Donkey Kong Analysis

 Nintendo's Donkey Kong

Created in 1981, Donkey Kong was one of the first platform games and one of the first games to have a storyline. In this game, Jumpman, the hero, must rescue a damsel in distress from a giant ape named Donkey Kong by jumping over obstacles and climbing ladders to reach her.

The game has 4 levels, and total of 100 meters. With each level the game becomes harder and harder, for example, Donkey Kong will throw the barrels faster and faster or even diagonally. The pulsating music of the game is pretty catchy and the tune varies as the player progresses through each level. Simple sound effects play as Jumpman, later known as Mario, jumps and climbs towards Paulina.

For those who weren't around for the original release of DK, some of the sound effects are very "Super-Marioesque." When Jumpan picks up his axe, the music is alot like when Mario catches a star. Smashing barrels, walking and all the obstacles have the typical 1980's "beep-boop" sound.

Donkey Kong was originally released as an arcade game and was later able to be played on Atari home consoles.  The game employed a Zilog Z80 microprocessor and sported an advanced sound circuitry for its time. The visual display unit was a vertically oriented raster graphics monitor that displayed up to two hundred and fifty-six colors.