CLASSIC GAMES REVISITED - Congo Bongo (ColecoVision) Review

[fcycles]

I wonder if it's the same guys who made Zaxxon and Congo Bongo... so they really were in the 3D thing! :)

[DJCandyManMike]

I always thought the Colecovision version of this game got the level clear and game clear songs the way they should have been. They're reverse what they were in the arcade, but like I said, I like them better as they are in the Colecovision port. All around, this was a very well done port of Congo Bongo.

[tomcamp6023]

This is a great game grew up at the arcade and this was one of them that I loved. Getting to the more advanced screens is alot of fun and get more difficult. You skipping it because you SUCK!!! sorry to say.

[eightbitclick]

DAYUM! I played the hell out of that game.

[frigginjoe]

You might notice this game bears a strong resemblance to Donkey Kong. For example, the Ape, and ... the Ape throws things.

[feltes45]

"Overall, pretty shitty game." hahaha

[tedzothegreat]

If you hate the controls in this and games like q*bert then hold the controller at an angle

[insidetheredzone]

The Game isn't Shitty! ITS USUALLY THE PERSON PLAYING THE GAME IS SHITTY AT IT!

[insidetheredzone]

This Game Kicks Dong Kong's Ass! Donkey Kong all you do is jump over stupid barrels wow how hard... Games that were fun for the Coleco Vision was Tarzan Congo Bongo Venture Q-Bert Frogger Mouse Trap Zaxxon,,,

Donkey Kong was BOOOOOOOORRRRRRIIINNNNNGGGG

i remember going to TOYS R US and everyone was looking at all the other Colecovision Games and Donkey Kong had TONS of those slips of paper you take to the counter to get the game LOL

Even Atari Pitfall was better than DONKEY KONG

[hootyhaha]

Watching a video from CLASSIC GAME ROOM HD, he reviewed SONIC'S UGC. Congo Bongo is in that collection. The game is also available on XBLA.

[DocHackenbush]

You can easily jump over those rhynos. It's not a bad game. I liked it and I beat it. Still I'm not a good gamer.

[MrGrevy]

I guess the ape was modeled after a young Obama. Pretty disgustingly racist.

[fazares]

the best port imo...in 1983....if you were japanese..there was the FAMICOM...the only console that coul dgive you near arcade perfect ports of donkey kong 1-2-3,mario bros,pac-man and many others:)

[jesusarnold]

One clear sign of a noob is complaining about the controls in Isometric games, I was playing games like this when I was 7, it takes about 2 hours to get used to and then becomes second nature, Its most definitely harder to become accustomed to general FPS controls for the first time, originally it took a good week for me to get adept at controlling Goldeneye when I bought it in 1997.

[Normal1S]

Congo Bongo to Alex Kidd to Sonic. . .Sega was DETERMINED to get that perfect mascot game!

[TampaRed]

The Coleco version had better graphics than the Atari 2600 version, but Atari's take had awesome music.

[Pinwormx]

looks kinda cool though for its time

[disciple90633]

wow this guy totally sucks at this game!

[Persistantthug]

You forgot about ZAXXON....

Zaxxon was in isometric 3-d'ish view.

[metal1531]

Q-bert wa one of the First and best Know 3-dimensional games.

[Evilmonkey66699]

Wow the Coleco version looks alot like the C64 version

[jeremysart]

The Atari 2600 port of this game was the only release to not bear "The Official" above the title.

FYI, you can jump over the rhino, but no matter, this is a game purely for collecting, because it is ABSOLUTELY INFURIATING.

[Beldam1]

You know whats funny? "Kongo Bongo" is the name of the island from the Donkey Kong Country TV Show.

[ClassicTVMan81]

Both the Atari cartridge ports of this game left out not only the second board ("Snake Lake") but also the third board ("Rhino Ridge").

[morgangamer22]

nice

[jatekpartizan]

I played this on C64. It was very hard, couldn't beat level 3 if I remember correctly

[Kushnoob]

Try emulating the Arcade version. It's much better.

[WanderLink]

Yeah, Sega did the same thing with their version of Zelda, Landstalker is isometric too. There's even a Sonic game that was never released that was isometric. Someone at Sega was on an isometric kick back then. I personally hate the isometric viewpoint. I'll take top down, side-scrolling, 3D, first person, third person, but please no isometrics.

[saigokun]

Good isometric games were also developed by Ultimate (Play the Game).

Gremlin Graphics also made some excellent games. I like their intro music very much.

[saigokun]

Yes indeed. Zaxxon was very influential for the gaming industry. A lot of games on the Spectravideo and MSX also used the isometric concept. Mostly these were produced by British companies.

[kmcf90]

i remember why i hated them...

those are very streess...

it makes you angry when you lose...

[Kajayachtproductions]

great vid.

[DJCandyManMike]

I'm pressed that the Atari 2600 version had at least one animation not seen in the Colecovision port, but all in all, I'd have to say that this port is by far the more faithful. And if you notice, it reverses the end of level/end of game songs, but I forgive that because I think they work better reversed. IE, the end of level song works better as the end of game song and vice versa.

[jonanjello]

Nice. Looks much better than the crappy Atari 2600 version I received for Christmas.

As a child, I never made the Donkey Kong connection.

And yes the 3-dimensional aspect was a HUGE draw for me as a kid.

[brycepunk]

Wow, I forgot about this game. Used to frustrate me to no end. I gave up on it pretty quickly as well.

[starblazers1969]

You must have been young when this game came out.  I didn't play video games that well in the early 1980's. I could not beat the first level in Frogger and Donkey Kong back then, but now I can get some high scores.

[dommiesan]

I was 9 when it first came out.

[starblazers1969]

In 1983 I was 14. I had a lot of fun times back then playing games in the arcade.

[dommiesan]

The arcade was the forefront of gaming tech. back in the day. The home systems lagged several years or more behind them. For a long time, that was THE place to go and see the cutting edge gaming stuff.

Cheap microprocessors and tech leaps make them all but obsolete these days. Except in Japan. They still put out cool arcade tech here and there, but that's mainly because of the pachinko parlors - not so much arcades in the western sense.

[saigokun]

I fully agree with you with that what your are writing of the arcades and pachinko parlors in Japan.

[MontrealMan1970]

@starblazers1969 you said it. Same here.

[sinistermoon]

I don't think this game is shitty. I think it provides challenge and looks great. The Colecovision port appears to be pretty accurate to the original arcade.

[dommiesan]

Yes, the Coleco port was very true to the arcade version. The graphics were very nicely designed too. The gameplay in my opinion just lacked appeal. And the control is horrid, which makes the game frustrating.