Congo Bongo is an isometric platform arcade game released by Sega 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 exact revenge for an apparent practical joke in which Bongo set fire to the hunter's tent, giving him a literal 'hotfoot'. The game was named by Peter W. Gorrie who was the CFO of Sega at that time. Analysis of the game's ROM code indicates that it was very likely coded at least in part by the company Ikegami Tsushinki.
Congo Bongo's gameplay is similar to other popular arcade games of the time, most notably Frogger and Donkey Kong, but is viewed in an isometric perspective, or oblique perspective in some versions. The protagonist has no offensive abilities and thus, the player must jump to avoid enemies (and obstacles) to complete a level. 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 who attempt to grab the player. They can be shaken off by jumping in place, but if three 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 savanna environment where the player needs navigates around rhinos, charging in different directions. Oddly enough, stepping in the puddles will result 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.
Sega's ports for the Atari 2600, 5200, 8-bits and the C-64 featured only two of the four levels from the arcade original, while the ColecoVision release is missing the level 'Snake Lake'.
More details about this game can be found on
Wikipedia.org.
Find digital download of this game on
GOG
or
Steam.
Videogame Console:
This version of Congo Bongo was designed for the Sega SG-1000, which was first 8-bit Sega video game console manufactured
in the years 1983 - 1985. It was launched on the same day as much more successful NES console and with exceptions, it was sold only in Japan.
The unit price of SG-1000 was 15,000 yen, the same price as for NES. Console was not very successful and after 2 years was withdrawn from the market.
More information about Sega SG-1000 can be found
here.
Recommended Game Controllers:
You can control this game easily by using the keyboard of your PC (see the table next to the game). However, for maximum gaming enjoyment, we strongly recommend using a USB gamepad that you simply plug into the USB port of your computer. If you do not have a gamepad, buy a suitable USB controller on Amazon or AliExpress or in some in some of your favorite online stores.
Available online emulators:
2 different online emulators are available for Congo Bongo. These emulators differ not only in the technology they use to emulate old games, but also in support of various game controllers, multiplayer mode, mobile phone touchscreen, emulation speed, absence or presence of embedded ads and in many other parameters. For
maximum gaming enjoyment, it's important to choose the right emulator, because on each PC and in different Internet browsers, the individual emulators behave differently. The basic
features of each emulator available for this game Congo Bongo are summarized in the following table:
If you like Congo Bongo you'll probably like also some of the similar games in the overview below. The games you see here
are selected based on title similarity, game genre, and keywords. However, the list is generated automatically and can therefore be very 'subjective'
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This version of Congo Bongo was designed for the Sega SG-1000, which was first 8-bit Sega video game console manufactured
in the years 1983 - 1985. It was launched on the same day as much more successful NES console and with exceptions, it was sold only in Japan.
The unit price of SG-1000 was 15,000 yen, the same price as for NES. Console was not very successful and after 2 years was withdrawn from the market.
More information about Sega SG-1000 can be found
