Nintendo's 1982 arcade game Donkey Kong Junior has been elegantly converted to the Commodore 64 32 years after it first appeared in the arcades. This new version has been developed by a trio of C64 enthusiasts, being Mr. SID (or Andreas Varga), who led the development and handled the coding; SID musician Encore (Mikkel Hastrup); and legendary pixel artist Ste '86 (Steve Day).
Donkey Kong Junior sees Mario take vengeance on the great Kong after the numerous rescues that Mario had to make in the original. Kong is now a prisoner, but fortunately his son has a plan to free him.
Junior must work his way through a dark and treacherous jungle, swinging from the vines and avoiding such perils as the Snapjaws, eventually reaching the cage in which Kong senior is trapped.
There has been a lot of care and attention paid to detail with this conversion, and it's as good as any arcade port I've seen on the C64.
This release is available to discuss and download from the Commodore Scene Database (CSDb) at csdb.dk/release/?id=134342
There's a new puzzle game being developed for the Commodore 64 called Gravatrix, of which there is a 10-level playable preview available to download and try.
The aim of the game is to move around the stones, each having their own gravitational direction as indicated by an arrow. Some blocks may be moved, while others will remain static, with the task being to position each to come into contact with at least one other matched by colour; if there is a match, then the connected artefacts are removed from play.
As with all good puzzle games, there's a password system to allow you to continue from where you left off, with a gentle introduction and nicely weighted learning curve. Each level is played against a time limit of three minutes (per level).
This game has been developed by a group called Robot Riot, which consists of Rouven Malecki, who provided the ideas and game concepts; Nils Hammerich, who handled the coding, graphics and music; and Nils Weitemeyer, who designed the levels. For further information, head over to the CSDb at csdb.dk/release/?id=134356 or check out the team's home page at robotriotgames.com
The World of Spectrum (worldofspectrum.org) forum frequenter known as daveysludge has released Willy The Wasp 2 for the 128K Sinclair ZX Spectrum, which is a wacky, beautifully pixelated 2D explorer platform game.
The aim of the game is to sting 58 environmental protesters who have taken over a nuclear power plant. Unfortunately, the reactor has caught fire (which is what happens when you run a nuclear power plant with a Sinclair ZX81, despite what Sir Clive Sinclair once claimed!), so many of the creatures have mutated. Help is at hand when Barry the Bumblebee emerges. This event may or may not open some exits, though Barry may trap you if you're not careful.
I really admire the graphics in this production, and there is some ear-pleasing AY music played on the title screen, which is courtesy of Frank T. All of the information that you need is available from tinyurl.com/Willy-The-Wasp-2, which includes a link to the download.