20 Years Later, Nintendo Updates Donkey Kong on NES

The NES version of Donkey Kong was a very good Arcade port, but it made some sacrifices. This version omitted the cement factory stage, and didn't feature most of the cutscenes that were in the Arcade version. Even future releases of this game (such as Donkey Kong Classics) would not include the cement factory stage or the extra cutscenes. So why didn’t Nintendo include all 4 stages, when there’s plenty of NES titles that feature numerous levels? Let’s take a look, and we’ll also talk about an unbelievable update by Nintendo, 20+ years later.
Cartridges on the Famicom:
gaminghistory101.com/2013/07/...
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:41 Famicom Version
4:29 NES Version
6:18 Donkey Kong: Original Edition
9:39 Conclusion
10:38 Outtro
Special thanks to the following users from pexels.com for the stock footage:
84LENS, 霍天赐, A frame in motion, Ahmet Akpolat, Andrew Hanson, Anna Hinckel, Anvar Tushakov, Artem Podrez, Caleb Oquendo, Cottonbro, Cristian Dina, Curtis Adams, DAV Grup 1, David McBee, Distill, Drones Scot, Edward Jenner, EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA, Ekrulila, Evgenia Kirpichnikova, Free Videos, George Morina, Glen McBride, Jack Sparrow, Joseph Redfield, Kampus Production, Karolina Grabowska, Kelly, Kindel Media, Ksenia Chernaya, Mikhail Nilov, Miguel Á. Padriñán, Mike B, Monstera, Nazim Zafri, Nicole Michalou, Pavel Danilyuk, Pete Wales, pickarick, Pixabay, Polina Tankilevitch, Pressmaster, Ricky Esquivel, RODNAE Productions, Ron Lach, Sora Shimazaki, Steve B, Thirdman,Tiger Lily, Tima Miroshnichenko, Tom Fisk, Tony Schnagl, Vlada Karpovich, Yan Krukov, Yaroslav Shuraev
Special thanks to streambeats.com for the music used in this video.
#donkeykong #nintendo #nes

[@stupid5pin]

I never even knew there WAS a fourth level in Donkey Kong. Amazing that Nintendo would go out of their way to do that, but then not bother to release it to most of the world.

[@83KJack]

lol but why is DK so simple but SO HARD 😂

[@megamix5403]

How can you not know about the pie factory? It's been common knowledge at this point.

[@pojr]

I can understand not knowing, because most of the console versions didn't have the cement factory level. And if you played the US Arcade version, it takes a while to actually reach the cement factory level.

[@stupid5pin]

@@pojr that would explain it, I was never really that good at Donkey Kong

[@macuser7048]

Game Boy version has it. Granted the whole game is a remake, but they included the pie factory.

[@pigs18]

The version inside Donkey Kong 64 contains all four levels. I imagine the cement level was the one omitted because it's the one the least amount of players even reached in American arcades. The order went Barrel, Rivets, back to Barrel, then Springs & Lifts, then Rivets. Then only on the third and subsequent loops did you get the full run of barrels, cement, springs, and rivets. So cement was the seventh stage a player would encounter.

[@WilliamPorygon]

The version in Donkey Kong 64 is the Arcade ROM though, not a NES port.

[@pojr]

Yeah the US Arcade version had an interesting level system. Seemed like you got more replayability since you're not playing the same 4 levels in order, like in the Japanese version.

[@pigs18]

@@WilliamPorygon Neither is the Intellevision version. He was talking about home ports.

[@WilliamPorygon]

@@pigs18 Exactly. He was talking about ports. Not emulations.

[@pigs18]

@@WilliamPorygon It's not the arcade ROM. It's a port.

[@Dhalin]

Not only are there cement pans in the cement factory level, but also the _conveyors_ which means more code because they had to code Mario's movement on those conveyors and that could take more filesize in the code along with the sprites of the cement pans. Also, small fun fact, the Gameboy Color Donkey Kong hand dozens and dozens of levels, one of which being the OG Cement Factory level.

[@pokepress]

Definitely good to shout out Donkey Kong ‘94. I suspect it’ll come to Switch Online at some point.

[@paxhumana2015]

Now if I do recall correctly, I think that Donkey Kong '94 had 100 levels instead of 4 levels, and that some levels also took up two screens, either horizontally or vertically, not to mention that it also had more items to get, new enemies to face, and actual boss fights, which, to be honest, makes that game much deeper than its predecessors.

[@florianb3935]

​@@paxhumana2015yes. And that sprung another series, Mario vs Donkey Kong (the next release would be in 2004 on the GBA).

[@TjazzSyn]

This reminds me of when Nintendo released an update version of the original nes mario bros. With better physics/movement,I could be wrong but if I remember correctly it was also only released in Europe as well

[@seymourkrelborn4780]

Yep, "Mario Bros Classic Serie", which features the same improved controls from Kaettekita Mario Bros but without the advertisements and without the altered player sprite colours.

