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→Khe Sanh
If you are a patient sort who enjoys the challenge of plugging away at an impossible goal, you may enjoy this game. I do. Joystick jockeys may want to think twice about it. A shoot-em-up this is not.
'''— JK'''
=Donkey Kong=
<big>'''Who needs quarters anymore?'''</big>
{{Infobox review
| title = Report Card Donkey Kong
| performance = A
| use = A
| documentation = B
| value= B
| grade = B +
-----
| cost = $39.95 (cartridge)
| manufacturer = Atari Inc., P.O. Box 61657, Sunnyvale, CA 94086
| requirements = console, monitor or television, joystick
}}
The popular Donkey Kong arcade game has been translated remarkably well for the TI99/4A computer by Atari. Sold in a colorful yellow box under the Atarisoft trademark, this version of the Nintendo Co. Ltd. arcade game is faithful to the original. It is one of more than a dozen popular games that are now or will be available from Atari this year.
==Performance==
Donkey Kong is a climbing game. The user manuevers a man-like figure named Mario from the bottom of structure made of girders to the top where he rescues a maiden named Pauline from Donkey Kong. The game may be played by one or two persons.
The joystick is used to move Mario. Pressing the fire button allows him to jump over barrels that roll down the girders in the first and third screens. In the second screen Mario is pursued by flaming barrels and in the fourth screen he must avoid a couple of flaming barrels while jumping onto a series of fast-moving elevators.
The fifth screen consists of a series of conveyor belts that Mario must negotiate while avoiding moving piles of sand and flaming barrels. Since this game can be seen just about anywhere, I will waste no more words on describing it. The graphics are very good and sound is used in much the same manner it is used in the arcade version.
This game will not work with all joysticks I tried out. It worked fine with TI joysticks but did not work with
those by other manufacturers that required an adapter to be plugged into the joystick port on the console. Mario would not move backward with these joysticks.
Also, this game will not work with all beige consoles. Those that have a 1983 copyright on the title screen will not operate this or other Atari games. You can thank TI for this.
==Ease of Use==
This is a simple game to play. What difficulty there is is a matter of hand-eye coordination and strategy.
==Documentation==
Donkey Kong comes with a four-page pamphlet. It is colorful and adequately describes how to play the game.
==Value==
I found Donkey Kong to be far more enjoyable than Alpiner. I've seen this game selling for as little as $21.50. The list price is far too much to pay for a game that is several years old. For $21.50, or thereabouts, it's a very good value.
'''— JK'''
