Donkey Kong is a game that likes to rob you of points

[homerwannabee]

What I mean by this is in certain areas of the game Donkey Kong completely rips you off on how many points you should get.  As far as I can tell there are at least 3 different areas where Donkey Kong gives you the royal shaft.

The barrel Stage:  When you jump 3 barrels instead of giving you the 800 points that it says on the screen Donkey Kong only gives you 500 points

The Rivet Stage:  The game will give you more 300 point smashes for the fireballs, and less 800 point smashes, than it should

The Elevator Stage:  When the spring is going down, and you leech points off that, and you are leeching points off the fireball at the same time the game only gives you 100 points instead of the 300 it should give you for leeching two objects at the very same time. 

So those are three ways right there were Donkey Kong literally steals points from you.

[stella_blue]

The Elevator Stage:  When the spring is going down, and you leech points off that, and you are leeching points off the fireball at the same time the game only gives you 100 points instead of the 300 it should give you for leeching two objects at the very same time. 

That's true for the conveyor and rivet stages as well.  The barrel screen is the only stage that awards more points for a jump in close proximity to multiple enemy objects (up to a maximum of 3).

[craighiphopfish]

Donkey Kong also robs me of my self esteem!

[Ohrami]

I think Donkey Kong would be a better game in general if the blue barrels, fireballs, and cement pans all gave 500 points per hit instead of having a chance of giving different values.

[JNugent]

To the OP, agreed.  It is frustrating, but I think the 'randomness' is why DK continues to draw more and more players out of the woodwork.  I still find DK an interesting game.

[mikegmi2]

I think Donkey Kong would be a better game in general if the blue barrels, fireballs, and cement pans all gave 500 points per hit instead of having a chance of giving different values.

I agree with this, although in the end, after a full game, the points earned from blue smashes essentially evens out based on the 300/500/800 probability distribution.  But there might be a time when this is a significant factor...when the WR is pushed high enough.