONG ladder instead of the short ladder.  When done correctly, the wild barrel cannot hit you on this ladder and you do NOT have to cross through the kill zone at all where you could be hit by a bomb.  You just turn right (skipping the hammer) and finish the screen.

Finishing the screen from here without the hammer is only slightly trickier.  First, you need to get beyond Kong's ladder, which may involve waiting and potentially grouping a double jump, or vertical jumping between two barrels depending on when the barrel might decend Kong's ladder.  Then, when approaching the top-right section of the screen, it's almost always correct to stop and vertical jump the oncoming barrel because you could end up with short spacing if a barrel above comes down the top-right short ladder right behind the oncoming barrel (a very common occurance, and sort of a rookie mistake to broad jump into this dangerous situation).  Once you get that section of the screen down without using the hammer, it becomes safer and easier to skip the top hammer.

Now, Levels 1 - 4 are a slightly different story.  You should still be able to climb the Long ladder on Levels 1 and 2 without being hit by a wild barrel although those wild barrels are random and it may not be 100% safe.  My advice even to intermediate level players is to simply restart your game if you die on Level 1 or 2 barrel screens.  Now, for level 3 and 4 barrels (3 screens), if you are running boards you will have to deal with the nasty wild barrels in the top section of the screen.  On these screens, climbing the long ladder is NOT safe!  You'll need to climb the short ladder and go for the top hammer on these screens.

You CAN be assasinated while you are in the air trying to grab the hammer on these screens if you time your jump poorly.  (not watching Kong's animation closely enough)  You can also face strange wild barrel situations while climbing the short ladder -- in general, if it looks like the barrel will bounce on the upper girder to your left, you should quickly climb back DOWN the ladder (very counter-intuitive) and it will bounce severely sharply to the right and over your head.  If it looks like it will actually miss the upper girder and bounce onto the lower girder, then you need to quickly climb back UP, OR you'll need to quickly JUMP if you're already all the way back down because this one will bounce severely sharply to the right and hit you in the legs.  For intermediate level players, dealing with stuff in this paragraph will be a challenge -- I consider the knowledge and skills necessary to consistantly deal with these issues to be very advanced level play, so if you get whacked by Level 3 wild barrels here and there just don't sweat it too much, it happens to everyone.

mikegmi2:
One thing to add as I don't think anyone else mentioned it yet, are the 'foot burner' L3 wild barrels that try to get you as you are running to the right to make the final climb to the top girder. 

Kong will sometimes throw a sharp-angled wild barrel at you if you're around the center or slightly to the right of the center of the screen, on the 5th girder.  The angles at which Kong throws wild barrels are the sharpest they can be, when you're on the 5th girder...er...well...I guess they can be as sharp or sharper when you're on the 6'th girder...but since they can't hit you at that point its irrelevent.  It seems like he normally throws these when you're innocently running to the right...either with the hammer...or without.  When you HAVE the hammer...often you will naturally turn around and attempt to smash one of these sharp angled barrels...and sometimes it works.  Other times, it can skip under your hammer and hit you in the foot.

It's like 50/50.  If you can see it soon enough you can kinda increase your chances of successfully smashing it...but it's still a crap shoot.  It's difficult to judge...because sometimes you're in a position where the barrel is going to reach your feet no matter what, so you have to take the chance, turn around, and attempt to smash.  Other times you will be slightly further to the right...and able to simply run away from it and let it bounce just under your feet.

It goes without saying that not having the hammer in your hand during a sharp-angled wild barrel attack is ideal.  Jumping away is the best defense...one more reason not to grab the top hammer if you're going for a quick kill screen.

ChrisP:

--- Quote from: mikegmi2 on February 25, 2013, 12:40:19 pm ---One thing to add as I don't think anyone else mentioned it yet, are the 'foot burner' L3 wild barrels that try to get you as you are running to the right to make the final climb to the top girder.
--- End quote ---

Blargh! I called them ankle biters a few weeks ago. I hate, hate, hate those.

They're super-rare, given the combined probability of Kong throwing one coinciding with that tiny little interval of time where Jumpman is running for the last ladder, but I hold my breath every single time I'm on L3.

mikegmi2:
Haha yea that's a good name for them.  I do the same thing...every time I am running away from Kong to that final ladder on Level 2/3 I am waiting to see if he throws one.  Agony...pure agony.

marinomitch13:
Talking about the ankle-biters on the 5th girder, the last picture I took of the wild barrel hack barrel boards shows pretty much how far these barrels can reach: https://donkeykongforum.net/index.php?topic=76.0

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