Green House (1982, Game & Watch)

Format: Game & Watch
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: December 16, 1982
Playtime: 6 minutes (played on easy (game A) for a few rounds until I ran out of lives)

Green House is (questionably) a spin-off of Donkey Kong 3. In it you play as an exterminator, simply known as the "Fumigator" in the manual, who must go into a greenhouse and stop a bug infestation. How is this connected to Donkey Kong? Well, in Donkey Kong 3 you play as an exterminator in a greenhouse who must stop bugs and Donkey Kong from getting to your plants. The gameplay and idea is similar. In Donkey Kong 3 the exterminator's name is Stanley. Then in a 1983 commercial for Green House the exterminator's name is also given as Stanley. So even though an official connection has not been made by Nintendo, I feel like the connections are too strong to ignore (hence the Donkey Kong tag).

Anyway, this Game & Watch title is one of the two screen ones (so it looks like a Nintendo DS). There are four plants you must protect, two on the top screen and two on the bottom. Spiders slowly approach the bottom ones while worms attack the top. You have to climb up and down a ladder while killing the worms with your spray. Spraying the spiders only pushes them back as they cannot be defeated. You have unlimited spray so that isn't an issue.

Green House is a very difficult game. This seems to be a trend at this point with these Game & Watch games in case you haven't noticed. The bugs approach the plants at lightning speed so you have to be moving up and down incredibly fast. Even if you lost one of your plants you simply lose a life and then the game resets the plants so you always have to protect all four of them. I will say that this game is one of the more entertaining titles for the Game & Watch that I have played. The action kept me on my toes and I enjoyed going for higher and higher scores. I only wish that it was a tiny bit slower.

I would say that this is one of the better Game & Watch titles. I wouldn't necessarily recommend going out of your way to track down an original due to the cost but if you have Game & Watch Collection 3 for the Game Boy Color (which includes both the original game and a remake) or the rare Game & Watch Collection for the Nintendo DS then it can be a fun time and is worth a look.

Donkey Kong Jr. (1983, Game & Watch/Coleco Tabletop)

Format: Game & Watch/Coleco Tabletop
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo (Coleco Tabletop version published by Coleco)
Release Date: 1983
Playtime: 20 minutes (played on easy difficult (game A); unlocked all four locks on Donkey Kong then played until I ran out of lives)

I'm trying to plow through all of the pre-Donkey Kong 3 titles in the series before moving onto something else. Little did I know that it would involve a lot of LCD games. This one is an entirely new game based on Donkey Kong Jr. To clear up any confusion, Nintendo made a single screen Game &Watch title based on the arcade game in 1982. In 1983 they made a separate game in the form of a small tabletop portable arcade machine which they called the "Game & Watch Tabletop". Coleco, instead of making their own Coleco Tabletop, ended up rebranding the tabletop as their own. The game is completely identical but is available in both forms. I played the Coleco one but it doesn't really matter.

In this game you start at the bottom left as Donkey Kong's son. You must grab a key a key and navigate to the top of the screen. From here you must grab onto a yellow umbrella (which move down) and then grab onto a red balloon (which go up). Then time it right to unlock the lock that Donkey Kong is holding out. From there you go back and grab another key and do it all over again until you've unlocked all four of the locks (at which point the game loops at higher difficulties). There are birds flying around the entire time which can make this difficult.

This is one of the more difficult Game & Watch games in my opinion, with only the other Donkey Kong Jr. title being harder. Although, that one was very luck based while this is actually about skill. The one thing that can be annoying about this game is that there are often long stretches where either the balloons or umbrellas do not appear. This left me in a spot where I had to continually dodge birds while waiting for them to appear so I could work my way across to the locks.

While I do think this is a decent game, I don't think that it is as good as the previous Coleco Tabletop game. It is sometimes hard to tell which direction the umbrellas or balloons are going due to the lack of fluid motion (which is just how LCD games are). Otherwise everything looks decent enough. Not a bad game, but not necessarily recommended either.

Donkey Kong (1981, Coleco Tabletop)

Format: Coleco Tabletop
Developer: Nintendo Research & Development 1 (port developed by Coleco)
Publisher: Nintendo (port developed by Coleco)
Release Date: July 9, 1981 (port released 1982)
Playtime: 18 minutes (completed both stages to rescue Pauline then played until I ran out of lives)

Originally I thought to skip this one as it is a port of the original arcade game. I don't review ports unless they include some sort of new content. This one doesn't necessarily include new content but provides it in a way that is different enough that I considered it worthy of a playthrough. Just like the arcade game, you play as Mario and must rescue your girlfriend Pauline from the giant ape Donkey Kong.

This game basically recreates the barrel and rivet levels (the first and last levels) from the arcade game, but does so on a single screen. So first you must climb your way to the top while jumping over the barrels. Next you respawn at the bottom again but now you must go over all of the rivets while avoiding the enemies. Basically the rivets are inactive on the first level even though it is the same screen.

