Donkey Kong (Arcade)

DONKEY KONG

First, we'll start off with Donkey Kong, the original arcade game from 1981, the game best known for the introduction of both Mario and Donkey Kong, two of video gaming's most prolific mascot. Fair enough to say, I think we'll be seeing both of them here.

The game features one more character, Pauline, the fair damsel in distress that Mario must rescue from the violent gorilla. Pauline does appear in later games though her appearances are sparse, and often as little more than a background supporting character (up until the release of Super Mario Odyssey). For now I will place her as a Tentative.

As far as movesets go, Mario does little more than jump and swing around a hammer for a short time, which we can set as his standard jump and his forward special until we know more. It is also worth noting that the hammer in question already exists as an item in the Super Smash Bros. games already, but for now it's all we've got.

For Donkey Kong, he spends most of the game up at the top of the level throwing either barrels or jacks at Mario to keep him from reaching him. Obviously these both can be attacks, probably a special or side special, but it is worth noting both exist as items as well.

Pauline, for the most part simply stands beside the great ape, doing nothing but waiting for Mario to rescue her. This is the main reason why I put her at tentative for now. While I know she will feature more in the future, there is simply nothing to build off of her at the moment. If anything, a moveset from her might simply be a series of references to this game itself (the barrels, jacks, and hammer listed above, alongside the moving fireballs that dot the stage) similar to Duck Hunt and Mr. Game & Watch before her.

As far as stages go, the game is made up of four levels, named 25M, 50M, 75M, and 100M respectively. 75M is already a stage, and likewise all four stages would all fit as stages, either recreations like 75M or updates like Wrecking Crew and Mushroomy Kingdom. The other three are much more basic than 75M and so would arguably work better than 75M does. Most could come with hazards such as the thrown barrels and jacks, and fireballs crawling around the stage, while 100M specifically would probably include the feature of the eight wedges that disappear when walked over, leading to the collapse of the center of the stage when all eight are removed, leading to a possibly interesting stage dynamic. All in all, I approve of all four.

So now, let's do a count:

Characters:
Mario, with jumps and a hammer

Donkey Kong, with barrels and jacks

<Tentative> Pauline, with nothing (though possibly built on references to the game)


Items:
Barrels

Jacks

Hammer


Stages:
25M

50M

75M

100M

Join me for my next post covering the games' sequel: Donkey Kong Jr.