BOX DESCRIPTION (US)

Donkey Kong the ape has captured Mario's girlfriend, and has taken her to the top of a steel fortress. You've got to get Mario to the top to save her! USe the disc to maneuver Mario across the girders and up the ladders. But - as he runs, the ape throws barrels at him to prevent his progress. Use the fire button to get Mario to jump over the barrels. Will Mario make it to the top and rescue his gal in time?

BOX DESCRIPTION (UK)

Guide Mario up the ladders to rescue his girlfriend, avoiding the rolling barrels.

Mario must jump over them, or use the hammer to smash them.

In the 2nd screen, Mario must knock out the rivets.

Dangerout fireballs move along the girders and will destroy Mario unless he is clever.

BUG: Doesn't work on Intellivision II.

FUN FACT: The Japanese word for "stupid" or "foolish" literally means "donkey-like." So "Donkey Kong" can be interpreted as "Stupid Kong." However, since the Japanese language has no obscenities, translators usually use the same word when an obscene adjective is needed. So "Donkey Kong" can also be interpreted as "F***ing Kong."

FUN FACT: Just four months before the heavily-anticipated home release of Donkey Kong, Universal Studios sued Nintendo and Coleco claiming the arcade game and the home versions ripped off the movie King Kong. Coleco, not wanting to risk delaying the launch of ColecoVision, agreed to pay royalties to Universal. Nintendo chose to fight. Several months after release of ColecoVision and the Donkey Kong cartridges, Nintendo won. Coleco then sued Universal, winning back a portion of the royalties.

FUN FACT: When the programmers at Mattel Electronics saw the Intellivision version of Donkey Kong, they were shocked at how bad it was. They actually suspected a conspiracy: that Coleco released an awful version for Intellivision so that the ColecoVision version - and the ColecoVision itself - would look that much better.

Far more likely it was the result of a rushed development schedule and having no experienced Intellivision programmers on staff.

But whatever the reason, the programmers (specifically Bill Fisher, Steve Roney, Mark Urbaniec and Keith Robinson) begged management for the opportunity to program their own version of Donkey Kong - not for release, obviously, but to demonstrate for the press what Intellivision could do when programmed properly. They were confident they could put together a version more faithful in feel and gameplay to the original arcade game than even the ColecoVision version. Management said no, feeling the programmers' time could be better spent.