This is an LCD game in what is basically a small portable arcade cabinet. It is a pretty fun game by LCD standards and it recreates the feel of the original game much better than I expected. However, it is pretty difficult. The controls take some getting used to. To jump forward (instead of just straight up) you have to press the move button and the jump button at almost the same time. However, you must press move just before you press jump or you will either jump straight up or accidentally walk to either side (often resulting in your death).

Once the controls are mastered it doesn't take long to get past the first level. The second is where things get difficult. You have a time limit (which isn't displayed on screen) and the fireballs are very aggressive. They often refuse to move away from a rivet which can make it difficult to gain access to it to finish the game. Also, they can move up and down on the left or right edges of the screen in some areas where it is difficult to even see them.

Donkey Kong for the Coleco Tabletop is a pretty solid effort from Coleco. It translates the arcade game pretty well while maintaining the feel. However, I don't see any reason to play this in 2017. There are far better and easier to find ports out there of the original game so there isn't much reason to go back to this one. It does look pretty nice in a game room though if you're into that sort of thing.

Donkey Kong II (1983, Game & Watch)

Format: Game & Watch
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: March 7, 1983
Playtime: 3 minutes (played on easy (game A); unlocked Donkey Kong with all four keys and then played until I ran out of lives)

Donkey Kong II for the Game & Watch is based off of the Donkey Kong Jr. arcade game (but is not a port of it). After reviewing the first Donkey Kong Jr. Game & Watch game, this one is really refreshing. This new game is an amalgamation of three levels from the arcade game: the vines, Mario's hideout, and chains stages.

The game starts on the bottom screen as you must jump and hit the key (which makes it reappear on the top screen) and avoid snappers (small moving enemies). You climb up the vines on the right side of the screen. At this point you have to work your way up while avoiding electricity from above and below you. Once you work your way up to the top screen you have to avoid more snappers and hit the key a second time. It will land on one of the remaining locks. From there you have to climb up to it while avoid birds to unlock it. Unlike most games of this era, you actually have to work your way back down to the bottom to get the next key instead of respawning there.

This game is far easier than the Donkey Kong Jr. Game & Watch game and honestly is much more fun. It has more variety by having the different areas and while they are challenging enough, the game is never overwhelming. The animation is fluid enough for a Game & Watch game and the graphics are pretty decent. Out of the three Donkey Kong Game & Watch games I have played so far, this one is by far the best. If you're looking to play it you can track down an original. It is also included in Game & Watch Gallery 3 for Game Boy Color along with a remake.

Donkey Kong Jr. (1982, Game & Watch)

Format: Game & Watch
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: October 26, 1982
Playtime: 23 minutes (played on easy (game A); unlocked Donkey Kong with all four locks then played until I ran out of lives)

Donkey Kong Jr. for the Game & Watch is an exercise in frustration. Even though this is similar to the arcade game it is actually a new game rather than a port (hence why I'm reviewing it here). Just like the arcade game you play as Donkey Kong's son as you have to rescue your dad from Mario. In the game there are two types of enemies: snappers and nitpickers. The snappers come from Mario and move across the top before dropping down and moving along the bottom row of the screen. They come across the ground. The nitpickers are basically birds and come in waves from time to time. They cover the air in the bottom row and never go up to the top row.

The first thing that stood out to me was just how hard this game is. The snappers come in very quick succession and when they are dropping down from the top it is literally impossible to climb up. Due to this I often got stuck having to jump over six snappers in a row while waiting for an opening to climb to the upper level. In addition to jumping over them you can also jump onto a vine and wait on it for an opening. However, whenever the nitpickers would come I would almost always lose. I would have to get off of the vine to avoid the nitpickers but jumping down to the ground would cause me to land directly on a snapper which would make it impossible for me to survive.

Once you finally reach the top you can hit the fruit. If it hits an enemy you get a few bonus points. Nothing too special. At the top you have to jump and grab the key. This will automatically unlock one of the four locks and start you at the bottom again at a higher speed. Once you unlock all four then it shows a very short cutscene before looping over again. It honestly took me quite a while to figure out how to use the key. If you miss the jump to grab it then you lose a life and start at the bottom again. You have to position yourself to the right of the key then press up and jump at the same time when the key is to the left. It took me a while to figure this out.

Even more frustrating, this game is very glitchy. Multiple times the game locked up on me while waiting to jump for the key. My controls wouldn't work (so I couldn't move) and even though the game kept going the enemies would go right through me. This required me to reset the game which was really obnoxious as one or two times I was close to success. Most of the time success in this game is luck based as every once in a while you will get a decent opening with no snappers or nitpickers at which point I just made a run for it. I think I won mostly due to luck rather than actual skill.

In addition to tracking down an original Game & Watch (which are expensive) this game has been remade in Game & Watch Gallery 3 for Game Boy Color and Game & Watch Gallery 4 for Game Boy Advance. From what I can tell both the original version and remakes are included in these titles. Hopefully the remakes are better.

Overall, this is a really hard game. It is much harder than the previous Game & Watch game. Most of your gameplay is luck based as it is difficult to move without getting killed. Due to the game's high difficulty and it locking up on me a few times I would not recommend it. Game & Watch games have not aged particularly well and from what I can tell this is not one of the best. The visuals are good by Game & Watch standards but otherwise go play something else.

