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Although the classic arcade Donkey Kong was ported to the Spectrum, the Speccy also hosted a few naff knock-off/clone games. Donkey Kong Jr. has also been replicated a few times since its 1982 debut and this release is the most recent for the Spectrum.

In terms of the story this version doesn't deviate from the original arcade game, so you're in control of Donkey Kong Junior who's attempting to rescue the caged Donkey Kong from Mario - Mario's taking revenge on DK Senior for kidnapping his girlfriend Pauline in the first game.

Avoiding various obstacles such as birds, the lethal crocodile-like Snapjaws and the ever-present water, DK Junior faces four levels to navigate to rescue his father from Mario's clutches.

Donkey Kong Jr. has nice bright graphics, but that's probably the best thing about it. The character sprites are distinctive and I love Junior's animated death as he falls and drowns.

Controls feel unresponsive at times - Junior sometimes doesn't move at all and then suddenly jolts to a new screen position, kind of like a character in an LCD handheld. (Remember those?)

Some gameplay elements differ from the arcade version and the game really suffers for it. There are enemies in the game known as Snapjaws, which unlike the arcade version, don't climb down vines and cross the ground but instead seem to float in mid-air at times on random paths, often killing Junior because their movement is unpredictable.

Another problem is that you can only hang onto a vine's right side instead of hanging between two as in the coin-op. Due to my familiarity with the arcade version, I lost many lives because I kept forgetting these limitations.

There's no backing music either. The arcade version's music wasn't as memorable as the original Donkey Kong, but a familiar jingle always adds to any game. There is little to break up the silence here apart from when you fall in water or touch some fruit.

Gabriel Amore has released many great Spectrum games, but this isn't one of his best. That said, it is the closest that anything has come to looking and feeling like the original arcade game on the Spectrum, so it isn't all bad.

Games are meant to be fun - this is pure hair pulling frustration as you have to move DK Jr in a pixel-perfect manner around the screen. The game feels like a Game & Watch affair since the graphics are functional with limited animation. Though it looks the part, Donkey Kong Jr. is way too hard to be fun and you soon find yourself looking for another more soothing and satisfying game to play.

Control keys: Fixed
Joystick: Kempston, Sinclair
Keyboard play: Okay for the most part, occasionally unresponsive
Use of colour: Bright and appealing
Graphics: Basic but nicely detailed sprites
Sound: Minimal and lacking music
Skill levels: One
Screens: 4
General rating: Certainly it could be worse, but we'd rather the original any day