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Congo Bongo (J: ) is an arcade game created by Sega and released in 1983. The game has come to be seen as Sega's answer to the highly successful Donkey Kong game that was released two years prior. The player takes the role of a red-nosed safari hunter who tries to catch an ape named "Bongo". The hunter seeks Bongo to enact revenge for an apparent practical joke in which Bongo set fire to the hunter's tent, giving him a literal "hotfoot". The game was a commercial failure when it was released. According to "Video Games Go Crunch!" in TIME magazine October 17, 1983 issue, Congo Bongo was a commercial failure.
Gameplay
The gameplay is highly similar to other popular arcade games of the time, most notably Frogger and Donkey Kong, but takes place in an isometric world. It is characteristic of early platform games, as the protagonist has no offensive abilities and depends on timing jumps and movement to avoid enemies, obstacles, and complete the level.
Levels
Like Donkey Kong, the levels are composed of a series of four single screens that loop in a higher difficulty when completed.Screen 1: Primate Peak – This level most resembles Donkey Kong; the player must travel to the top of a hill while avoiding coconuts being thrown by a large gorilla. Also walking around the level are several small monkeys. If two or more of these monkeys attach to the player, the protagonist will be thrown off the cliff face.
Screen 2: Snake Lake – This level contains a grassland that is connected to a series of square platforms with thin pathways between. The player must avoid scorpions on the grass, snakes on the platform, and time movement with hippos in order to complete the level.
Screen 3: Rhino Ridge – This level takes place in a wide-open Savannah environment where the player needs to navigate around rhinos charging in different directions. Stepping in the puddles results in death, but the player can hide in the empty holes. The rhinos can also be jumped over.
Screen 4: Lazy Lagoon – This level closely resembles Frogger, as the player must cross a body of water by walking on and off various lily pads, logs, hippos, and large fish.
At the conclusion of the fourth level, the safari hunter will enact revenge on Bongo the gorilla by giving him the "hotfoot", and then the levels will repeat at a harder difficulty.
Similarities to Donkey Kong
- Both games involve primates who throw objects at a protagonist from a vantage point on top of a structure.
- Both games have four different levels composed of one screen that re-start with a higher difficulty once completed.
Trivia
- The game runs on the same hardware as Zaxxon, another game featuring isometric graphics. This is the reason why the game utilizes samples.
- There is a board game, called Bongo Kongo that also involves a gorilla and coconuts. More information is available here.
Ports
Congo Bongo has been ported to many video game consoles, including the ColecoVision and the Intellivision. The Atari 5200 version contains only two of the four arcade levels: "The Great River" and "Jungle Mountain", while the ColecoVision version is missing "Snake Lake"
References
- Review of the ColecoVision version
- Congo Bongo in the KLOV database
- Page detailing the Atari 5200 version
- Arcade review (as Tip Top)
External links
1983 computer and video games | ColecoVision games | Intellivision games | Sega games | Atari 2600 games | Atari 5200 games | Apple II games | Atari 8-bit family games | Commodore 64 games | Platform games | MSX games | Cancelled ZX Spectrum games
"Congo Bongo"