Retro Games Review

Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong was released in 1981 and it was one of the first platform games created in this time, the player controlled a character called the hero that would later be rehashed into Nintendo most popular character Mario. The Objective of the game is to get the hero up the series of broken platforms whilst dodging crates and hostile NPS’s and to save the the damsel in distress from the hero's pet donkey kong.

Firstly Donkey kong was one of the first Nintendo games that came out as a massive hit for the company and the designer Shigeru Miyamoto, he would later go on to create some of the most iconic and unforgettable characters such as Mario, and the Zelda franchise both highly known and played games epically for the Mario series due to the fact that later in the development of the game super mario bros, jumpman the main character of donkey kong would later become the one of the worlds iconic game characters Mario.

The Goal of donkey kong is quite straightforward, the player navigates up the broken set of platforms that have collapsed in a way so that the player can climb up or can use ladders that can quickly get them to the top to complete the objective of saving the damsel of distress, while climbing up the broken platforms and ladders, the player interacts with various objects that are being thrown down by donkey kong in an attempt to hinder the player progress.
One thing we can see in this early game is a basic choice that the player can take, they can use the ladders that could get them there faster with a more higher risk of being hit, or they could take the much slower route of climbing platforms both reaching the ultimate goal of the damsel in distress.
In Costikyan’s article I have no words and i must design on page 11 he states;
”Suppose we have a thing that’s interactive. At some point, you are faced with a choice: you may choose A, or to do B the state of the thing will change depending on your position.”
Costikyan explains about choices in games and how the choices you make in the game will effect the outcome of the game, he later goes on to say;
“But what makes A better then B? or is it B better then A at some times but not at others? what factors go into decision? what resources are to be managed? what is the eventual goal?”
Costikyan is asking the question of the risk each decision that the player chooses, he asks about what decision should be taken and what should the factors of the position the player take in there decision on what too do.
This can apply to the choice of using the ladder or climbing the platforms in donkey kong, the player could advance quickly up the level using ladders that would affect the outcome of the game being that the player completed the level quicker however the risk is that he is more likely to get caught by an object. Or he could take the other choice of using the broken platforms and slowly but safely make his way to complete the level, the player can decide on the situation he is in to make a decision about what route they want to take.

Dokey kong has a basic story attached to it, the story themes about the player dubbed the hero in the game to take back the damsel in distress or his girlfriend from donkey Kong who was his pet guerilla in the background. Although there is no advanced in depth story for donkey Kong there is a basic story line in it and that is the struggle of the player to get his girlfriend back from donkey Kong.

Costikyan has stated that there are two different types of struggle there is a internal struggle that deals with the relationships between the characters and there personal struggles between themselves good examples are films that are based on a family conflict, and external struggle that tends to be more like the action films we see because the external struggle is more about the struggle of characters that are not personally connected and involves the rest of the world in some respect.

Costikyan quotes that,””

So we can see that donkey kong is an internal struggle between the hero and his pet and the hero desperately trying to free his damsel in distress from his former known pet.

It should also be noted that donkey kong is one of the leading games in its time for basic narrative in game that was personified through basic cut scenes, this is another important part of the game because it allows the player to be immersed in the game.

The mechanics and the dynamics for donkey kong are quite straightforward, there are few major rules in the game apart from the life bar and trying to avoid the hostile NPC's and making there way up the platforms to the damsel. However there are dynamics in the game where the player has to make sure he has a game plan and stay on the ball to not get caught out with the choice of two routes and randomly wondering NPC's that can catch the player out it is important that the player plans and reacts to the game world he is presented.

Mark LeBlanc in his article tools for creating dramatic game dynamics on page 440 he states that,

”When we talk about mechanics, we are referring to all the necessary pieces that we need to play the game. This primary refers to the rules of the game, but can also refer to the equipment, and the venue, or anything else necessary to playing the game.”

This small statement describes that the mechanics of a game the example in terms of donkey kong would be the rules and the levels that are necessary for playing the game, an example of one of the primary rules is that the player has a set of lives he can lose if he is hit by a object or hostile NPC. There is also another mechanic of the fireball wondering NPC's that can catch the player out if he is not looking where he is going.

LeBlanc on the same page later goes on to describe about the Dynamics of a game, he explains his idea as a “behavior” of the game he states on page 440 that it is,”the actual events and phenomena that occur as the game is played” The way LeBlanc uses the word phenomena is to describe the unusual or unaccountable results of the game being played, Donkey kong may have a set levels but what happens on these levels wont happen twice because the player changes his plans or tactic to deal with the dynamic change of the threat or situation.

In conclusion donkey kong has a interesting but basic story that keeps the player interested and immersed in the game, however its not its strong point, I would think that the goal of the game is also quite basic in terms of moving up a series of constantly changing platforms to keep trying to grab the damsel quite mundane. I would think that the point that made donkey kong quite successful is its ability to challenge the player using its mechanical and dynamic aspect of the game, the ability to give the player two ways of getting to the top both having a different effect, the levels that are changing to give the player a different challenge each time and the wondering NPC's that force the player to react to the threat and change how he plays the game. I think that donkey kong rides a lot on the giving the player a challenge but allow the player to choose how he can challenge the game.

References

http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,36620/

LeBlank tools for creating dramatic game dynamics

Coystican I have no words and must design