Donkey Kong Jr. (arcade game)
Donkey Kong Jr. is a 1982 arcade game by Nintendo. It stars the titular character, Donkey Kong's son. The object of the game is to rescue Donkey Kong, who has been captured by Mario (presumedly at the conclusion of the first game, Donkey Kong). It is the second in the Donkey Kong series of arcade games.
Description
As Donkey Kong Jr., the player attempts to rescue the character's father, Donkey Kong. The game includes numerous climbing and jumping puzzles. The little ape's only defense is fruit, which can be dropped on traps and birds to disable or kill them.
The game has four levels with similar goals. After completing the four levels, the levels start over again with increased difficulty. Up to two players may play the game, taking turns.
The game's cabinet is a standard upright and its controls consist of a joystick and a single button (to throw fruit).
Legacy
This is the second in the series of three arcade games featuring Donkey Kong. The original game was wildly successful and popular, but the other games in the series only achieved limited success:
- Donkey Kong (1981)
- Donkey Kong Jr. (1982)
- Donkey Kong 3 (1983)
As a matter of fact, the original Donkey Kong was still very popular after these sequels were released and often got more play than them.
Even so, Donkey Kong Jr. is regarded as one of the Top 100 Video Games by the Killer List of Videogames.
Ports
Like most arcade games of this era, this game was ported to many home systems, including the video game consoles NES, Game Boy Advance, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, ColecoVision and Intellivision.
Trivia
This is the only game where Mario is the enemy. Today he is Nintendo's epitomous hero and official mascot.
