NES Donkey Kong question

[kevin242]

I played Donkey Kong on the nintendo for the first time, as a kid I always

played the arcade and atari 800 version. I noticed the NES version has

slightly better graphics than the atari 800 and I played it for for awile.

I made it to the blue (rivet?) screen twice, but is it missing the the screen

where conveyor belts or am I remembering this game all wrong and just

haven't made it that far.

 

If it is missing this screen, why? I mean I can see why they left it out

of the colecovision version but the NES has HUGE games (in comparison)

like Zelda and SMB why would that extra screen be a problem?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

kvn

[Great Hierophant]

The so-called pie factory stage does not exist in any NES version of Donkey Kong. I heard that they could not include it because of memory limitations, but I don't believe that. Both Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr contain 4 game screens, yet Nintendo was able to include all 4 screens of Donkey Kong Jr. (a more complex game) in its NES port of that game in the same amount of ROM space (24KB). Both games were developed at the same time. Maybe the developers of Jr. used their space more efficiently. Maybe the conveyor belt and ladder routines for the pie factory were too complex to fit into the cart? Only an extra couple of tiles are necessary to show the pie factory.

[Zaxxon]

There are CV cart versions of DK and DK Jr that include all levels and have intro and intermissions, so it's just Nintendo's laziness.

[ATARIeric]

is it possible nintendo was still raking in the $$ off the coin op when they put out the home version of the game for there home nintendo system ? i can see selling to other systems with the complete game, but for there name brand and being in japan, could that have something to do with it ?

[kevin242]

I just played the Atari 800 version and I noticed something. The Atari

version is a much better game. It is more challenging, the fire in the

blue rivet screen are smarter and the red girder screen is faster paced.

Also the Atari version includes all the screens. The NES conversion is

a bit sharper graphically but that's about it.

 

The only thing I can think of is that by the time Donkey Kong was made

for the NES it was not a big seller anymore so they used the cheapest

possible cartirige with the least amount of memory??

 

It's interesting that when it comes to the games it can do, the atari 8bit

usually beats out the competition even if it is a later generation console.

 

 

 

 

 

 

kvn

[Avid Fan]

Nintendo needs to get off their asses and release a "Nintendo's Greatest Arcade Classics" for GCN and GBA and put all 3 Donkey Kong's on there, Popeye, Mario Bros., and Punch Out

 

That would definately give other classic compilations a run for their money, and I'd bet that it would sell some more cubes

[ATARIeric]

maybe they just wanna release GBA game versions in hopes people will buy a GB player for the GC. i really dont like my gamecube much, but the GB player for it rocks. i love using it for "emulating" regular NES games on it. and playing around with different emulators for it. now only if they had a working atari2600 emulator for the GB player.

 

 

id be a happy camper

[Avid Fan]

But could a GBA emulate it properly? Some people said the difference between the Namco Museum for GCN and GBA was nil, but I beg to differ, its much more smoother on GCN.

but knowing Nintendo, they would release them seperately and still get the NES versions of the Donkey Kongs

[joeybastard]

There are CV cart versions of DK and DK Jr that include all levels and have intro and intermissions, so it's just Nintendo's laziness.

 

Wasn't it Adam tape versions that are "Super" and have the Pie Factory? I don't have any CV cart version with te pie factory.

[Zaxxon]

Wasn't it Adam tape versions that are "Super" and have the Pie Factory?  I don't have any CV cart version with te pie factory.

 

Yes, there are ADAM super versions on tape/disk but someone at Coleco ported them to the CV, but unfortunately these versions were never officially released. I have both games on a cart so I know they'll work on an actual CV, not just on an emu. The original versions were only like 16k or 24k max so there was still room on the cart for another level and intermissions. The ADAM Super DK Jr. has a cool additional 5th level, "Mario's Bakery" , that is an ADAM exclusive.

 

The "pie factory" in DK is actually a cement factory, those are supposed to be tubs of sand IIRC. This is confused sometimes with the "Mario's Bakery" level in which he is actually taking pies out of an oven and dropping them down at you.

[Jasoco]

The missing screen was the only thing keeping me from importing the Famicom Mini version for my SP.