Producer: Calisto
Memory Required: 48K
Retail Price: £5.95
Language: Machine code
Author: M. I. Barnard

The Wally of Kong probably refers to the way your man leaps about like a wallaby in this version of the venerable platform game with four screens. On each screen there are generally five platforms each connected with various ladders. The features include lifts, moving platforms, barrels, fireballs and bonus objects.

The object of the game is quite traditional, climb to the top of each screen and rescue the maiden from Kong's clutches. This is done against the clock. Ends of platforms are dangerous in as much as you can fall to your death from them! The game claims to have an amazing 200 skill (speed) levels, but since the slowest and fastest have about the same relationship that you would expect from a game with 9 levels, this seems rather pointless.

COMMENTS

Control keys: curs(e)rs and 0 to fire or Q/Z up/down, U/I left/right and P to jump
Joystick: Kempston, Protek, AGF
Keyboard play: good responses, pity man won't jump while any other key is depressed
Use of colour: good
Graphics: average to good
Sound: poor
Skill levels: 200
Lives: 200
Screen: 4

Wally Kong is a fairly typical 'Kong' game and not bad either. The graphics and movement are both reasonable, and the man jumps very well. I liked this version but I still feel that the Ocean Kong is the best. This version tends to lack sound.

I didn't quite know what to make of the graphics in this game. They are clear and bright and reasonably detailed, and yet they still manage to look quite primitive. Your man leaps with gusto, but not while he's moving forward, which is silly. He can't jump near a ladder either, so it's important to time the run up to a ladder rather well. There are other oddities too. If you have the forward key pressed when a life starts, your man is invisible! But he still dies when a barrel rolls over where he ought to be. The second screen is pathetically simple, while the third with its two lifts is almost impossible because of their speed. It has good points, but it fails to be a very good or playable version.

The four screens are fairly copied from the original arcade version, first two screens being easy to clear, while the third is incredibly difficult due to the extreme speed of the lifts. Most of the characters are small and fairly primitive in their drawing. Not the best Kong around. Unlike the other Calisto games I've seen, this one offers a second keyboard option as well as the 'cursers' as they refer to them on the menu - I'm sure the spelling is intended!

WHO'S KING OF THE KONGS?

Our intrepid reviewer, Peter Connor, braves fireballls, deadly custard pies and vertigo to answer the burning question.

Are you a man or a mouse? An enormous hairy gorilla has just stolen your sweet little girlfriend. Can you sit there and let this monstrous ape kick sand in your face? Or will you flex your puny little muscles, grit your teeth and go off to the rescue?

If you have no stomach for the job then there's not much point playing any of the many Kong games now available, because this is a game that takes guts. The diminutive hero must pit his wit and agility against the brute force of his simian adversary; it's brain against brawn as you try to get beauty from the beast.

LOVESICK GORILLA

The original inspiration for the Kong game was, of course, the film 'King Kong' in which blonde startlet Fay Wray was abducted by the lovesick gorilla. Kong followed her to New York and sought refuge at the top of the Empire State Building where his downfall was eventually brought about by the rather primitive US Airforce.

When, 50 years later, Kong arrived as a game in the arcades the Empire State became a load of old girders. The girders though are arranged on several different screens, thus providing a variety of dangers for the player to negotiate before sending Kong to his doom and providing himself worthy of the girl.

BARRELS AND FIREBALLS

These obstacles vary slightly from game to game but they are essentially the same. First of all Kong rolls barrels down a series of inclined girders up which the hero is trying to climb.

To avoid them the hero is gifted with enormous jumping ability and one of the main points in any version is how well your man leaps. Is he smooth? How far can he go? Can he jump backwards?

These are just a few of the questions that the dedicated Kong'er will ask himself before even considering whether a game is worth buying.

Other hazards to be found on this first level, especially dangerous when trying to climb the ladders linking the girders, are fireballs; these are more troublesome than barrels as they have a habit of following you. Handy in this case are the hammers often hanging around with which you can quickly 'bonk' an enemy or two.

