Donkey Kong Jr.

Donkey Kong Jr.
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Developer(s)	Nintendo R&D1
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Designer(s)	Shigeru Miyamoto
Platform(s)	Arcade, NES, Famicom Disk System, Game Boy Advance, Virtual Console
Release date	Arcade: 1983 NES/Famicom: (JP) July 15, 1983 (NA) June 1986 (EUR) June 15, 1987 Famicom Disk System: (JP) July 19, 1988 Virtual Console: (JP) December 2, 2006 (NA) December 4, 2006 (EUR) December 22, 2006
Genre	Platform
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players, alternating turns
Input	Joystick, 1 button

Donkey Kong Junior is a 1982 arcade-style platform game by Nintendo. It first appeared in arcades, and was later released for a variety of platforms, most notably the Nintendo Entertainment System. Over the course of the 1980s, it was also released for various console systems, with the form of the title abbreviated as Donkey Kong Jr. in most versions. Its eponymous star, Donkey Kong Junior (DK Jr.), is trying to rescue his father Donkey Kong, who has been captured by Mario, in his only appearance as an antagonist in a video game. This game is the sequel to the video game Donkey Kong, which featured Mario as the protagonist and Junior's father as the antagonist.

Gameplay

The player controls DK Jr. and has to rescue Donkey Kong from Mario, who had captured him. Like its predecessor, Donkey Kong, Jr. is an arcade-style platform game. There are a total of four levels, each with a somewhat different theme. DK Jr. can move and jump for the most part, but can also climb up vines. Enemies include "Snapjaws", which resemble bear traps with eyes and bird-like creatures called "Nitpickers" that Mario releases to thwart DK Jr. If the player touches one of these enemies, he or she will lose a life. Enemies can be killed by dropping fruit onto them. At the top of every stage is Mario and Donkey Kong, and when DK Jr. reaches the top, he chases Mario to the next stage. Once the four levels are completed, the player restarts the game with increased difficulty and his or her points and lives retained. Up to two players can play the game alternately.

Legacy

Donkey Kong Junior is regarded as one of the Top 100 Video Games by the Killer List of Videogames. Donkey Kong Junior was selected to be among five arcade games chosen for history's first official video game world championship, which was filmed at Twin Galaxies in Ottumwa, Iowa by ABC-TV's That's Incredible! over the weekend of January 8-9, 1983.[citation needed] The game later spawned a cereal which featured fruit-flavored cereal pieces shaped like bananas and cherries. Donkey Kong, Jr. is shown on the box wearing a red shirt with a big yellow J printed on the front.

Competitive play

For more than twenty years, the Donkey Kong, Jr. world record had been held by noted gamer Billy Mitchell, who had achieved 957,300 points in 1983. On August 10, 2008, Mitchell's benchmark score was eclipsed by Icarus Hall of Port Angeles, Washington, who scored 1,033,000 points.

Ports

Like most arcade games of this era, this game was ported to many home systems, including the video game consoles NES, Famicom Disk System, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, ColecoVision, and Intellivision. A Game & Watch version of the game was also made. The NES version was one of the three launch titles for the system in Japan. This game, along with the original Donkey Kong, was re–released in 1988 in an NES compilation titled Donkey Kong Classics. The NES version of the game was later released on the e-Reader and is now available on the Virtual Console. The NES version was also a playable game on Animal Crossing, but required a special password from the official website which is now no longer available.