Thirty years ago Nintendo released an unusual Game Boy game. It was called Donkey Kong. At first blush it appears to be a port of the at-that-time ten-year-old arcade game that put Nintendo on the map. But far more lay beneath the surface.
The first four stages recreate the original Donkey Kong, though Mario moves more smoothly. After Mario defeats Donkey Kong, the great ape rises and runs away, again absconding with Pauline! Another world appears (numbered as world 1) with eight new stages! All told, the game features an astonishing 101 levels spread across ten worlds. I do wonder about the marketing strategy of naming the game “Donkey Kong” as opposed to, say, “Super Donkey Kong” or “Donkey Kong 2.”
The original Donkey Kong was a platforming game. Mario (or "Jumpman" as he was originally known) could walk, jump over barrels and enemies, swing a hammer, and climb ladders. This game greatly expands the number of things Mario can do. He can do a handstand (press ↓ and A), which allows his feet to block barrels thrown by Kong. When he jumps from a handstand, he gains extra height. While walking, he can do a high backflip by pressing the opposite direction on the d-pad and A at the same time. If he jumps again the moment he lands, he does another jump, even higher. These extra-high jumps are handy and often necessary to reach platforms.
This version of Donkey Kong is sort of a puzzle platformer (like Solomon's Key), but the puzzles are easy. Each level contains a locked door and a key. Mario must get the key, then take it to the door. Navigating the level with the key is part of the challenge, because Mario can’t use any of his special moves while holding it, nor can he climb ladders. The game utilizes a huge variety of different elements, such as decoy doors, falling blocks, burnable blocks, wires to swing on, water to swim in, springs, switches, conveyor belts, ladders, spikes, and roving enemies. Many of these appear in just two or three levels. In a different kind of game, you would expect to be slowly trained in how to use an element and then have to use it in puzzles of ever-increasing complexity. Not here; once you've done something a few times, you will rarely or never see it again. The levels are extremely varied.
The game element that seems to recur the most frequently is temporary platforms, springboards, and ladders. When Mario touches the item, the screen pauses and you choose where to place it. A platform or ladder extends to the edges of the screen or until it hits something. The music changes for about eight seconds, then the temporary things disappear. The timer can be extended by activating another temporary item. Chaining these together is needed in several levels. For the most part, the game doesn't require quick reflexes, except for some of these stages.
Each stage contains Pauline's parasol, hat, and purse scattered about, just as in the original Donkey Kong. In addition to earning points, collecting all three lets you play a simple timing-based bonus game after the stage, in which you can win up to three extra lives. Unfortunately, collecting her lost items is trivially easy in all stages.
Every four stages Mario must fight Donkey Kong. Each fight is different. Occasionally Donkey Kong Jr. shows up, and a handful of the levels also borrow elements from that game. You can save the game after each fight. After each world there is a cutscene, and you gain an extra life, plus an additional life for each 100 points you earned. It's not hard to accumulate 99 lives.
The game’s main appeal is the incredible variety and quantity of gameplay you get in one little grey cartridge. It's remarkable. There's a good variety of music, too. Each world has its own theme, such as city or jungle. The final boss music at the end of the game slaps (as the kids say). My only complaint is that the game is too easy. Not many levels required me to think or try different approaches. The difficulty increases slightly in the last few worlds, but I found myself wanting to see concepts that had been introduced reused in more elaborate puzzles.
As a child, Donkey Kong was one of my favorite Game Boy games, just below Wario Land and Super Mario Land 2. I loved playing it on my Super Game Boy, because it was one of the few games that came programmed with a special color palette and border for that! I missed that replaying it in monochrome on my 3DS. Although the understated “Donkey Kong” moniker may have led some gamers to overlook it, it’s one of the best games on the system.
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| Grade: A |
Linked Review
"It adds a metric ton of new features, while still managing to keep the ‘arcadey’ feel of the original. The graphics and music are outstanding for a 1994 Game Boy title and the game itself is just incredibly fun to play."
— Marcel van Duyn, Nintendo Life, 9/10
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