On the second level the player is usually confronted with the problem of conveyor belts which move him in the direction of a vat of boiling oil. In some versions, though, this location is a pie factory with lethal custard tarts and a vat of what is presumably boiling custard.

Further on, the problem is how to get to the top of a series of unconnected girders. The only way up is to jump on lifts as they move up and down. Needless to say, there are always nasty creatures pursuing you.

HAPPY ENDING?

On the fourth, and usually final, level the hero has to rush around an arrangement of girders knocking out the pegs which support them. If he succeeds, Kong tumbles to his death and he gets the girl for evermore. What happens then is not really our business here.

For the home micro the nearest version to the arcade is Donkey Kong for the Atari. You might expect this, but even so it is a remarkably good game. The graphics have a clarity that is worthy of the arcade, with impressive colour and sharpness. Kong himself is a mean-looking redhead who beats his chest in frantic anger. The girl who is the cause of all the trouble seems well worth fighting over in her pigtails and blue dress.

Your hero, Mario the carpenter, is also a very accomplished figure. In fact, he is one of the most manoeuvrable figures in computer games. His running and jumping are a joy to behold, and he will even, given a little nifty joystick work, jump backwards. In Kong this sort of thing counts for a lot: it's no good buying a game where your man can't even jump over a barrel.

SMART APE

The sound too in this version is pleasing with jaunty tunes and good sound effects. All the features of the arcade game are there in splendid graphics. At the top level the ape even summons up enough brainpower to switch the dame from side to side, making your task just that little bit more difficult.

However, not everybody has an Atari and not everybody who does is willing to fork out a small fortune for the software. But owners of other micros need not despair: there's no shortage of Kongs for the leading micros.

For the Spectrum there are at least three versions available. Ocean's Kong has long been a best-seller and it's by no means a bad version.

The graphics are clear with strong bright purples, yellows and blues. Your man himself is quite cute as is his kidnapped girlfriend, but Kong, unfortunately, looks more like a golliwog than a fearsome gorilla.

All the necessary obstacles are there. On level one the barrels come raining down pretty quickly but since your man is a good jumper it's not too difficult to overcome them.

Level two is a bit puzzling. Are those things on the conveyor belts meant to be fireballs? Or are they perhaps pies? Vats of flaming oil possibly? I'm sure I don't know what they are.

The last two levels hold no surprises except that the girl seems to disappear from time to time making you wonder why you're going through this hell.

But it's gratifying all the same when you knock out the last pin and send the ape for the Kong Goodbye.

Blaby's Killer Kong is of a similar standard. The graphics are very clear and colourful in red, green, and yellow. The rather unattractive girl is exactly half green and half yellow. The little hero is, poor thing, slightly bow-legged but despite his handicap he's a game jumper.

Kong stands at the top, glowering with his hand on his hips like an angry mother-in-law. When you get to the top of the first screen you get a big kiss from the girl and two pretty hearts appear.

A curious innovation in this version is the replacement of the hammers (bonking, for the use of) by bonus hamburgers. They must be a strange flavour since they're a shade of green I've never seen at MacDonalds.

The most impressive feature of this game though is its sound, which is much better than in any other Spectrum Kong.

CONVINCING

Krazy Kong, from P.S.S., starts off very well: the title page displays a disgustingly convincing picture of a slavering gorilla. This can lead to a certain amount of disappointment when the game has loaded, since the real Kong is a rudimentary figure with no such frightening detail.

Your man is not too impressive either; although he jumps well enough he doesn't look as if he gives a damn about rescuing the girl. On the other hand, Jane - for that is her name - is not half bad and seems worth the trouble.

The game, though, does have some engaging features. When a barrel drops on your head and you meet your Maker a gravestone appears on which is inscribed R.I.P.

The game starts quite slowly but gets much faster as your man moves through the levels and the pies, conveyor belts and lifts. On the whole the graphics are well up to scratch.

