MAME ROW #140 - Donkey Kong 3

[obsidianspider]

This is the MAME Random Of the Week #140

The three random numbers for this week are: 451 1807 873

Click here to vote! Which game do you choose for MAME ROW #140?

The result of the poll will be posted on Thursday, so we have Monday through Wednesday for experimentation.

1426
Game Name: Puyo Puyo 2 (Japan)
Company: Compile (Sega license)
Year: 1994
ROM file name: puyopuy2.zip

447
Game Name: DonPachi (US)
Company: Atlus/Cave
Year: 1995
ROM file name: donpachi.zip

432
Game Name: Donkey Kong 3 (US)
Company: Nintendo of America
Year: 1983
ROM file name: dkong3.zip

758
Game Name: Hotdog Storm
Company: Marble
Year: 1996
ROM file name: hotdogst.zip

243
Game Name: Captain Commando (World 911014)
Company: Capcom
Year: 1991
ROM file name: captcomm.zip

What is the MAME ROW?

MAME ROW stands for MAME Random Of the Week. We randomly select an arcade game from the 0.78 MAME Reference Set to play on the week. The idea is to play games we've never played before, interact with other forum members, post hi-scores, share game strategies, fun facts, and (the most important) HAVE FUN!

This is the first round of the revised MAME ROW and we're still working things out. This week voting will end on Thursday, 27 June. We will play the winner all next week.

Previous Rounds

[thelostsoul]

Congratulation to the new concept. :D Such a good selection of so many classics. To me this is an easy vote, as I have a hang to shmups and DonPachi is one of the best of its kinds.

[ - ] Puyo Puyo 2:
One of the most well known match block game series ever, even as a rebrand on different consoles. Just put four elements of the same color to dissolve them. I am not sure how good the score mechanics are in this game and if I want to play it with highscores in mind.

[ x ] DonPachi:
To me the strongest entry this week. The first game in the genre defining DoDonPachi series from Cave with a strong focus of highscore mechanics and a damn solid overall design.

[ - ] Donkey Kong 3:
An oldschool Nintendo game! This time in a shmup like event. I never played this before and ignored it so far, because its the black sheep in Nintendo games to me. You have to shoot Donkey Kong, so he climbs up to the honey and at the same time shoot the bees coming after you.

[ - ] Hotdog Storm:
Definetely one of those wtf titles. The underlying game is a traditional vertical shmup. I tried it out and it plays solid, wasn't that bad and can't tell more.

[ - ] Captain Comando:
I am not the biggest fan of brawler games in general and to play them for highscores. To me a no go, even though the game is a classic and you should try it out anyways.

[IanDaemon]

@thelostsoul Such a tough decision this time. I can't decide.

• Puyo Puyo looks and plays like Sega's Columns (my reference) which is fine, but outside of high score chasing doesn't really do much for me.
• DonPachi is good, but I prefer almost all future games in the series (most notably the second...DoDonPachi). All future games in the series are faster and more fluid.
• Donkey Kong 3 is cool because it's so different; it's sorta like Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat in that respect. Both are great and wildly different.
• Hotdog Storm is a game I've never heard of and I'll definitely have to check it out because I dig shmups.
• Captain Commando is a classic "beat 'em up". It's definitely fun to play, but I don't think it's right for high score chasing.

[VictimRLSH]

This is a hard one for me to decide, it is a toss up between DonPachi and DK3.

[IanDaemon]

@VictimRLSH Those were my finalists as well. When I fell off the fence I was on the DK3 side.

[cyperghost]

@IanDaemon Good choice ;) DK3 good ;)

[Double_J]

I had to vote for Donkey Kong, but Don Pachi was a strong second for me.

[b3k]

Looks like DK3 is going to win.
Question: How come there was no DK2 arcade? Sorry if that has been discussed to death before. It just doesn't seem like DK Jr is a proper sequel -- more of a spin off.

[cyperghost]

@Double_J Then DonPachi is in next Ro2W and then you can shoot some aliens ;)

[obsidianspider]

The winner is Donkey Kong 3

[IanDaemon]

I keep forgetting to post screenshots. I gotta do that.

[cyperghost]

Beat that highscore (the official Mame ROW winner)

From MAME ROW #68

@mediamogul Highscore: 89200 (the official Mame RoW winner)
@VictimRLSH highscore: 245600 (elapsed MAME RoW)

[mediamogul]

@b3k said in MAME ROW #140 - Donkey Kong 3:

It just doesn't seem like DK Jr is a proper sequel -- more of a spin off.

Considering the complete departure of the game mechanics from either of the first two games, the same can really also be said of 'Donkey Kong 3', despite it using the conventional sequel numbering. I've always kind of admired the creative decision to avoid naming DKJ 'Donkey Kong 2'. Personally, I think it would have made more sense to continue that naming convention into DK3 with something like 'Donkey Kong's Greenhouse'. Something to that effect would have also noted that the game was a follow up to the Game&Watch 'Greenhouse' as well as the previous Donkey Kong games. As far as the sequels not feeling like the original; it's definitely true that they don't, but then again, a game as good as 'Donkey Kong' is simply a tough act to follow. Heck, even all the direct home ports fail to capture its full appeal and nuances.

[b3k]

I've gotten 16,400 so far -- clearly a top score!
I'll post my screenshot to claim my title next week
:-p

Maybe that's why I feel there should have been a DK2 -- I'm better at jumping than shooting

[IanDaemon]

Still not great...

[cyperghost]

@IanDaemon Maybe @VictimRLSH can give some hints ;)

[IanDaemon]

@cyperghost I wouldn't make any money as a professional DK3 player, but that's not stopping me from playing. :)

[gomisensei]

[cyperghost]

@gomisensei I think I'm frozen round about 50k
This is stage 4 afaik ... and yours?

[gomisensei]

10, you can see by the little level icon on the bottom right.

This was one of the first games that i was the best at when it came out, was never great at pacman, mario brothers, or DK.