DK in the news/on the net.

[marinomitch13]

Which justifies even more 'Wht da!?".

[giv]

Here is a recent blog posting offering quite an extensive review and commentary about Donkey Kong. Apparently a review of Junior is in the works, and I will try and remember to post that when it's completed. The DK post is four pages.

http://telebunny.net/toastyblog/2013/05/the-anatomy-of-super-mario-i-its-on-like/

http://telebunny.net/toastyblog/2013/05/the-anatomy-of-super-mario-ii-concrete-design/

http://telebunny.net/toastyblog/2013/06/the-anatomy-of-super-mario-iii-ape-escaping/

http://telebunny.net/toastyblog/2013/06/the-anatomy-of-super-mario-iv-kinging-of-kong/

I saw those right when they started and meant to post them here, but got sidetracked. I've also been meaning to go over there and comment on them. I want to give some intermediate to advanced stuff in the comments section. Also Jeremy is giving an overview of the boards, but I wanted to point out that there is more to the game than just 4 boards, and recommend to him to at least play it until the difficulty maxes out, I think he'd come to a finer appreciation of the game.

I like Jeremy Parrish's style, been a fan of his since I got back into gaming. I discovered king of kong, mame, angry video game nerd and Jeremy's retronauts podcast all around the same time during the winter of 2010. Then I found barcade and that was all she wrote. When I was manager of a dog day care, I used to listen to video game podcasts to pass the time. Retronauts archives can probably still be found at the now defunct 1up.com, although I know they are going to start up the podcast again on their own, if they haven't already. I recommend them. Although if you're listening to them for the first time, pick one with The line up of Parrish, Sharkey, Barnholdt and Cifaldi, those are the best ones and will get you into it.

I used to listen to another podcast called the retroist, and there was this one guy on sometimes who talked like he had a mouth full of saliva, and loved Sonic and neo geo. I was surprised when I realized that it was the same guy who had a concert at Richie's arcade during the cagdc 2011 tourney, Keith Apicary. Ben Falls' favorite comedian:)

[TheSunshineFund]

Keith Apicary. Ben Falls' favorite comedian:)

Ha.   Man I used to really dig it when everyone got together so often, you'd always get jokes with Kenyan legs like that one, it just seems like the events are fewer and further between now.  Maybe it's just me.....

[marky_d]

Another "new" review from a French gaming site:

http://www.neogeokult.com/special-reviews-us/donkey-kong-us/

HOW HIGH CAN YOU GET ?
by Tibe

"Coming a few months after the poor Space Panic, Donkey Kong is the second platform game in the history of gaming. When it hits the arcades in 1981, the title is acclaimed by critics and meet a huge success with gamers. So much so that one can literally say that it was the springboard to success for Nintendo: revenues generated by arcades and console adaptations - especially the great CBS Colecovision one - fill the coffers of the company and cement its reputation. In the early eighties, almost everything in videogame remains to be invented. This world is still in its infancy, and some firms develop at this period a few titles that will become legendary: Scramble, Burger Time, Vanguard, Galaga... all are famous names which invented styles or set basics for different gaming genres. That said, Donkey Kong remains one of the most iconic videogame of all times.
 
And for good reason! When the arcade game was released in 1981, it made sensation: the player embodies Jumpman - who will later become Mario - and must climb the floors to save Lady, the princess kidnapped by Donkey Kong. A scenario that inevitably recalls King Kong, and which was also worth a trial to Nintendo by Universal. Fortunately for the japanese, the U.S giant lost and was dismissed of all its claims. Shigeru Miyamoto was in charge of the game's development, and his talent was already undeniable: The graphics are above the competition, offering a beautiful and original design. Player have to go through floors of a building construction site, with metal beams, ladders, barrels, hoists, etc. DK is colorful and varied, with no less than four different game screens with distinct designs, each featuring an action of its own. If the main characters are well made, enemies and items are not left out: barrels, flames, springs, bowls, birds ... everything is fluidly animated, especially for the time. The movements of the hero are quick and handling is optimal, despite being extremely simple: only the four directions of the stick are used, plus a button for jump.
 
In every stage, you can collect bonuses and mallets: like Pac-Man, it has the hero becoming invincible and able destroy his enemies for a few seconds. Donkey Kong is divided into no less than one hundred and seventeen levels, with our four fixed screens looping. The difficulty goes crescendo, of course! In fact, it's all about making twenty-two 'loops', which are counted in blue at the top right of the screen (L = 04). If the first loop has only two stages, in the following features three, and so on up to a maximum of six. The one hundred and seventeenth level is known as the 'Kill Screen': a bug in the game (intentional or not) have Jumpman invariably dying after a few seconds, ending the game. But will we get there?! Below the loop counter is a 'bonus timer': it is a credit/time counter that decreases gradually. The sooner you finish the level, the more points you collect. If it reaches zero, you die. You also die if you fall from a platform. If you touch an enemy, a fire, a barrel or even Donkey itself, you will die too. In short, prepare to multiple deaths!

If the first stage is to go up the slope avoiding barrels that DK throws from the top, the second is a little different: you have to climb ladders to reach the last platform, but the enemies are not the same and the structure is different too. The third floor is more about 'platforming', and requires a significant level of accuracy and timing for the jumps... and finally, the fourth stage is about to break the seals of the structure, to get our gorilla falling from the top of the building and save the princess. The challenge is taking, the action well-crafted, scoring system well thought out and the atmosphere of the game simply legendary! Donkey Kong is still taking more than thirty years after its release, and a bunch of far more impressive titles: but once will not hurt, simplicity is sometimes an impressive asset."

[marky_d]

'John's Arcade' does a Crazy Kong review from Funspot:

Crazy Kong Arcade Game Review - Falcon - Zaccaria - 1981 - FUNSPOT

[ChrisP]

"I kinda like it... for some weird reason."

This one bears the mark.

We will find him, and make him one of us.

[marinomitch13]

There is a pretty high DK score on his machine, is this person connected with the DK community at all?

[ChrisP]

That's not his score. I don't remember whose it is, but somebody visited his arcade and put it up.

John is like a 200-300K player.

[f_symbols]

[marky_d]

That's not his score. I don't remember whose it is, but somebody visited his arcade and put it up.

John is like a 200-300K player.

Those are Robbie's scores.

[lakeman421]

I did those top 2 scores a couple weeks ago, one was a kill screen.  The bottom two were from over a year ago when I was just learning how to play.  The 526k game with no initials was Eric Howard from over a year ago.

[marky_d]

It looks like a Donkey Kong with a Billy Mitchell signed marquee made it to Supercon in Miami this weekend...

[marky_d]

It looks like Z82 Retrocade in Sherwood, AR (Little Rock suburb) located on Kiehl Ave (haha) is having a DK competition soon. So, if anyone in the area is interested it might be something to look into.



From facebook:

"It's time to start preparing for the Kong Klash 2!
 Three different divisions, three first place trophies.
 No extra fee to enter the tournament just pay the regular entrance fee to Z82 and your ready to challenge other Donkey Kong players. For more information and details: stop by Z82 Retrocade."

[ChrisP]

Oh man. Jonathan is going to destroy that...

[marinomitch13]

Does this arcade have a website? I tried to find one, but all I saw was their FB page. I wanted to check out their high scores, but the pics on FB are too far away for some of the games/scores.