MAME ROW #106 - Donkey Kong
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Hi @cyperghost ,
I'm just back from vacation, and catching up with a lot of work emails, but I'll try and get a chance to try these out tonight.
Of course, I'm familiar with Tetris and Donkey Kong already, but The Electric Yo-Yo is a new one on me!
Actually my Donkey Kong ROM has been hacked to play the Pauline Edition, so I'm not sure any of my scores will be eligible!
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@gtbfilms said in MAME ROW #106:
Actually my Donkey Kong ROM has been hacked to play the Pauline Edition, so I'm not sure any of my scores will be eligible!
What kind of sexist jerks would we be if we didn't allow Pauline to get in on the action?
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@mediamogul
Well we have Wonder Woman, Invisible Woman (nice skill!), Storm, Harley Quinn (BATMAN BATMAN BAAATMAAAN!), Catwomen (miao!), Kitty Pryde and Poison Ivy... So why not Pauline ;) -
@cyperghost said in MAME ROW #106:
Well we have Wonder Woman, Invisible Woman (nice skill!), Storm, Harley Quinn (BATMAN BATMAN BAAATMAAAN!), Catwomen (miao!), Kitty Pryde and Poison Ivy... So why not Pauline ;)
Exactly. I've always wondered why Pauline doesn't show up in more games. Having her as mayor of New Donk City in Odyssey was a nice touch. Outside of that, I believe she's limited only to 'Donkey Kong', 'Pinball' and the 'Mario vs. Donkey Kong' series. I love the sprite work that went into the 'Pauline Edition' hack. There's this one frame of animation when she's almost climbed the ladder where her petticoat engulfs the image almost completely that really makes it look like she's got her hustle on.
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@mediamogul said in MAME ROW #106:
@cyperghost said in MAME ROW #106:
Well we have Wonder Woman, Invisible Woman (nice skill!), Storm, Harley Quinn (BATMAN BATMAN BAAATMAAAN!), Catwomen (miao!), Kitty Pryde and Poison Ivy... So why not Pauline ;)
I love the sprite work that went into the 'Pauline Edition' hack. There's this one frame of animation when she's almost climbed the ladder where her petticoat engulfs the image almost completely that really makes it look like she's got her hustle on.
Oh yeah!
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Ha! DK approves of a little hustle in the bustle.
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Well I got some time to try them out, and I guess like most people, I'm already pretty familiar with the first two.
Donkey Kong
This is an arcade classic of course, up there with Space Invaders and Pacman as one of the iconic games of early arcades.
As mentioned, I hacked the rom version on my Picade to the Pauline Edition, which is indeed a nice bit of work. Playing the game now, that first level is brutal compared to the relatively more sedate levels that follow. I'm not sure that nowadays gamers would 'stick with it' long enough to master the timing on that first level, but I guess back in the 80's we were made of sterner stuff. (or maybe it was just the fact there weren't many other games to choose from?)
Tetris
Ah, now this one brings back some memories! My first proper job was working in a University lab, and after work I used to go for a meal in the nearby student union, because it was really cheap. I'd frequently meet my then girlfriend there, and she'd spend hours playing on the old Tetris cab in the corner, with that tune playing on and on and on and on.I didn't spend too much time on it myself, preferring the 4-player Vendetta machine they also had. Or perhaps sometimes the Fish Tales pinball table, but all three of these are now inextricably linked in my nostalgic memory, and playing Tetris sends me right back there.
It's not all good memories though, as that lab job was the pits, and paid peanuts, so maybe I'll knock a few points off for the negative connotations!
The Electric Yo-Yo
Hmmm. Well I played two games, and did manage to get the high score on my second attempt, but to be honest I'm still none the wiser what you are supposed to do in this game. I just sort of swept up all the little squares, and sometimes something else collided into me. Usually I died. But a couple of times I turned into a radioactivity symbol and was apparently invulnerable. Until I wasn't. Then I died again.Might be a good game, but I doubt I would ever have persevered long enough to find out, it's not very interesting looking, even for 1982.
