Donkey Kong Junior (NES)

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Description

Mario has kidnapped Junior's Papa!

Donkey Kong Jr. was originally released in the arcades in 1982 as a sequel to Donkey Kong. In this game, Mario plays the antagonist, finally having captured Donkey Kong, and has put the ape in a locked cage. As Donkey Kong Jr., players will have to make their way through four different levels (Vines, Springboard, Chains and Mario's Hideout) in an attempt to find keys to free the little monkey's father.

Along the way, Mario will send out Snapjaws, swooping purple birds, and electric sparks in an attempt to stop Junior. Junior can defend himself by dropping fruit found around the levels on the heads of his foes. The more foes a piece of fruit hits in a falling sequence, the higher bonus points can be scored.

Junior can also avoid enemies more easily by grabbing hold of two chains or vines at a time to climb away faster, or by jumping over his foes. However, any long fall or falling into the water on certain levels will mean the loss of a life for Junior.

In the final cut scene, Junior will free Donkey Kong and both will escape after giving Mario the boot. Once all four levels are cleared, the game levels will start over at a higher difficulty.

Like the original Donkey Kong, the earlier 1980's console versions do not have all of the levels and animations from the arcade.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Alternate Titles

• "ドンキーコングJR．" -- Japanese spelling
• "Donkey Kong Jr.-e" -- e-Reader title
• "Donkey Kong Jr." -- Title on most versions
• "Donkey Kong Jr" -- ColecoVision in-game title

Part of the Following Groups

• Animals: Primates (monkeys or apes)
• Donkey Kong games
• e-Reader series
• Games made into TV series
• Mario games
• Nintendo's Arcade series

User Reviews

Nice little sequel, twice as addictive as its predecessor	Katakis | カタキス (39490)
Move over, Mario! This game is awesome!	Alex Baumfull (6)
Donkey Kong is back on Famicom	Wave Magatama (4)

Critic Reviews

The Video Game Critic	Jul 26, 2004	A-	91
Ultimate Nintendo: Guide to the NES Library	2016		90
NES Archives	Nov 12, 2007	B+	83
Pixel-Heroes.de	Dec, 2006	8 out of 10	80
Retro Game Reviews	Nov 24, 2015		80
Jeuxvideo.com	Jan 06, 2012	15 out of 20	75
HonestGamers	Sep 19, 2012	7 out of 10	70
Tilt	Mar, 1988	14 out of 20	70
Happy Computer	1986	52 out of 100	52
1UP!	Feb 20, 2009	42 out of 100	42

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Trivia

Atari 2600 port

Surprisingly, Donkey Kong Jr. for the Atari 2600 was probably the poorest conversion in the history of the franchise. It was over-simplified in every aspect and almost unplayable. That must have been one of the main reasons Nintendo later enforced such strict standards on third party developers.

Cereal

Donkey Kong Junior had a breakfast cereal released in 1983 by Ralston-Purina. It had strawberry and banana shaped and flavored cereals.

Cartoon

Donkey Kong Jr. was popular enough to have a Saturday morning TV cartoon based on it in the early 1980's. DK Jr. would often use "Monkey Muscles" as his catchphrase.

Mario

This is the only Nintendo game where Mario is portrayed as a villain.

Awards

• TeleMatch
  • Issue 04/1984 – Hand-held/Minigames of the Year 1983 (Readers' Vote)

Information also contributed by LepricahnsGold and Silverblade

Related Web Sites

• Video review of Donkey Kong 1,2 & 3 (YouTube reviewer Aqualung reviews Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr. and Donkey Kong 3 on NES and mentions Donkey Kong Classics.)