Yes, Mario was indeed the hero of Donkey Kong. He saved the girl and beat the giant monkey that kidnapped her for…reasons. This time, however, Mario has turned into the bad guy. Like a generic movie villain from the ‘30s, he captured DK and put him in a cage, showing him around to people. Well, luckily for Donkey Kong the First, he has a courageous son that will try and save him in this sequel to Nintendo’s classic: Donkey Kong Jr. While successful at the time it was released, however, it just doesn’t have the same magic as the original.
DK Jr. must do pretty much what Mario did before him, which is to reach the top platform in four single-screen stages and save the day, or more specifically, his daddy. A proto-platfomer by all means, Donkey Kong Jr. throws some simple obstacles at your feet, such as moving platforms and insta-kill traps like water or…well, heights (yeah, it’s that old), plus little critters that hunt Jr. down. The only true addition here, and that which separates Donkey Kong from its sequel, is the fact that, being an ape, it’s now possible to use hanging vines to climb higher.
Interestingly enough, climbing a vine isn’t just a matter of simply going up or down. Depending on the way Jr. holds the vines his speed will be affected. Want to go up faster than usual? Then you need to grab two vines at the same time. Want to go down fast? Then let go of one vine, and press down. The tricky part, of course, is that when holding two vines you become an easier target for the enemies that Mario releases, as these tend to go down these vines the same way barrels will go down stairs in Donkey Kong.
The question is: is Donkey Kong Jr. fun? Sadly, it just doesn’t provide the same enjoyment of Donkey Kong, mostly because once you find how a level gets completed you can play forever and never lose a life, whereas the original had an element of unpredictability (especially in the first level), which made it more exciting. They are both very early, simplistic tastes of platformers, but the first one still holds up, while this one is just a forgotten relic that’s mostly relevant to retro gaming culture because of its name and nothing more.
