You know what game I haven't heard a lot about...

[King Atari]

"Kangaroo", I was just playing it, and realized that it was actually good! Okay, given the fact that the graphics could have been better, the game play is still pretty addicting. I don't remember hearing a lot about this game on the boards here, is it a game that tends to be overlooked? I remember when I first got my copy, I traded some lady a text label "Basketball" for it, I got the 1987 version. Anyways, what's everyone think of the game?

[broncoman]

i remember playing it in the arcade at the mall i thought it was pretty fun it reminded me alot of donkey kong nowadays but u know when i was a kid it was a kool game and to this day i still dont like monkeys !!!!

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Most people dislike this port on just about any system. I actually like the game...both the 2600 and the 5200 version. The 5200 version looks more like the arcade and sounds pretty much dead on. I do remember playing the 2600 version quite a bit a kid. Now when I want to jump around and smack some monkeys...I just plug in the 5200 version and thrash my controller a bit...

 

I do agree that it seems odd that you hit the bell and have to come back down the level to collect all the fruit...especially when you get more points the quicker you complete the level...

[StanJr]

I like kangaroo to a certain degree. I hate that if you miss a jump you die. Shouldn't a Kangaroo be able to survive at least a SMALL drop off the logs? That and the bell thing, on some levels I don't think you can get all the fruit (especially not with the time limit). So Kangaroo is limited fun, but fun nonetheless. I'd give it a generous B-.

 

Punchy Stan

[Lemmi]

i used to play this all the time in the Arcades, then i played it even more when i got it for the 2600, i like this game alot

[Adrian M]

I had the 1987 2600 rev of Kangaroo and while it was fun back then, the more I look at it now and compare it to the arcade version, the more I realize how poor and flickery it actually was. That and the control was pretty poor with the stock 2600 joysticks!

 

It was pretty easy to play through it several times once you got the hang of the levels and the various shortcuts you could take on the later levels.

[+Cafeman]

I am not a very critical gamer, but I don't like either the 2600 or 5200 version of Kangaroo. I prefer the 5200 version though, but I hate the quality of its music, plus some of the jumps are too tough with that analog stick.

 

I like the idea of Kangaroo more than I like its execution, I guess. Kangaroo can't hold a candle to DK or DKjr. (arcade versions or Atari 8bit versions).

[liquid_sky]

I hated the 2nd level of it on the 2600 so i would play the 1st and just ring the bell alot

 

[ 12-27-2001: Message edited by: liquid_sky ]

[Albert]

This is one of Atari's coin-op games that I never really got into too much. Perhaps it required me to pump too many quarters into it to become any good, and back then I couldn't afford to pump tons of quarters into arcade games (sadly). However, Atari generally did a pretty good job porting arcade games to the 2600, at least in the Silver label days. Let's see, during that period they ported Battlezone, Centipede, Crazy Climber, Crystal Castles, Dig Dug, Galaxian, Gravitar, Joust, Jungle Hunt, Kangaroo, Mario Bros., Millipede, Moon Patrol, Ms. Pac-Man, Pengo, Phoenix, Pole Position, Stargate, Track & Field, and Vanguard. It's amusing to note that nearly *all* the silver label releases are ports of arcade games! Ha ha! And many of these are exceptional given the 2600's abilities.

 

So, I've probably played Kangaroo more on the 2600 than the arcade. I'll have to fire up Kagaroo in MAME to refresh my memory and see how good of a port it is.

 

..Al

[ATARIPITBULL]

I love Kangaroo!!, I played it a lot in the arcades and now I have about three boxed and sealed copies of it in my collection.

[Heavy Sixer]

I usd to play the arcade version of Kangaroo quite a bit when I was a kid, so I have fond memories of it. On the whole, I liked the 2600 version, and got a lot of play time out of it. I hated the sluggish jumping response, however; it cost me more lives than I care to remember, usually at critical moments in the game. I have the 5200 version, but I've never played it due to the fact that I don't have any working 5200 controllers .

 

Last week, I acquired two new arcade machines at a flea market (for $75 and $35!), and one of them was Taito's Samurai Nihon-Ichi in a Kangaroo cabinet (some kind of half-assed conversion). I'm planning to fix up some cosmetic features and restore the machine to its original bell-ringing, monkey-punching glory. Most of the original hardware was still in it, except for the main PCBs. I won the PCBs on eBay, and all I need now are the marquee, control panel, and monitor glass.

 

HEAVY***6***er

[King Atari]

quote

Last week, I acquired two new arcade machines at a flea market (for $75 and $35!)

 

WHOA! That's awesome, the closest I've come to anything that good is two slot machines for $300 each. Anyways, the local pizza place has the arcade version, and it worked for a long time, but the monitor is now burned out. Too bad, I can't see how good the 2600 version has made me.

 

[ 12-31-2001: Message edited by: King Atari ]

[King Atari]

YES! a throwback to days long gone by, I beat the game again last night. I feel good...