| Donkey Kong Jr. | |
|---|---|
 North American arcade flier | |
| Developer(s) | |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo Coleco Atari, Inc. |
| Director(s) | Shigeru Miyamoto |
| Producer(s) | Gunpei Yokoi |
| Artist(s) | Shigeru Miyamoto[4] Yoshio Sakamoto[4] |
| Composer(s) | Yukio Kaneoka[5] |
| Series | |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Platform |
| Mode(s) | Single-player,multiplayer |
Donkey Kong Jr.[a] is a 1982platformvideo game developed and published byNintendo forarcades. It is thesequel toDonkey Kong, but with the roles reversed compared to its predecessor:Mario is now the villain andDonkey Kong Jr. is trying to save his kidnapped father. It first released inarcades and, over the course of the decade, was released for a variety of home platforms. The game's title is written out asDonkey Kong Junior in the North American arcade version and various conversions to non-Nintendo systems.
The game was principally designed byShigeru Miyamoto and his coworker and the company's chief engineerGunpei Yokoi.[6] Miyamoto also created the graphics for the title along withYoshio Sakamoto.[4] As with its predecessor, the music for the game was composed by Yukio Kaneoka.[5]
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Like its predecessor,Donkey Kong Jr. is a platform game. There are a total of four stages, each with a unique theme. DK Jr. can run left and right, jump, and grab vines/chains/ropes to climb higher on the screen. He can slide down faster by holding only one vine, or climb faster by holding two. Enemies include "Snapjaws", which resemble bear traps with eyes; bird-like creatures called "Nitpickers", some of which can attack by dropping eggs; and "Sparks" which roam across the wiring in one of Mario's hideouts. DK Jr. can jump over these enemies while on platforms, switch from one vine/chain/rope to another to dodge them, or knock down pieces of fruit that will destroy every enemy they touch before falling off the bottom of the screen.
To pass the first three stages, DK Jr. must reach the key hanging next to his father's cage, whereupon Mario flees while pushing the cage off the screen. In the fourth stage, DK Jr. must push six keys into locks on the topmost platform to free Donkey Kong. After a brief cutscene, the player is taken back to the first stage at an increased difficulty. A bonus timer runs throughout each stage, and any points remaining on it are added to the player's score upon completion.
DK Jr. loses a life when he touches any enemy or projectile, falls too great a distance, touches the water and falls off the bottom of the screen or if the bonus timer counts down to zero. The game ends when the player loses all of their lives.
Donkey Kong has been defeated by Mario, who has put him in a cage in a forest. Donkey Kong's son, Donkey Kong Jr., follows Mario in an attempt to free his father. Mario transports Donkey Kong to his Hideout via helicopter, before Mario takes the keys to Donkey Kong's chains and places them around the building. Several enemies attack Donkey Kong Jr., but he escapes them and makes it to his father, releasing him from the chains as Mario falls to the ground. Donkey Kong Jr. saves Donkey Kong and the two set off together. Mario pursues the kongs, but flees after Donkey Kong knocks him back.
DuringDonkey Kong’s development in 1981, Shigeru Miyamoto's team had come up with several ideas and complete levels that would not fit into the game. They eventually began fleshing out these concepts, and these designs evolved into something all their own. The process was so far along, with even entire stages conceived, that one of the team members suggested they start working on another video game. The conversation happened around the same time that Nintendo wanted another Donkey Kong coin-op to capitalize on the original's popularity, giving Miyamoto the opportunity to explore his newly established franchise. Originally, Miyamoto wanted the new game to star Donkey Kong himself, but there were problems with the character's large size. They came up with the idea to make a smaller Donkey Kong who would be the son of Donkey Kong. Since they still wanted a big Donkey Kong on top of the screen, they came up with the plot of Mario capturing him after the events of the first game.[7]
The order of the levels is different in different territories. In the Japanese version, the four levels appear in 1-2-3-4 sequence and then repeat, just as with the Japanese release ofDonkey Kong. In the US version, the order is 1–4. 1–2–4, 1–3–4, 1-2-3-4 and then 1-2-3-4 from then on.
Donkey Kong Jr. has akill screen at level 22. Due to the level counter only having one digit, the counter shows numbers 1 to 9 in levels 1 to 9, seven blanks in levels 10 to 16, and the letters A to F in the levels 17–22. The kill screen occurs the same way as inDonkey Kong, where an integer overflow occurs after too big a result is given after a multiplication problem in the computing. The timer counts as if there are 700 points, then kills Donkey Kong Jr. until all lives are gone.
