Donkey Kong Jr. (NES)

Donkey Kong Jr. is a game that was released by Nintendo in 1982 as a sequel to the hit arcade title Donkey Kong. The basic plot is that Mario, formerly known as Jumpman, has captured Donkey Kong as well as a variety of creatures to guard him. However, Donkey Kong's son has come along to get across the vines and dodge Mario's creatures to free his father from Mario's clutches.

My inspiration the Wiiviewer has seen this game as the only true sequel to Donkey Kong, since the other sequels are far too devviant or ridiculous to be seen as true sequels. I tend to agree with him, not only after seeing the other sequels myself, but also acknowledging how perfectly the story picks up and how similar to the original game it is.

There are two big things that I love about this game; the first is that the controls work better than the other title, and the second is that the controls are easier to understand. You simply press left and right buttons to move, up and down to climb, and a single button to jump. From there, the only task is to figure out how to precisely navigate up to the top of the structure and free Donkey Kong.

A big thing about this game that I enjoy is the fact that it does completely carry on the plot of the series. It's like the two Incredibles games, there's no break in the story, so it feels the same as the previous game, but with different content. The big difference is that this game is incredibly hard in a different way.

Whereas in Donkey Kong the idea was jumping barrels, springs, etc. and doding fireballs, this game involves getting away from things like biting lizards and birds that drop eggs. This adds a nice diversity to the series that I admit I enjoy.

A big thing I wish from the game is that you didn't have to descend all the way down the rope to jump onto a platform, or otherwise you die. Is Donkey Kong Jr. really that fragile? He must be DK's nerdy son who doesn't get out much, spending a bunch of time editing stuff on the Internet. Can you imagine that?

Anyway, the biggest problem, for the age, that I can think of for this game is that you die rather easily. You know, like if you touch an enemy, don't land a jump exactly right, or jump to a platform from too far up. With only three lives, that can cause kind of a pain, but you can play over and over since you no longer have to have an arcade.

That's the only real problem I have with the game. Great graphics (for the time), great challenge, excellent story, fun gameplay. This game will be loads of fun for you and your family, so I suggest you buy it for the VC; at 500 points, it's worth it if you like arcade games.