Donkey Kong

"A classic Nintendo game gets a full-fledged makeover."

It's been a very long time since Donkey Kong first appeared in the arcades. Following his successful arcade life, the giant ape made the transition to Nintendo. His son did the same as well. And Mario...well, we all know how he's done over the years. But the three have again united in the game donning the original title: Donkey Kong.

In my opinion, this is one of Mario's best platform games since Super Mario Bros. 3. This game starts off to be a remake of the original Donkey Kong, staying as true to the arcade classic as possible. But after making it through the four original stages, you end up going on a wild goose chase through different landscapes, searching for keys to go through doors. One of the only things that keep this game from being just another Mario game is the occasional fight against Donkey Kong, as well as new mazes to find the girl in his clutches.

Mario arrives with new abilities in this game. The trademark pick-up-and-throw ability from Super Mario Bros. 2 makes a return in the portable game. He can now do assorted jump abilities that can increase his altitude, such as handstands and backflips. He can swing off of wire, swim, and even climb vines DK Jr. style! With all these moves at your disposal, how can you go wrong?

This game can require a bit of thinking in some of the later stages, as the tasks of obtaining the key and/or finding the door become trickier. Assorted obstacles, such as switches, falling floors, and poison mushrooms, will make the task even more difficult, and despite Mario's higher pain threshold during a fall, a very high distance can cause him to hit his head, which isn't good for you. So basically, despite all the new moves, this game won't exactly be a walk in the park. But it's easy to get extra lives, so you may have enough chances to make it through.

This game can really hold you for a while, and between every four stages, you are able to save. The game keeps a record of your times in each stage, and you can go back and try to go faster. There are a lot of stages to go through, so it will take a while to beat the game. But it's a fun trip along the way. Even when you finish the game, you might feel sad that it's all over and done with. But I'm sure that it would be VERY frustrating if the game was TOO long, so the length of the game is good as is.

This game is still a classic. Some people may overlook this Game Boy game when thinking of Donkey Kong, remembering the Rareware games instead. But this is not a title to pass up. It offers a great time, with all sorts of puzzles to solve and adventures to take. Definitely give this game a look.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/20/03, Updated 06/20/03