Conclusion
Well to be honest, of all three, I think Tetris is the best game. It's got a nice learning curve and leads you in slowly before it cranks up the speed, and the gameplay is almost hypnotic.BUT, Donkey Kong is a classic, and Tetris games take a long time for a high score competition.
A difficult decision, but in the end my vote can only go one way...
IT'S ON...LIKE DONKEY KONG!
(ahem)
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@gtbfilms Thank you ;)
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This week's winner is Donkey Kong
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@gtbfilms said in MAME ROW #106 - Donkey Kong:
or maybe it was just the fact there weren't many other games to choose from?
I think it was more that it captured people's imagination. First of all, the name is very striking. Originally, Shigeru Miyamoto wanted to name the game 'Stubborn Gorilla'. Seeing as how his command of the English language wasn't very high and since synonyms are used very liberally in Japanese culture, the translation of the name he presented to Nintendo of America was said to illicit confused looks that always led to a smile very quickly.
Also important in understanding its draw on the public, is the fact that 'Donkey Kong' was the very first video game to have a clear narrative, allowing players to relate to the character of Jump Man much more than something like Pac-Man. It's odd to look back at that narrative however, as it paints the future Mario in a fairly bad light, due to the stated reason for DK abducting Pauline in the first place being that Jump Man was abusing the gorilla. It wouldn't be the last time though, as Mario's abusive ways carry on to ultimately create his arch foe Wario as well Yoshi, who he punches on the back of the head for control. All things considered, we must the the Tina to his Ike, as we always forgive the little guy and welcome him back in the end.
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Now we're talking.
I'm sure a lot of people in here are pretty badass at Donkey Kong though, but this'll be fun. -
Just a reminder that there's an overlay made for Donkey Kong in the Repo ;-)
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And a launching image:
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I'll get the ball rolling with 34000. I have various scores on my different emulation machines and I'm really not sure how this stacks up, but apparently I haven't played this on my RetroPie system since I switched to AdvanceMAME. I guess it's always nice to start with a fresh leader board for these things anyway.
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Just played a few more rounds for 37600. I was on fire and had not lost a single life, but for whatever reason I just couldn't stick the landing off the elevator on the highest right platform on the bouncing spring stage three times in a row. On my last man I went for the second lowest platform and was able to squeeze some points out of the next two levels before the mighty jump man fell.
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Arrgg... 49900 is an improvement for sure, but I was aiming to break 50k this evening and I came up short by one lousy barrel. Oh well, I'm gonna go start my Halloween season by watching 'Candyman'. I haven't seen it since I was in high school. I'm hoping it still holds up.
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Wow, I'm miles behind!
The best I managed was 13500.
Time to Google some Donkey Kong tips!
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@gtbfilms said in MAME ROW #106 - Donkey Kong:
Time to Google some Donkey Kong tips!
I would've posted some already, but there's just soooo many and all too often it involves, for lack of a better term, patterned improvisation on the barrel stage. The barrels are almost entirely random, but there's half a dozen ways that they tend to group and a different response for each. One overall thing to remember is that any obstacle can be squeezed for points by jumping very close to it, including Donkey Kong himself. For example, on the rivet stage, take out the first bottom left rivet, skip the next highest rivet and move up the top-most ladder closest to DK. Standing close to him, press jump followed by either a left or right direction. Each jump should yield 100 points.
While dong that, watch for the level that you passed up to fill with fire guys. When it does, clear the rivet you're standing next to and move down and grab the hammer. As long as you kill the fire guys on the right side of the center stage, they'll always re-spawn on the far left, which should now trap them, as all the rivets will be gone. Any you miss with the first hammer can potentially be killed with the second, allowing you to move back up to Donkey Kong and squeeze points until the clock runs out. Granted, that's just one example, but it's probably the biggest. These little nuances in game play that make the game so competitive and fun can't be found in any of the ports. Seeing as how Nintendo has never owned the full rights to this arcade version, I'd love to know the deal they struck with Ikegami Tsushinki to release it recently on the Switch.
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MAME ROW #107 is live
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