Lost In Translation/Jungle King

Jungle King
Manufacturer	Taito Corporation
Released	1982
Control; Method	8-way Joystick; 1 Button(s)
Main CPU	Z80 (@ 4.000 MHz); Z80 (@ 3.000 MHz)
Sound CPU	Mono; (4x) AY-3-8910A (@ 1.500 MHz); DAC
Video; Details	Raster (Horizontal); 256 x 224 pixels; 60.00 Hz; 64 Palette colours
Screens	1
ROM Info	21 ROMs; 82,176 bytes (80.25 KiB)
MAME ID	junglek · jungleh · junglhbr · junglkj2 · piratpet

This page is a stub for arcade games that are part of the Lost In Translation series using information based on MAME (version 0.113u2).
For an example of preferred content and layout please refer to Out Run or The Ninja Warriors.

About The Game

Jungle King is an arcade video game with 4 levels, each of which could be considered a separate game in their own right. It is notable that this game scrolls right to left, while the vast majority of scrollers go from left to right, although most people probably wouldn't even notice that.

The first level may have been the best level in the game. You use your jump button to move from right to left across a series of swinging ropes, while avoiding the monkeys that can send you falling to the ground. This level is easy to master, but you do have to time your jumps to make it to the next vine.
The second level is a swimming sequence. You move Tarzan around in the crocodile infested water. You have a breath meter here that you must watch to avoid drowning (simply swim up to the surface to get more air). You can stab the crocodiles with your knife, but only when their mouths are not all the way open.
The third level is a rock jumping sequence. Simply use your joystick and jump button to leap over rolling boulders as you climb a hill on the way to your eventual goal.
The fourth and final level has you guiding your intrepid hero through a native village. You have to jump the villagers while their spears are down, and eventually make your way towards Jane who is being lowered into a pot to be boiled for supper.

You then get to view a short 'I Love You' ending, and then the game begins again with increased difficulty.

Trivia

Released in August 1982.

It was the first 'side-scrolling, jumping & attacking game with a humanoid character', appearing in arcades three years before Miyamoto's classic Super Mario Bros.. This was also the first video game ever to feature Tarzan as a playable character. But, Taito never bothered to get permission from the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs, so they were sued for copyright infringement for using Tarzan's likeness. So this title quickly went out of production, and is rather rare today. They later reworked the graphics and released this game as "Jungle Hunt".

A prototype of this game is known as "Jungle Boy".

A reworked version of this game is known as "Pirate Pete".

A Jungle King unit appears in the 1983 movie 'Joysticks'.

Updates

In "Jungle Hunt" :

An opening musical theme is played at certain parts of the game instead of the opening Tarzan yell - the same music that plays at the end of the swimming sequence.
The life-lines he swings on between the trees in the forest are ropes instead of vines.
The player character is a jungle explorer clad in a pith-helmet and safari jacket instead of the Tarzan character.

Scoring

Action	Points
Successful jump between vines	100
Killing a crocodile	100
Each crocodile killed after four in a row	200
Jump over a rock	200
Run under rock	50
Jump over cannibal	100
Finish rounds 1 to 3	500
Finish round 4 (jump to girl)	timer bonus

Cabinet and Artwork

Jungle King cabinet.
Jungle Hunt cabinet.
Jungle Hunt marquee.
Jungle Hunt control panel.
Pirate Pete cabinet.
Jungle Hunt flyer.
Jungle King flyer.
Inside of an alternate Jungle King flyer.
Pirate Pete flyer.

Ports

Consoles: Atari 2600 (1982); Colecovision (1983); Atari 5200 (1983); Atari XEGS; Sony PlayStation 2 (2005, "Taito Legends"); Microsoft XBOX (2005, "Taito Legends")

Computers: Atari 800 (1982); PC [Booter] (1983); Commodore C64 (1983); Commodore VIC-20 (1984); Apple II; PC [MS Windows] (2005, "Taito Legends")

Soundtrack Releases

Album Name	Catalogue No.	Released	Publisher	Comments
Arcade Ambiance 1983	N/A^[1]	2003-01-01	Andy Hofle	Digital download only.

References

↑ Arcade Ambiance 1983 (Digital Download) at the VGMdb

The contents of this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
The sources used include MAME (version 0.113u2) and history.dat (revision 1.28 - 2008-10-18).
Please see http://www.arcade-history.com for credits.

[1] Arcade Ambiance 1983 (Digital Download) at the VGMdb

[1]