PixlBit

Hey Donkey Kong is a hard game!  One of the reasons why I didn't like Donkey Kong as much as a kid is because I had a hard time wrapping my head around it.  I loved mazes in activity books so Pac-Man seemed like a more natural transition for me.

Even though Pac-Man is the first arcade game I ever played, Donkey Kong had to have been the second or third one.  The first time I saw an arcade machine was at the front entrance at Kroger past the checkout lanes.  There were three of them: Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Space Invaders.  I don't remember if I played them all the first time I went, but I know I did the second time.

I'm planning a trip to Super Nintendo World in LA at the end of April, actually.

Definitely want to go to Super Nintendo World.  I may try for March. 

For me, Donkey Kong's bright colors and animation are what attracted my attention. Nobody made better use of color and animation in arcade games than Nintendo did. I was also there for Mario Bros and wished I could have played as Luigi more. 

Wow you're planning on going pretty soon then.  I decided for the end of April because I had to give my work time to approve my vacation request, and maybe most of the Spring Break crowd will have already come and gone by then.  I really shouldn't go, as it'll be an expensive trip.  But if I wait two years from now when the one in Orlando opens, who knows what my life will be like then?  A lot of uncertainties.  Plus I haven't been anywhere since 2019.  One of those 'you only live once' kinds of things.

L.A. is only a four hour drive for me, so it's basically a weekend trip.

Yeah it's like how San Antonio was only four hours away from me, so PAX South was an easy trip.  Man I miss going to those conventions!

I had the ColecoVision port. It didn't have the cement factory or bouncing jacks in the elevator level, and it was overall easier. I was able to get through a lot of cycles in that version.  

Have to appreciate how concise and direct old arcade games were. "All killer, no filler", unlike most games today.

I had the Atari 8-bit version, which had all four levels and pretty much all the features of the arcade. Its only deficit was a somewhat limited color palette and slightly blockier resolution. Its sound even sounded pretty close to the arcade.  It was partly for that reason that I never warmed up to the NES version, which had the cement factory cut out for memory reasons. Well that, and the fact that when I started playing NES, games like Zelda, Metroid, and Kid Icarus were the big thing.

I don't think I ever got that far in the arcade game back in the 80s. I would play it once when I went to the arcades and then try other things. I grew to like DK jr. better. Never got very far in that one either though.