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| The Barrels
Level On the first level,
Mario must run across girders, climb ladders, jump over rolling barrels
and chasing fireballs (or smash them with two convenient hammers available
to him), and eventually reach the top where he can rescue Pauline. He also
has the option to hang off broken ladders; on one arcade version of this
game, you could hang safely and no barrels would go down those ladders
while you were there... on the most dominant versions, this isn't the
case.
Here Mario has grabbed the first hammer and is smashing a barrel.
Note the fireball below him, turned blue when Mario has the hammer.
Barrels continue to roll down the girders toward Mario. The blue
barrel you see rolling near the top is the type that will turn into
a fireball when it hits the flaming oil drum at the bottom of the
screen.
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Mario performing the "super jump." In many places in DK, if Mario
leaps off the edge of a girder, he will magically bounce back. He's
doing that here, snatching the hammer in the process and preparing
to start pounding.
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Mario with his hammer, smashing a barrel that has just rolled down
the ladder. Barrels may roll to the edges of girders and fall down
to the next level, or they may roll down ladders—and even broken
ladders.
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Mario in the "safe spot." He still has the hammer, and can't
climb ladders until it's gone. By moving to the right of the
ladder to the top girder, he can hit the barrels above him as they
roll past.
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Having lost the hammer, Mario stays in the "safe spot" until he can
safely climb the ladder. In this spot, barrels falling off the
girder above land behind him, giving him ample time to jump them
as they roll past.
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Success at last! Mario has made it to Pauline. She is grateful, and
the lovable rapport between hero and leading lady is evident by the
heart appearing between them.
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What's this? Donkey Kong isn't happy about this turn of events, and
he's climbing the big double ladders... but for what purpose?
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Mario's victory is short lived. Donkey Kong has grabbed the
unfortunate Pauline and fled with her. Note the broken heart.
Personally, I think Mario is looking up Pauline's dress at the
exposed panty shot zipping away, and realizing there won't be any
fun tonight.
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Crazy Kong
The Crazy Kong Barrels Level is virtually
the same. The girders are a red-orange instead of purple, and DK and
Pauline are wearing different fur and clothing, respectively. The most
notable difference is that each girder level is cut short on the side with
the short ladder at the end—leaving the ladder right at the edge of the
girder above it. Also note the small girder pieces above DK's dual
ladders, which of course serve no purpose in the game other than
decoration (like the wider-spaced barrels in DK's supply stack).
The barrels are still after Mario. Notice the hammer on the second
girder: it's further to the left and lower. This has the effect of
getting in the way when Mario hits the second girder. Trying to
avoid barrels might mean accidentally grabbing the hammer when you
don't want it.
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On later occurrences of this board, two pieces of girders are
suddenly missing—on the fourth and fifth girders. This may seem
minor, but they're in terribly inconvenient spots. Mario can fall
through the breaks and die. If I were designing this game, I'd have
had more girder sections being removed every time this board were
visited (well, maybe not every time, but frequently).
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NEXT:
RIVETS LEVEL! |
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