''Killer Gorilla'' is a clone 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 ...

'' written by Adrian Stephens and published by

Micro Power Micro Power was a British company established in the early 1980s by former accountant Bob Simpson. The company was best known as a video game publisher, originally under the name Program Power. It also sold many types of computer hardware and so ...

for the

BBC Micro The British Broadcasting Corporation Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers in the 1980s for the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Designed with an emphas ...

in 1983. It was ported to the

Acorn Electron The Acorn Electron (nicknamed the Elk inside Acorn and beyond) was a lower-cost alternative to the BBC Micro educational/ home computer, also developed by Acorn Computers Ltd, to provide many of the features of that more expensive machine at a ...

and

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sin ...

computers in 1984. Stephens wrote ''Killer Gorilla'' at the age of 17 after buying a magazine with screenshots of ''

''. He was paid 400 pounds for the game. Stephens wrote two other games for Micro Power: ''Escape From Moonbase Alpha'' and ''Mr EE'', a clone of Universal's ''

Mr. Do! is a 1982 maze game developed by Universal. It is the first arcade video game to be released as a conversion kit for other arcade machines; Taito published the conversion kit in Japan. The game was inspired by Namco's ''Dig Dug'' released earlier ...

''.

Gameplay

The game involves controlling a man to reach a fair-haired heiress trapped by a large

gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...

at the top of the screen. It is made up of four levels, set higher and higher up a construction site – 25 m, 50 m, 75 m and 100 m. There are two hammers on the 25 m, 50 m and 100 m levels, with none on the 75 m level. Hammers last for about 10 seconds, as measured by the amount of bonus that ticks away. You cannot climb ladders or jump gaps when holding the hammer. After completing the four levels, the player returns to the 25 m level and the game repeats, getting progressively faster and with more barrels, custard pies, and fireballs. In addition, the girders on the 25 m level acquire more holes. An extra life is awarded when the player completes the 75 m level for the first time. The character is controlled using Z for left, X for right, and

return Return may refer to: In business, economics, and finance * Return on investment (ROI), the financial gain after an expense. * Rate of return, the financial term for the profit or loss derived from an investment * Tax return, a blank document or t ...

to jump.

Legacy

The game appeared on a number of compilations including ''10 Computer Hits'' (1985), ''Micropower Magic 2'' (1986) and

Superior Software Superior Software Ltd (also known as Superior Interactive) is a video game publisher. It was one of the main publishers for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers in the 1980s and early 1990s. It currently releases games for Microsoft Windows ...

's highly regarded ''Play It Again Sam 3'' (1988). ''PIAS 3'' also included a game called ''Killer Gorilla 2'' but this was actually a re-titled early Superior Software game. Based on ''

Donkey Kong Junior is a 1982 arcade platform game that was released by Nintendo. It is the sequel to ''Donkey Kong'', but with the roles reversed compared to its predecessor: Mario (previously named "Jumpman") is now the villain and Donkey Kong Jr. is trying to ...

'' and originally released as ''Zany Kong Junior'' in 1984, it was soon withdrawn after a cease and desist from

Atarisoft Atarisoft was a brand name used by Atari, Inc. in 1983 and 1984 to market video games the company published for home systems made by competitors. Each platform had a specific color attributed by Atarisoft for its game packages. For example, video ...

, who owned the home computer rights to the original game. Ironically, Atarisoft had commissioned Adrian Stephens to officially port ''Donkey Kong Junior'' to the BBC Micro after seeing ''Killer Gorilla'', but the game was never released as Atarisoft decided to abandon the BBC platform.

References

External links

How the packaging evolved

{{Micro Power 1983 video games Amstrad CPC games BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games Micro Power games Platform games Single-player video games Video game clones Video games about primates Video games developed in the United Kingdom