''King Kong'' is a

platform game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...

programmed by Karl T. Olinger for the

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocessor- ...

and published by

Tigervision Tigervision was a subsidiary of Tiger Toys which produced video games for the Atari 2600, Atari 8-bit family, TI-99/4A, VIC-20 and Commodore 64. Most of their games were ports. '' Polaris'' and '' River Patrol'' were originally arcade games from ...

in 1982. Based on the licensed

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

character, the game is a clone of the first screen of ''

Donkey Kong is a video game franchise created by Shigeru Miyamoto and owned by Nintendo. It follows the adventures of a gorilla named Donkey Kong (character), Donkey Kong and his clan of other Ape, apes and monkeys. The franchise primarily consists of plat ...

''. It was Tigervision's first cartridge release. Tiger Electronic Toys produced a handheld version, licensed to Tandy, the same year.

Gameplay

The objective is to rescue the girl by climbing ladders to the top of the screen while jumping over holes and autonomous bombs. Magic bombs are worth five times the points of regular bombs when jumped over. As in ''Donkey Kong'', each level has a bonus that counts down. If it reaches zero, a life is lost. There are settings for 1 or 2 players alternating turns, slow or fast bombs, and whether magic bombs exist.

Reception

Ed Driscoll reviewed ''King Kong'' in ''

The Space Gamer ''The Space Gamer'' was a magazine dedicated to the subject of science fiction and fantasy board games and tabletop role-playing games. It quickly grew in importance and was an important and influential magazine in its subject matter from the la ...

'' No. 58. Driscoll commented that "Overall, it's a fun-to-play game, with some good graphics. Not bad for a first cartridge!" ''

Electronic Games An electronic game is a game that uses electronics to create an interactive system with which a player can play. Video games are the most common form today, and for this reason the two terms are often used interchangeably. There are other common ...

'' said, "It presents a crude imitation of ''Donkey Kongs first scenario and replaces the barrels and flame creatures with what look like old-fashioned toilets, some of which have lit fuses." In a 4 out of 10 review, ''Arcade Express'' wrote, "This climbing game is marred by a poor rendition of the giant ape," and "''King Kong'' is somewhat easier to play than other climbing games."

References

External links

''King Kong''
at Atari Mania
''King Kong''
gameplay video * 1982 video games Atari 2600 games Atari 2600-only games King Kong (franchise) video games North America-exclusive video games Platform games Video game clones Video games developed in the United States {{King Kong