Donkey Kong Jr. was made on theNES (for which it was one of three Japaneselaunch games[8]),Family Computer Disk System,Atari 2600,Atari 7800,Atari 8-bit computers,ColecoVision,Coleco Adam, andIntellivision. ABBC Micro conversion was made but unreleased. ThreeGame & Watch versions of the game were also made. Two black-and-white versions for the New Wide Screen and Multi Screen handheld series (later under the model nameDonkey Kong II), and a color version for the Tabletop and Panorama series. In 2002 theNES version was rereleased on theGBA add-on, thee-Reader.
In Japan, the original arcade version was the eighth-highest-grossing arcade game of 1982.[9]
Raymond Dimetrosky ofVideo Games Player gave the ColecoVision version a positive review. He compared it favorably with another ColecoVision arcade conversion released at the same time,Sega'sSpace Fury, writing thatDonkey Kong Jr. has better graphics and gameplay.[10]Computer Games magazine in 1984 reviewed the Coleco Adam version, calling it a "supergame adaptation" and the best conversion of the game.[11]
Donkey Kong Jr. received an award in the category of "1984 Best Videogame Audio-Visual Effects (16K or more ROM)" at the 5th annualArkie Awards, where the judges described it as "great fun", and noted that the game was successful as a sequel–"extend[ing] the theme and present[ing] a radically different play-action" than its predecessor,Donkey Kong.[12]: 42
Donkey Kong Jr. is regarded as one of theTop 100 Video Games by theKiller List of Videogames. It was selected to be among five arcade games chosen for history's first official video game world championship, which was filmed atTwin Galaxies inOttumwa, Iowa by ABC-TV'sThat's Incredible! over the weekend of January 8–9, 1983.
Allgame gave a review score of 4 out of 5 stars praising the graphics and sound being "exceptionally arcade-like" and the controls and play mechanics being faithful to the arcade version.[13]
The NES version–along with its predecessorDonkey Kong–was re–released in 1988 in an NES compilation titledDonkey Kong Classics. This version was later released on thee-Reader and is available on theVirtual Console for the Wii.[14] The NES version is also a playable game onAnimal Crossing, though a special password is needed from an official website which is now no longer available.Donkey Kong Jr. was made available for theNintendo 3DS from theNintendo eShop, released in Japan on April 18, 2012,[15] in North America on June 14,[16] and in Europe on August 23[17] and was given away free to the Ambassadors users before the full release. It was again released for theWii U Virtual Console in 2014.[18] The arcade version of Donkey Kong Jr., featuring both the Japanese and American versions, was released byHamster Corporation for theNintendo Switch as part of the company'sArcade Archives series in December 2018.[19] The NES version was released on theNintendo Classics service on May 15, 2019.[20]
In 2004,Namco released an arcade cabinet which containedDonkey Kong,Donkey Kong Jr. andMario Bros.
On August 10, 2008, Icarus Hall ofPort Angeles, Washington, scored 1,033,000 points playingDonkey Kong Jr.[21]
On April 24, 2009,Steve Wiebe eclipsed Hall's score, finishing with 1,139,800 points.[22] On September 3, at 1984 Arcade inSpringfield, Missouri, Mark L. Kiehl ofEnid, Oklahoma surpassed Wiebe's record with a score of 1,147,800.[23][24] Steve Wiebe regained the record with a score of 1,190,400 on his home machine set on Tuesday, February 16, 2010.[24][25] Mark Kiehl has since eclipsed the previous world record with a score of 1,307,500.[citation needed] In November 2016, Kiehl improved the record with a score of 1,412,200.[26]
On July 3, 2023, Justin Elliott performed a score of 1,584,400 live on hisTwitch channel to secure the World Record.[26] The score was independently verified by the Donkey Kong Forum as well as Twin Galaxies.[27]
The game spawned a cereal with fruit-flavored cereal pieces shaped like bananas and cherries.
The game was featured on numerous episodes ofStarcade. HostGeoff Edwards noted that he had the arcade machine in his dressing room and found the game to be highly difficult.
Donkey Kong Jr. was a cartoon onSaturday Supercade (a series that aired on Saturday mornings from 1983 to 1985) with the title character voiced byFrank Welker.
Donkey Kong Jr. is one of the 8 playable characters inSuper Mario Kart for the SNES. He is also a playable character inMario's Tennis onVirtual Boy andMario Tennis on theNintendo 64.
In the version ofSuper Mario Bros. 3 seen inSuper Mario All-Stars, as well as the Game Boy Advance version, the king of World 4 was transformed into a young gorilla identical to Donkey Kong Jr.
Donkey Kong Jr. is among the characters inSuper Mario Maker that players can transform into by use of Mystery Mushrooms.
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