That's an interesting piece of history, and certainly demonstrates a little bit of the competitive atmosphere, if nothing else.

Donkey was a 'hello world' of graphics with basic, it wasn't a game. Even as a kid, playing it never lasted more than a few seconds. Critiquing it as though it's a serious game gives this code too much credit and makes Hertzfeld look bad too- taking it seriously is almost as funny to me as the game is. For what it is, a code example, having a better game would have detracted significantly from it's value.