Thursday, December 09, 2010

Donkey Kong: Original Edition ain't all that

Did you hear that? It was me breathing a sigh of relief for not buying one of those European red Wii systems--you know, the ones preloaded with Donkey Kong: Original Edition.

I don't know if I actually would have gone through with it, but I certainly thought about it once or twice after it was announced that Donkey Kong: Original Edition included the "pie factory" level (right) previously limited to the arcade version of the game.

After playing the game for a few hours last night, I can say with complete certainty that blowing £200 (about $315) on a European red Wii just so I could gain access to the above-mentioned level would have been an awful waste of my hard-earned money.

Why? For starters, the pie factory is the game's weakest level. Sure, the stage's conveyor belts and cement pans (sorry, they're not really pies) can be a bit of a challenge, but after you've played it a few times it can be cleared in seconds.

Even if said level were the game's strongest, though, it wouldn't make it worth $315. Subtract about $300 from that total and you'll see what I think a digital version of Donkey Kong: Original Edition is worth (although I have to admit I'd personally pay up to $10 for it).

6 comments:

Viewtiful_Justin said...

I played that level the other day at the arcade. They've got a "Donkey King" machine that someone just GAVE them, and it's got that level, so I actually got to play it. It kicked my ass.

Well, crisis averted, then.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Don't get me wrong -- it's a great game overall and I'm glad Nintendo released it (albeit in limited quantities at this time). Still, I don't think people are missing all that much if all they have access to is the Famicom/NES version. IMO, if they had to remove one stage from the game, the pie factory one was it.

BTW, it's great that you have access to an arcade! I'm jealous...

Viewtiful_Justin said...

Oh, yeah. We've got a great little arcade in town. It's super tiny and cute, but it's all about old games. LOVE IT.

www.starworldsarcade.com

Bryan Ochalla said...

Oh, that's cool. I wonder if there's anything like that in Seattle? I know there's one of those huge Sega arcades downtown, but that's not really the same thing...

Zigfried said...

I was in Seattle once and they had a pretty big classic arcade on some street corner. I don't remember which street, and this was also 15 years ago, so...

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hmmm, I'll have to check it out, Zigfried. I have to imagine the Sega mega-arcade isn't the only one in the city...