[@VOAN]

Nintendo also released an updated version of Super Mario World for Super NES via Super Mario All-Stars. This version had a new Luigi sprite similar to his appearance in Super Mario Bros. 2 which was later port to GBA as Super Mario Advance 2.

[@john2001plus]

When I worked as a videogame developer, saving space for ROMs or CDs was always an issue for us. The Donkey Kong cartridge was only 16K. They could have made a 32K cartridge, but in those days ROMs were expensive, so going with the 32K would have made the game less profitable. The only issue is whether the game will still sell with just 16K ROM, which it did. However, there are tricks that can be done with compression. This was pretty easy on the SNES which had 192K RAM, but the mere 2K RAM on the NES might have prevented this. Still, I believe it would have been possible with some clever coding. Videogame development is very expensive. Back then you had to have a game done by September or sooner so that you could make the Christmas market. Something like 80% of the cartridges were sold during the Christmas shopping season. So speed took priority over quality.

[@spikester]

The watered down version of Contra for example north america got compared to the japanese gryzor version with full cut scenes. Those games instead all appeared on famicom disk system due to rom chip shortage.

[@doctoroctos]

I worked in a cement factory for the last 8 years, this is the most accurate depiction of what I deal with everyday.

[@SpacePortArcade]

The whole stay to the left until all the fireballs pop out, and then rush the ladders on the right to the top thing? ;)

[@jasonross6727]

How often do you have to deal with an angry gorilla?

[@nahumgardner]

This channel is so professionally produced, it's great to see the growth. When I first started coming here I assumed that this was a big channel and then I noticed the numbers and I was surprised.

[@pojr]

I appreciate it! Thank you for being here!

[@NarjaraSMagalhaes]

The Colecovision version was also updated in 1984 for the Coleco Adam computer.

[@iyziejane]

The NES handles 8 sprites per line, where Mario is two sprites wide. So indeed the cement pans would inevitably excede the sprite limit and cause flicker. Another aspect that affected these ports is that Nintendo contracted a 3rd party company to program Donkey Kong Arcade (under Miyamoto's direction). After the game became super popular they had to reverse engineer their own game for the ports and sequels, because they didn't own the code. The company they contracted even sued them for doing this, but I think they used the DK money to crush the lawsuit.

[@FeralInferno]

Ahh the Club Nintendo days.. I still have a lot of goodies from that program.

[@pojr]

Nice! Wouldn't mind seeing a video about the stuff you got from it. You might be the only person I know who was a club Nintendo member

[@FeralInferno]

@@pojr when I do my full gameroom tour, I'll be sure to point them out!

[@damian9303]

All of my Wii games still have registration codes dating after it’s EOL

[@MaxOakland]

Lucky!

[@jayo1212]

So do I! Disappointed that there were some years I wasn't able to reach gold status and get the really good stuff, but glad I could get what I could!

[@ThunderFist1978]

I remember getting this game during the 3DS promotion and being so happy I did, but I seem to recall that Nintendo made the game available again for a time on the 3DS here in the States. I forget what the time frame was, but I could swear they did.

[@pojr]

Nice that you were able to grab it while it was still available

[@iViking90]

@@pojr I also got that version. It's for the Ambassador Program Edit: I downloaded it in the promotion as well. It was separate from the Ambassador Program.

[@seymourkrelborn4780]

They just sold it on the Australian 3DS eShop outright, alongside the unaltered NES game on Virtual Console. I don't remember if "Original Edition" (which is what the updated version was called) cost the same or slightly more, but it made buying the unaltered game pretty much redundant lol

[@djhabibi04]

Europe had it for sale on the 3DS eshop (I bought both): it's labeled as Never Released on the menu screen.

[@Turbotef]

Yup, I got the same deal for being an early adopter. I went to go play it one day while bored at work and was pretty damn surprised at what I was seeing.

[@rahkuaschount]

The ColecoVision version is almost arcade perfect for the time. Coleco made some artistic choices but the look and sound are beyond impressive. Try Coleco's Super Donkey Kong which features all the cutscenes that the years-later NES version lacked (plus of course the secret hidden level Nintendo made them "remove").

[@ChrisRoth1972]

Yep I remember that now,I had the Coleco Adam Computer & for the most part had most of the cut scenes & the 4th level. I forgot about that until I read your post! Thanks!

[@0011peace]

the &*00 was nearlyequivlent to the NES Nintend even orginal tried to get Atari to make its game consol in the US. That is why the 7800 version was so much the same NES

[@FUGP72]

The cement factory was the one cut simply because it was the latest one in the arcade game and one that a lot of players probably never even saw. same with why the really early ones did that the other level. Many very novice players never saw anything but the first level and the one where you walked over the "pins" to collapse the girders. Because the arcade would have you play this order 1,2,1,2,1,3 and I forget how many more until you got to the cement factory. But going through the second stage the second time and the first stage a third time was decently hard enough that a lot of people died there. Even though it wasn't really THAT hard. And then the one with the elevators and bouncing girders finished off a lot more players before they ever got to the cement factory. The same is true with Donkey Kong Jr. Many early ports don't have Mario's Hideout because the arcade followed a similar repeating pattern of the first two boards before getting to the third board (with the birds and that annoying trampoline at the start) that the average player never saw Mario's Hideout.

