Reviews

My 500th review as it turns out. A lot of Donkey Kong games on the Spectrum were bad, this being one of them. The jump key is unresponsive and you seem to have infinite lives as you can die and die and die again, which defeats the purpose of being a game frankly. Not sure what the Kong is trying to be as well, looks more like a yeti.

Bundled with Dixon's 48k+ in 1984, this was one of the first games I played. A playable attempt at cloning Donkey Kong, enjoyable, and a challenge to master.

S to start and you are asked which 'level' you want but I think this value of 001-200 just fractionally affects the speed of all moving sprites.

Level 1, Kong is flexing next to a pile of barrels at the top of the broken scaffolding, spewing them down your path to the top. You, the pencil-necked protagonist, must run or hop along each layer of scaffold and climb the ladders to the uppermost level, avoiding each barrel along the way. Beware though, if you are on the top or bottom rung of the ladder! I like the way the character runs and hops, it is quirky. Also reminiscent of the Jumping Jack game character. He will hop in the direction you are facing, but not if you are running. You can't hop on the top layer of scaffold.

You should be able to complete level one pretty easily. Plus you get seemingly infinite lives until you get to level 2. Don't forget this was for a family to enjoy, young and old, so I think it's fine that the youngsters could play level one without running out of lives all the time.

You can't hang about on level 2, or you'll die quickly. This time, burning oil is spreading like wildfire across the scaffolding, and is just about to reach where you are stood! Kong is at the top, still puffing out his chest, and there is the helpless princess, highest of all, screaming for help! Get to her! Quickly get on a ladder, ladders are safe havens on this level. The first layer is also travelating at speed, so you need to time your ascent.

You are against the clock, and the quicker you get to the top, the higher your score. There are a couple of hammers hanging off the scaffold that you can use to quell the spread of oil, but this is not for the faint if heart. See if you can figure using a hammer out on the travelator, I'm working on it.

Without the hammer you can stand still by opposing the direction of travel, or you can hop against it making little if any progress, but annoyingly just enough that you think if you persevere you may be able to master it. With the hammer you can't use the ladders, and if the flames catch you on an upswing you are toast.

You can hammer the fire out but it is not easy, and hardly worth the 50 points you'll get for it, considering the time it takes. It is satisfying though and you do get a splat for your trouble. If you just want to get on to level 3 with a high score, then you can do quite easily by ignoring the hammers and pegging it to the top. There is also an umbrella you can collect, but there's no reward either by points or by use. You'll still fall to a miserable doom if you run off any edge.

Level 3 presents a new set of challenges. Kong and Princess are at the top again. This time there are two elevators working in opposite directions, with more flaming oil between. There are also a couple of telephones, oddly, and spheres to collect. No points for doing so though. This level seems to be mainly about timing and positioning.

You may have noticed on previous levels that you can't hop directly up to a ladder, and that will be important to note on this level. It will take you a few tries before you get through level 3, which was always my favourite.

Level 4 is rightly the toughest of the lot. The scaffold has weak points on each level that you must touch to break, so don't bother just heading straight for the top. The oil fire has just broken out at the start, but soon spreads quickly. Breaking the scaffold contains the spread. Hammers, a telephone and a brolly all up for grabs too. If you manage to get to the top and break the last link then the scaffold will collapse under Kong and Princess will be free!

All in all, Wally Kong isn't bad really. There are a couple of quirks, glitches and anomalies, especially where using a hammer is concerned, but these seem fun. The odd crash.

The graphics are basic as is the sound but the game is playable, and you can have fun with it.

MJKW

1984 Walltone Software (UK)
by Michael Barnard

There are several versions of this game in the WOS archive. Some have infinite lives others the normal three men. It's hard to complete level one with infinite lives, let alone three.
As a clone of the popular Kong, this game fulfills it's promises. You get most of the original game but poorer and primitive. Several features should have got more attention, like the jumping key, which is not unresponsive, but instead it simply doesn't work when our man is near a staircase (one or several steps near). Why the author decided this, is very unclear to me. Also on the top floor of level one you can't jump. That said, most of the game is okay enough to enjoy.