PixlBit

Hey, remember last night when I was extremely tired and up late when I shouldn't have been? Well, that's really hitting me now and I'm going to try and hit the sack ASAP. This means I'm leaving many BaD entries unread for the day, which is sad, but I did play Kong earlier in the evening, which is good. It was going really well too, only losing one life before ye olde third elevator screen (I'm tired of talking about that screen, but it really is a critical point for me right now). Then I lost my final life in a pretty lame way while holding a hammer. 

You have to be careful with the hammers in Donkey Kong. You might feel like you're invincible, but barrels can still roll underneath while Jumpman has the hammer aloft and take you out. To prevent this, whenever I am about to smack into a barrel, I stop pressing into the barrel and just let Jumpman stand there a moment before impact. This ensures that the hammer arc will come in contact with the barrel without Jumpan moving the arc forward and past the barrel. Maybe that's confusing, but the point is, you can't charge into barrels with the hammer or you will get burned.

You can also still get hit by barrels coming down ladders while Jumpan has a hammer, which is what got me. I saw it coming too, so I was a little mad at myself. I much prefer dying in situations where I have no escape. Those situations certainly happen enough to keep me "happy."