A few last answers

The last version of the source code is still from 22 August 2025 and the last version of the complete game is still from 28 October 2025, so nothing new in that regard and it should stay that way. I was only updating, correcting and supplementing the text manual, and a batch of new questions has accumulated again since the previous answers.

Is it an error that a barrel sometimes jumps off a girder even when it is above Mario? No, it is intentional. At difficulty levels 1 and 2, the barrel behaviour is slightly easier than in the arcade version, because the first game stage is the hardest for most players, so in my opinion the game is better balanced this way. This is a Spectrum game, which for technical reasons has to be different from the arcade version, which slightly changes the style of the game, and on this occasion I made it the way I feel it would play best on Spectrum.

Is it an error that Mario moves slower than the barrels? No, it is the same situation as in the arcade version. Some may have been confused that the game runs slightly slower on the standard ZX Spectrum than the arcade version due to a different screen frequency, and it is true that the ratio of Mario's speed to barrels is not exactly the same in both versions, but it is very similar.

Is it an error that Mario dies by falling from a relatively small height? No, it works the same as in the arcade version. Changing this feature would significantly change the style of play in the first and third game stages.

Is it an error that Mario doesn't bounce off the edges of the game stages when jumping left or right? No, it is intentional, because I didn't like this behaviour in the arcade version.

Is it an error that Mario doesn't get any score when he just jumps very close to the ape (he doesn't jump over anything) in the fourth game stage? No, it is intentional, because I didn't like this behaviour in the arcade version.

Does this game use some kind of raster multicolour engine during gameplay to make it very colourful? No. The only thing of this type is a simple home-made colouring effect in the introduction, otherwise everything is just a normal Spectrum screen. I know the game could look even better, but that would be beyond my current abilities.

Why is each girder in the first and third game stages coloured alternately red and magenta? To give the result the impression of a non-monochromatic red-magenta colour like in the arcade version, and to be different from the colour of the ape, which by comparison appears red-orange or red-brown.

Is this version of the game actually a Donkey Kong emulator that uses the original arcade ROM? No, and I highly doubt that it would even be technically possible on any type of ZX Spectrum from the 1980s. This isn't Space Invaders or Pac-Man. Furthermore, this version of the game was designed from the start for Spectrum 48K, which doesn't allow to use the memory area required by the original arcade game. This version doesn't use any part of the arcade ROM, nor have I ever examined it.

Why does the game include the names of the authors and publisher of the original 1981 arcade version? Even though some people think it is not a good idea, I am simply trying to be fair and not hide their credits.

Why did I adapt the game for 13 different loading media? People wanted it, I wanted to learn it also for my other Spectrum projects, and I didn't want people to unnecessarily make cracked versions of old versions of the game. I also wanted to adapt the game for the ZX Interface 2 cartridge, but the game doesn't fit on the old normal cartridge, and unfortunately newer special cartridges like ZXC1 are not emulated anywhere. I know there are even more loading systems for Spectrum, but some are compatible with others, some have hardly spread at all, some aren't emulated anywhere, and I haven't found enough documentation for the rest.

I have also read that in the 1980s, a game like this supposedly couldn't have been made due to a lack of knowledge of ZX Spectrum and modern development tools. It could have been made, because no unusual knowledge or types of tools that weren't already known in the 1980s are used here. But at that time, professional Spectrum programmers couldn't spend too much time making a game, and home programmers couldn't use two connected computers with a disk drive or an emulator for more convenient development. Moreover, by the time some Spectrum programmers gained enough experience in the 1980s, Donkey Kong was already considered an outdated game.

Someone also thought that a game that looked like this couldn't be for Spectrum 48K and that it could only be for Spectrum 128K. Of course not. Most arcade games from the 1970s and early 1980s aren't too demanding for a decent Spectrum 48K version, even if it is nicely coloured and moves smoothly.

Are there two versions of this adaptation of Donkey Kong, one for Spectrum 48K and one for Spectrum 128K? No, there is only one version of this Spectrum adaptation and it works on all Spectrum compatible computers (except Spectrum 16K).

Do I need Spectrum 128K to play sound through the AY sound chip that is in Spectrum 128K? No, any Spectrum compatible computer to which an internal or external AY can be connected is sufficient. It doesn't need more memory than Spectrum 48K, just the AY chip or something compatible.

Do I need an AY sound chip to play background music during the game? No, the background music can use either the internal speaker sound of any Spectrum compatible computer or the AY sound chip. Of course, music sounds different through the internal speaker.

From time to time, people asked me again about the possibility of better graphics in the SAM Coupé version and the possibility of improved versions for other Spectrum compatible computers such as Spectrum Next, Element ZX, Timex TS/TC, ATM Turbo, etc. After investigating the situation, I finally dismissed it because it would be too much work for any of them. It would be nice, but as I wrote before, unfortunately it wouldn't be enough to just redraw it and change a few program things. I know how much time I spent making the Spectrum version, and I can't keep making the same game again. I have other more interesting Spectrum plans, and besides, creating computer games is only a small part of my free time activities.

By the way, I thought all current Spectrum clones and emulators had the system timings of the real ZX Spectrum computer, but unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the case. From time to time, new videos of people playing this game still appear, with some of them having wrong (shifted) colours or flickering moving objects. I was also a bit surprised that some of the new videos show old versions of the game.

This reminds me that I have seen old versions of the game in some archives on the internet, and even after contacting the archive administrators, this has unfortunately not changed, so I hope that people interested in the game will eventually find the final version. Some other archives contain the final version, but together with several older versions, which can be confusing, and moreover, most old versions contain errors and other flaws. I didn't write a version number in any release of the game, because I didn't think that anyone would publicly archive a version other than the latest fixed one, so maybe I made a mistake.

And finally, I have read somewhere that this game was supposedly created by some generative AI model using Sinclair BASIC. I have a feeling that the text was written either by someone who has an overly high opinion of their education or experience, or by some poorly programmed text generator.