Game & Watch: Donkey Kong Jr.

Genre: Arcade

Players: 1

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Review:

The Game and Watch was a line of single-game handheld game devices that Nintendo started selling in 1980, five years before the Nintendo Entertainment System and 9 years before the Game Boy. They were advanced for the time, though of course by today’s standards they will seem extraordinarily primitive, with each game consisting of only a few images, with the game implying movement by making these images appear and disappear.

Over the years, these games have repeatedly been simulated (they can’t exactly be “ported” as their original display method was different than those of more modern videogames) in various forms. In 2010, a series of 9 such simulated Game & Watch games were released separately on Nintendo DSi via the DSiWare service, and those games were grandfathered into the Nintendo 3DS.

Donkey Kong Jr., first released in 1982, is the thirty-fourth Game & Watch game ever released, the first game in the “New Wide Screen” line of those handheld devices. Its gameplay is a simplified imitation of the earlier levels in the arcade game of the same name – players move the titular character left and right, jump and climb vines, and must even jump while moving left or right in some cases – completing a run of the game’s one level requires using both at the end in time with a swinging key above.

It’s still a simple game, but definitely more complex than the earlier games in this series. Due to a lack of that simplicity, I would say it’s not quite as compelling as games like Ball and Vermin, but it’s still a fun, simple take on… er, a game that’s also available on every modern Nintendo platform in its original form, including on the Nintendo 3DS. Hmm…

Like many games in the series, this game has “Game A” and “Game B” options, but that only seems to function as a difficulty selector, with “Game B” being more difficult, placing a shorter time limit on how long your character can hang on vines.

In addition to the Game A and Game B options, players can opt to read instructions (modern typed instructions, nothing the original had), look at a “time” function (just looking at the device’s screen in its non-gameplay state), and…that’s about it.

The game itself uses simple monochrome visuals like the original game had (with static color overlays), with a border made to look vaguely like the original Game & Watch system. Its sounds are just clicks and beeps that were in the original game. Only the synthesized music in the main menu provides any significant new presentation element here.

Before wrapping this up, I should note that a version of this game was included in Game & Watch Gallery 3 for the Game Boy Color, which is also available on the Nintendo 3DS via Virtual Console. This game is also present in Game and Watch Gallery 4 for the Game Boy Advance, which is available on the Wii U Virtual Console. And of course both of those platforms as well as the Nintendo Switch have the Nintendo Entertainment System version of the game this is based on, and the Nintendo Switch even has the original arcade version… so unless you have your heart set on this specific version of the game, you have better options.

For a mere $2, Game & Watch: Donkey Kong Jr. is a solid “port” of one of Nintendo’s earliest handheld games. It’s fairly simple and shallow by today’s standards, and the presentation won’t excite anyone except those who had nostalgia for the original game. While it has its charm, it doesn’t have the compelling simplicity of Ball or Vermin, and players who want to play Donkey Kong Jr. will probably just play a port of the original game rather than its simplified Game & Watch counterpart. Unless you’re looking for a piece of history, this game isn’t for you.

tl;dr – Game & Watch: Donkey Kong Jr. is a recreation of one of Nintendo’s first handheld videogames (predating the Game Boy by seven years), and it’s faithful to the original, which means an archaic presentation and simple, shallow gameplay. Unfortunately, this game doesn’t have the simple compelling gameplay of Ball or Vermin, and players wanting a version of Donkey Kong Jr. can just get the actual arcade game or its NES counterpart. As such, there’s little reason to get this game except as a historical curiosity.

Grade: D+

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