Donut Dodo

I can't say enough great things about Donut Dodo. I only found out about this game through the UKVAC Forums a few weeks ago. Prior to that, I had no idea of its existence. I've never been a fan of playing games for high-scores. As a kid I'd only play Donkey Kong, Bubble Bobble, Snow Bros, etc to see how far I could get. Never ever felt the urge to rack up a huge score. I think it's because you would have to actively be going to arcades constantly to beat your opponents' scores. Then when SF2 appeared in the arcades (I was 11), the idea of high-scores (and scores in general) vanished. Donut Dodo is an unbelievable exception. At the time of writing I have played 113.4hrs and I'm number 8 on the leader board. Firstly, the game plays like how you THINK you remember those 80's classics playing... but the reality is that none of the 80's arcade greats had controls and hit detection like Donut Dodo. The game has been designed to encourage fast, haywire play with its lenient hitboxes, and it makes the game enjoyable beyond description. It wants you to skim the butts and noses of the mice as you slide down ladders. It wants you gamble dropping from ziplines and skimming the Dodo. It wants you to shave seconds off your time by making the crazy leap over the spike pit in Construction Site Chaos, only to land right at the nose of a flame and jump right over it; the tops of the flame licking your feet. The donut hitboxes are also very small, allowing you to deftly skim them without accidentally collecting them during a mad rush to reach the next in sequence. The short jump height also helps with this donut collectable/obstacle relationship. Conversely the bonus fruit hit boxes are large, allowing you to graze the bottom for collection (very important on the Fairground stage) to keep your momentum going. I love the fact that there are very few ways to get high scores - Donut Sequence, Bonus Fruits, Fast Stage Completion. That's it. Its simplicity is what makes it so rewarding. And the donut sequences are random each time you play it, so you can't rely on mechanical memorisation gameplay like Donkey Kong or BombJack - each time you play it you have to adapt and react to a new situation each time a donut is collected; changing your plan of action on the fly. I can't find any faults with Donut Dodo. If I was being pedantic I would like to have seen some original enemy designs. Having the toilet tribute to Jet Set Willy, Pacman Ghost, etc are nice touches, but some unique designs would have been interesting. Do yourself a favour and buy this immediately.

Great classic-style arcade game. If you liked it, play Locomalito's Darkula for a very similar experience.

If this game released in 1986 it would've been the hottest cabinet in every arcade. I keep it installed just so I can get a little hit of fast-paced high skill action, and the music is so good. I catch my kid playing the first level theme all the time in his room. Great game. Accomplished perfectly what it set out to do. Underrated.

Fun game that gives the feeling of classic 80's Arcade games. Especially Donkey Kong. I recommend this game! I was so inspired that I made a classic arcade style bezel for the game. https://youtu.be/1cmmurddPxo?si=7Bn2Cgd4DhG47869

This is one of my all time favorite games… OF ALL TIME!!! Seriously, I can’t recommend it enough, this game is a perfect. Both the gameplay and controls (and even movement), are all straightforward and simply digestible. But it’s not always easy as this game contains a handful of difficulty settings to make Donut-Chasing a lot more spicier. Did I mention the fact that the soundtrack is amazing? Seriously, all of them bops and not a single bad track. Overall, this game is perfect. Easy to understand, Hard to master, with a great soundtrack and a simple, yet hilarious story of a Dodo who steals a giant donut.

This is the type of game you put in the arcade genre and I hope to see more games like this in the future, I really have no complaints.

Game is so fun, The music is so good, animations are amazing, and if you like old arcade games like this, you should give it a shot and cant wait for the sequel

80s arcade action done near perfectly. Not sure how much appeal it has for modern gamers, but for people who like 80s arcade definitely worth trying/supporting.

プレイした瞬間クライマックスかってくらいあがるBGMに惚れて購入したゲーム やられても画面切り替えなくスピーディーに再開するのがとても気持ち良い

The amount of frustration I felt because you can only control your air movement after jumping, and not after falling off a ledge or rail, and from how you can't stop or turn around when using ladders, kills any enjoyment I might have had from the cute graphics or nice music. "Oh, but that's authentic to retro arcade games!" I don't care, it's not fun, and there are games that let you have better control back then, so it's not a valid argument. If I was in a better mood, I might give this a 6 or 6.5, but I'm bitter, so 4.5/10.