Congo Bongo, known as Tip Top in Japanese and EU regions, is an isometric platformer title developed and published by Sega in 1983 for the Arcades and SG-1000.
Plot[]
Safari Sam the hunter was asleep in his tent when Bongo the gorilla decided to set it on fire. Sam, furious at this decides to exact revenge against Bongo for this cruel prank.
"The hunter climbs up the treacherous cliffs chasing after the gorilla. He encounters many dangers on his way. Watch out for falling coconuts and pesky monkeys. And finally capture the gorilla to preserve the hunter's honor." - SG-1000 back of box
Gameplay[]
The player must control the Hunter known as "Safari Sam"[1] and make his way up or across the levels to reach where Bongo, the mischievous Gorilla is.
- On level 1, Primate Peak[1]: Bongo will throw coconuts at the Hunter, and a trio of monkeys will attempt to grab onto the Hunters face to take control of him and force him off the cliff. The player must navigate the cliffs and leap over waterfalls to reach Bongo.
- On level 2, Snake Lake[1] the Hunter must navigate a swamp, using the backs of diving hippopotamuses to cross the water ways whilst dodging venomous snakes and scorpions to reach where Bongo is.
- On level 3, Rhino Ridge[1] the Hunter must avoid being trampled by stampeding rhinoceroses in order to reach Bongo. He can hide in mole hills to avoid the rhinos or leap over them.
- On level 4, Lazy Lagoon[1] Bongo is asleep up a cliffside. The Hunter must cross a large body of water by using hippopotamuses, lily pads and fish and avoid the stampeding rhinoceroses to reach Bongo. Upon arriving, the hunter will set fire to Bongo's bed and win.
Development[]
Ikegami Tsushinki Co., Ltd. had been commissioned by Nintendo to do the mechanical programming for Donkey Kong and to make a certain amount of arcade boards for the company. Nintendo proceeded to make additional Donkey Kong boards without the permission of Ikegami Tsushinki who owned the rights to the Donkey Kong code. This lead to a lawsuit, and a counter lawsuit in 1983.[2]
Due to the bad blood between Nintendo and Ikegami at this point, they were more than happy to work with Sega to create their own spin on the Donkey Kong formula, using both the Donkey Kong and Zaxxon code, which they had previously coded for Sega, to create Congo Bongo.
Trivia[]
- Congo Bongo was the 5th most successful arcade cabinet in Japan in the month of it's launch.
- It is included as an unlockable game in the PSP version of Sega Genesis Collection.
- The PlayStation 2 SEGA AGES version has a different level design with Safari Sam first gathering treasures, before Bongo steals them and sets his tent on fire.
- The ending level is slightly different too with Safari Sam setting fire to the ropes holding the platform suspending Bongo above a sheer drop.
- It is considered to be Sega's equivalent of Nintendo's Donkey Kong. As Ikegami Tsushinki Co., Ltd created the code for both games, this connection is truer than most Sega and Nintendo equivalents.
- There were several home ports of this title including an Apple II version, Atari 2600 version, Atari 5200 version, Atari 8-bit version, a Coleco version, Commodore 64 version, IBM PC version, Intellivision version, MSX version, TI-99 version, 4A version and a VIC-20 version.
Gallery[]