TOO FAST

Calisto's Wally Kong, also for the Spectrum, was unfortunately christened: Wally by name, Wally by nature. The graphics in this game are not bad and Wally himself is an engaging enough fellow even if he does seem to have his hands tied behind his back and to be doing deep knee-bends. The problem is that the game is far too fast: it took me a long, long time to reach level two and then, when I finally made it, the program went and crashed on me.

The less popular micros aren't Kong-less either although there's not as much choice as for the Spectrum. Microdeal's Donkey King, for the Dragon 32, is an enjoyable version: as the blurb says, it's 'barrels of fun'.

You have a very nice little man trying to save a very nice little girl. The gorilla is big and blue and gleefully rolls out the barrels. The graphics, in fact, are good throughout this game, but it's the sound which is especially fine with a rollicking organ background.

All the usual obstacles are there as well as the usual bonus objects, such as the young lady's handbag. A nice detail is the flashing 'L' which warns you when your bonking time on the hammer is about to run out. A drawback is the Dragon joystick; since it's not self-centring it's very difficult to keep control of your man.

Even Oric owners can play the game, or one game at least: Severn Software's Dinky Kong. But they should only buy it if they're absolutely desperate to monkey around with a Kong - there's no joystick option and you're forced to use the dreaded Oric cursor keys.

Unless the hemispheres of your brain are opposite to the normal position you will find it very frustrating. There's also a terribly long gap between pressing the space bar and your man jumping.

The graphics don't make up for the unresponsive controls. The barrels are empty circles and the big K himself is just the merest outline. Furthermore, when you stay awake long enough to get to the top of the first screen you find out you have to go through it all over again. I'd rather spend an hour in the ape-house at London Zoo than play this game again.

SMOOTH ACTION

As far as I know there's only one version available for the BBC: fortunately it's excellent. Program Power's Killer Gorilla features the best graphics, except for the Atari, of any micro.

The colours are very bright and the action is really smooth. The homicidal ape is a virulent shade of bright red, while your girl is a pretty little Goldilocks. Sound, too, is very good although it can become annoyingly repetitive if you don't quickly make progress.

There is the conventional order of screens; once you have done for Kong on the highest level you start all over again but at a much faster speed. There are few more satisfying barrel-bonks in the business than Killer Gorilla.

Ape fanciers with a Commodore 64 are faced with rather more choice; the quality, though, doesn't match the quantity.

For instance, the most striking point about Anirog's Kong is the size of your man's nose; it's an enormous wobbling proboscis which rather distracts your attention from more important issues.

Another curious feature is that instead of a hammer for bonking you're given a mallet, as if you wanted to invite your old churn Kong out for a game of croquet.

On the other hand, level one does have some good grinning fireballs which leap out of their can to grab you. Your man, though isn't easy to control, sometimes behaving very erratically at crucial moments.

MOVING

Kongo Kong, from Mogul, also has rather unsophisticated graphics, hut they are at least very clear. Your smart man emerges from a little pink house and is very easy to control. When he gets to the top of a screen a heart appears and a love theme from Tchaikovsky is played. It's very moving.

This version is quite slow on level one but does get much quicker. On later screens there are some original features such as hostile birds and magic keys. Overall it's a pleasant version, scoring well for playability.

Supersoft's Crazy Kong is very disappointing. The graphics look like something for the first colour ZX81 and the sound is little better, consisting of a repeated Laurel and Hardy tune. The girl is an unappetizing creature with ratty pigtails and Kong is no more attractive; they seem a good match. If I were Mario I'd let her go.

THE VERDICT

So which Kong is King? There are reasonable versions available for most micros but few outstanding ones. Despite the choice for Spectrum and Commodore 64 owners no single game is clearly superior. Atari's game has obvious advantages but when you consider the price of Atari software enthusiasm might wane. The choice then falls on Program Power's Killer Gorilla for the BBC which stands out for the quality of its graphics and its smooth playability; this Kong's certainly no donkey.