Review List

NOTE: This is a continually updating list of everything that I've reviewed in alphabetical order.

Film
Movies

• La La Land (2016)
• Psycho (1960)
• Psycho II (1983)
• Underworld (2003) (unrated extended cut)
• Underworld: Evolution (2006)

Short Films

• Saw (2003)
• Within the Woods (1978)

Television

• Battletoads (1992)

Literature
Comic Books

• Contemporary Motivators: Star Wars (1978)
• Pizzazz (1977-1978)
• Pizzazz #1-9 "Star Wars: The Keeper's World"
• Pizzazz #10-16 "Star Wars: The Kingdom of Ice"
• Star Wars (Marvel Comics, Vol. 1) (1977-1986)
• Star Wars #1-6
• Star Wars #7-10
• Star Wars #11-15
• Star Wars (Marvel UK) (1978-1986)
• Star Wars Weekly #60 "Star Wars: The Kingdom of Ice"

Video Games

• Assassin's Creed (2007, Xbox 360)
• Donkey Kong (1981, Arcade) (Japanese version)
• Donkey Kong (Coleco Tabletop)
• Donkey Kong (Intellivision)
• Donkey Kong (1982, Game & Watch)
• Donkey Kong II (1983, Game & Watch)
• Donkey Kong Jr. (1982, Arcade) (Japanese version)
• Donkey Kong Jr. (1982, Game & Watch)
• Donkey Kong Jr. (1983, Game & Watch/Coleco Tabletop)
• The Elder Scrolls: Arena (1994, DOS) (CD version)
• Green House (1982, Game & Watch)

Donkey Kong Jr. (1982, Arcade) (Japanese version)

Format: Arcade
Developer: Nintendo Research & Development 1
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: August 1, 1982
Playtime: 21 minutes (easiest DIP switch settings; played through all four levels and then played until I ran out of lives)

After the success of the original Donkey Kong came its sequel: Donkey Kong Jr. which mixed it up quite a bit. In this one the roles are basically reversed. Mario has captured Donkey Kong (likely due to the events of the first game) so you play as Donkey Kong's son as you must rescue your father. This is a rare instance of Mario actually being an antagonist in a video game.

Donkey Kong Jr. controls very differently from Mario in the first game. A lot of what you end up doing is climbing vines. You can climb up a single vine which is slow, or grab onto two vines at once. This allows you to move up faster but also makes you vulnerable to any potentials threats from either vine. When climbing down you do so faster on a single vine. Also, there are fruits which often hang on these vines. Touching a fruit will grant you extra points and if it falls and hits an opponent then they are defeated.

The game is broken up into four levels. In the first you have to climb across a lot of vines and jump across some platforms while avoiding various enemies and water to get to the top. This level can be difficult because you never know when an enemy is going to climb down a vine straight for you. In level two there are birds which fly across the screen at varying heights which can also drop eggs down below onto you. In this you have to ride along different vines and dodge the birds. There is also a trampoline at the bottom which can be used as a shortcut.

The third level is an electric one. Two types of electricity move across the level in different directions. You have to go from left to right, then right to left as you work your way up while dodging the electricity. In the final level you have to get keys and push them up vines to the very top. If you push all of the keys to the top then you win (and the game loops). While doing this you have enemies climbing down the vines plus birds moving at different heights. I found it best to get the keys on the far left and right sides first as they are the most difficult.

When it comes to home ports there are many options. The Atari 2600 version features all but the springboard stage. Three separate screens for a 2600 game is impressive. The Colecovision version has all but Mario's hideout (the electric stage). This version is again the best from that generation with some impressive graphics. The Intellivision version is botched again with bad graphics and awkward controls. It features all but Mario's hideout stage.

The Atari 7800 version features all four stages and has some surprisingly decent graphics. A good port. Then there is the NES version which is the best console port. All four stages and arcade accurate graphics. It is also available in the Donkey Kong Classics combo cartridge along with the NES version of the first game. This version also had a straight port to the e-reader (an accessory for the Game Boy Advance).

There aren't many computer ports this time around. The Atari 8-bit version has all four stages and okay graphics for the time. About on par with the Atari 7800. There seem to also be ports for the BBC Micro but I can't find any information on it. It at least has the first two levels but I don't know about beyond that. Lastly is a port for the Coleco Adam computer which I don't have information about but I would guess is a straight port of the Colecovision version.

While Donkey Kong Jr. is a fun game it isn't as good as the original. The gameplay feels mildly more sluggish and your characters reaction speed isn't the best. Even so, it is a fun game. Just like the original arcade game there is no way to get the arcade version except an actual machine unfortunately. Plus the Japanese version is again better. The American version requires you to replay various levels before it gives you access to all four levels while the Japanese versions simply plays through all four straight from the start. If you want to see the whole game go with the Japanese version. So if you liked the original then try this one too. If you can't find a way to play the arcade version then I'd recommend the NES port.