How to Win at Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong is a momentous arcade game. The game was developed by Shigeru Miyamoto, who would go on to design games like Mario Brothers and The Legend of Zelda. Donkey Kong was also the first appearance of the man that would become Mario, although at the time he was called Jumpman and was a carpenter instead of a plumber.

Instructions

1. Figure out the controls. It is pretty easy; you have a joystick on the arcade version (or control pad and number keys on other formats) and a jump button. You can jump straight up or jump left or right. On the arcade version, there are 1-Player and 2-Players buttons.

2. Start with the ramp stage. Work your way up, jumping over the barrels that are rolling randomly down the ramps. You can only climb up unbroken ladders but barrels will come down broken ladders. A fireball starts at the bottom of the stage when it begins so be sure to stay ahead of it. Use the hammers sparingly, especially the first one. It will let you smash stuff, but it does not make you invulnerable and it slows you down significantly.

3. Master the conveyor belt stage. There are three conveyor belts on this level that will change direction depending on where Donkey Kong is. Climb a ladder to the first belt and quickly get up a ladder to get to the middle platform. From here, you have to climb to the next level of conveyor belts which are either moving toward or away from the fire barrel. Get on the belt when it is moving away from the barrel and scale the retractable ladder to get to Donkey Kong. Beware of fireballs on this stage.

4. Get through the elevator stage. The elevator stage has two elevators, one on the left that goes up and one on the right that goes down. Get on the elevator going up, jump to the top ledge between the elevators and jump on the right elevator. If the elevator is slow enough, jump to the top ledge and make a quick ascent. Otherwise, ride to the bottom and jump up the ledges to make it to the top. Watch for the falling springs. Get to the ledge with Donkey Kong and quickly get over the right elevator. As soon as a spring clears your head, make a break for the ladder to get to the damsel in distress.

5. Win the rivet stage. This one is quite challenging. You have to deal with firefoxes, which are much like the fireballs. Pull the yellow rivets and make the structure collapse. You can destroy a rivet by touching it or jumping over it, which will leave a gap. You can jump the gaps, but don't fall through them or you will lose a life. The firefoxes cannot cross gaps so use this to your advantage. Use the hammers to reduce firefox population, but don't risk your life for them. Once you remove the rivets, Donkey Kong will come crashing down, you will save the damsel and start the game over at a harder difficulty.