Donkey Kong vs. Popeye (NES) - Rerez

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Donkey Kong and Popeye are two early platform games that experienced a second life on home consoles after their debut in arcades. The versions I’m looking at are specifically for the Nintendo Entertainment System. These two games are similar in many ways but which one is the better game? Let’s find out.

Donkey Kong and Popeye have a lot in common. They both:

• Have a focus on high score
• Loop infinitely once you clear the so-called final stage
• Feature protagonists trying to rescue a damsel in distress

In Donkey Kong you play the role of Nintendo's long-running mascot and plumbing enthusiast Mario. Mario's only abilities in the game are jumping and grabbing a hammer that he can use to attack incoming barrels. Each stage revolves around the player making their way to the top of the level and getting close enough to Donkey Kong until he grabs the girl and makes a run to the next stage. This comes to a head in the final stage when you must knock out Donkey Kong by removing the rivets on the stage's support beams causing the big ape to fall. You save Pauline and before you get the chance to do whatever it is Mario was planning to do with her you're back at stage one to do it all over again.

Popeye is a game based off a popular comic and cartoon series of the same name released by Nintendo a year after the original Donkey Kong arrived in arcades. The gameplay revolves
around Popeye collecting a certain number of items that Popeye’s love interest Olive Oyl drops into the play field below her. While you collect the items Popeye’s rival Bluto, who is infatuated with Olive Oyl, chases the player around the stage with some of the cheapest attacks ever in a game. You also have to watch out for the sea hag who throws skulls at you. Popeye can’t jump and instead his only defense is punching. Popeye can punch items out of the air such as bottles thrown by Bluto and the skulls thrown by the sea hag. Popeye has a power up that makes him strong enough to disable Bluto for a short amount of time. To activate the power up the player collects one of the cans of spinach that appear on the play field.

You're looking at some of the earliest examples of Nintendo's video game designs. Both of these games have a set number of stages that are set to loop once you clear the third stage. Although Donkey Kong's gameplay is iconic, Popeye’s gameplay has a few interesting variations that make playing it a bit more of a challenge over time. In the end Donkey Kong's simple level designs and enjoyable controls make it an overall better experience.

When you talk about the audio of Donkey Kong on NES you can’t ignore the horror that is Mario’s walking sound. It sounds like somebody's murdering a squeegee. The classic title music for Donkey Kong is great but the music for the levels is another story. The first level has the same simple, short notes repeating over and over...unless you get the hammer. Level two has no music at all and the third level is just a faster and shorter set of notes repeating forever. Popeye is different — his footsteps sound great, the other effects sound just as good, the music while still simple is a lot longer and changes from level to level. Hands down Popeye has the superior audio experience.

Donkey Kong has simple art assets that really work well at complementing the gameplay. If you see a Donkey Kong level you just know where to go and you know what to do. The simplicity and sparseness of objects in all the three levels helps the player stay focused on their goal. Popeye on the other hand has a more blocky look. It seems more like an Atari 7800 game than it does a Nintendo game. The levels in Popeye seem to have more shapes and colors but I think that works against it. Of the two games this is the only one that utilizes backdrops. In the second and third stages these backdrops are very simple and block like, aging the game dramatically. Because of this Donkey Kong stands out head over heels above Popeye. It simply has way better, simpler graphics.

When you take into account, game play, sound and graphics Donkey Kong is the clear winner. If you're going to go back and play one of these old games on the NES Popeye is a pretty fun experience but Donkey Kong is a classic that cannot be beat.

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