Donkey Kong Jr.

Lore & Background

Donkey Kong Jr.'s origin stems directly from unused concepts during the development of the original Donkey Kong in 1981. Shigeru Miyamoto's team had created complete levels and ideas that did not fit the first game, which evolved into a standalone project. While Miyamoto initially wanted to star Donkey Kong himself, his large size posed problems, leading the team to create a smaller version: the son of Donkey Kong. The plot was established around Mario capturing the original Donkey Kong after the events of the first game. This backstory explains why Donkey Kong is held in a cage in a forest and why Mario transports him via helicopter to his Hideout, placing keys around the building while enemies attack the young hero.

In Their Own Story

Donkey Kong has been defeated by Mario and imprisoned in a cage within a forest. His son, Donkey Kong Jr., follows Mario in an attempt to free him. Mario transports Donkey Kong to his Hideout via helicopter before taking the keys to the chains and placing them around the building. Several enemies attack DK Jr., but he escapes them and reaches his father, releasing him from the chains as Mario falls to the ground. In the game's stages, DK Jr. must reach a key hanging next to his father's cage in the first three levels, causing Mario to flee while pushing the cage off-screen. In the fourth stage, he pushes six keys into locks on the topmost platform to free Donkey Kong entirely. After a brief cutscene, the two set off together, though Mario pursues them until Donkey Kong knocks him back.

Reader's Guide

Donkey Kong Jr. features four unique stages where players control DK Jr. running left and right, jumping, and grabbing vines, chains, or ropes to climb higher. He can slide down vines or climb faster by holding two. Enemies include 'Snapjaws' (bear traps with eyes), bird-like 'Nitpickers' that drop eggs, and 'Sparks' roaming wiring in Mario's hideouts. Players must jump over enemies on platforms, switch between vines to dodge them, or knock down fruit to destroy enemies before they fall off-screen. To pass the first three stages, DK Jr. must reach a key next to his father's cage; the fourth stage requires pushing six keys into locks. DK Jr. loses a life if he touches an enemy or projectile, falls too far, falls into water, falls off-screen, or lets the bonus timer hit zero. The game ends when all lives are lost and features a kill screen at level 22 due to integer overflow.

Did You Know?

• The game features a kill screen at level 22 where an integer overflow causes the timer to count as if there are 700 points, killing DK Jr.
• In Japan, the four levels appear in a 1-2-3-4 sequence and repeat, while the US version uses a different order (1–4, 1–2–4, 1–3–4) before settling into 1-2-3-4.
• Donkey Kong Jr. was one of three Japanese launch games for the Famicom in 1983.
• The game received an award at the 5th annual Arkie Awards for '1984 Best Videogame Audio-Visual Effects (16K or more ROM).'
• On July 3, 2023, Justin Elliott set a verified world record score of 1,584,400 points.