[@robintst]

My first console was a ColecoVision and I don't really recall raising a stink over why the version of Donkey Kong I had at home didn't contain the cement factory. When you're a kid you don't really question these things too much, you're just happy to play the game at all. I'm glad you pointed out the first board on that version is messed up and not backwards, people have been misunderstanding that for years. The vertical resolution on that machine was too low to fit the full height of the stage so half up the screen one of the platforms is missing which flips Donkey to the right side of the screen, if it were backwards then Mario would start on the right side of the screen too. So yeah, it's a little messed up, heh. At any rate, great video!

[@stevealvarado8053]

Well I feel silly now... always thought it was a PIE factory. Of course I was 11yrs old when it showed up at my local bowling alley. Still not convinced!

[@ThunderFist1978]

I have a strategy guide from 1982 that calls the “pies” cement tubs, and a pocket guide that focuses on Donkey Kong by the same company also calls them that, so it makes sense to me. Also, not long after, a Game & Watch game called Mario’s Cement Factory, so it makes further sense in light of that.

[@pojr]

I've seen it referred to as both. And on paper, it makes sense for it to be the pie factory. Don't the cement pans look just like 🥧?

[@RawrX32009]

​@@pojrI wanna eat the cement TwT

[@pojr]

@@RawrX32009 Well it does look like pie lol.

[@RawrX32009]

@@pojr Yeah😭

[@LuckyBacon]

Something i noticed when playing our NES version on an emulator with a memory viewer is that if you find the address for the level number, it starts at 1, and if you beat the level, the level value goes to 3. Level 2 gets skipped! And if you do manage to load level 2, its just a glitchy mess that is playable but unbeatable.

[@nickbensema3045]

The Atari 400/800/5200 version of Donkey Kong had the cement factory, but the stages were compressed to fit the aspect ratio like some of the other consoles. The ANTIC/GTIA chipset in those systems didn't have a lot of sprites, so it used a high-resolution screen with a somewhat sloppy software sprite system. Drawing clean sprites that occluded the playfield would have been too slow, so when barrels and fireballs and cement pies pass in front of a ladder, you can see a minor artifact... and when two barrels overlap each other, their bitmaps cancel each other out.

[@NottJoeyOfficial]

God i miss Club Nintendo, it was so much better than My Nintendo could ever wish to be.

[@jamesstarling2733]

The Gameboy version of Donkey Kong has the cement level but it also has a lot more levels too

[@VOAN]

The use of the arcade levels as a prologue was a genius move on Nintendo's part. They knew people would be angry if it's just a different game with the DK license slapped on it so they fool players by putting the four arcade levels in the beginning and eventually lead to the full game afterwards.

[@JH-pe3ro]

There's an underlying motive to why the Famicom version is the one that Nintendo re-released with updates instead of an emulated arcade ROM: It goes back to the original arcade game being subcontracted to Ikegami Tsushinki, and Nintendo later breaching contract to make Donkey Kong Junior, leading to a lawsuit and eventually an undisclosed settlement in 1990. The Famicom game is therefore now the "official version" of the game, since it's the one wholly programmed by Nintendo to run on Nintendo hardware. But during the commercial lifecycle of the platform that legal issue was still open, so further investment in a franchise that was in the midst of a fight over ownership(for the second time, since Nintendo was also sued for similarities to "King Kong") was probably judged to be not worth the effort - notice how between 1984(Donkey Kong Circus, Donkey Kong Hockey for Game & Watch) and 1994(GB Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Country) there were no new titles, only rereleases. Donkey Kong 64's use of the arcade ROM for a minigame is the odd exception to the rule, explainable because: Rare did it(so Nintendo wasn't paying close attention), it was buried deep in the game(so it wasn't being advertised as "contains Donkey Kong"), and the ROM's presentation is modified to start the player in a later loop of the game with fewer extra lives(so it's a derivative, not the original).

[@EugenioAngueira]

The 7800 got a homebrew version that is as arcade perfect as you can make it. Better sound, more accurate graphics, all four stages and the cut scenes. It's cool to see Nintendo finally got a complete version released for a home system. Here's the improved 7800 version: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fIfOpJx3gappm5I

[@ChrisRoth1972]

The Nintendo Switch Donkey Kong is also exactly like the 1981 Arcade Version!

[@spikester]

The 7800 would have been a significantly improved console had it had something better for sound like a commodore SID chip. Alas it was a time Atari was on its last legs.

[@Savitor]

Thank you for correctly referring to the level as the Cement Factory! It's my pet peeve when people say 'pie factory'... Duh, pies come from bakeries. 😂

[@szr8]

While true, there are factories that mass produce baked goods such as pies.

[@x-fun3149]

Hear us out... What if the pies were made of cement?

[@mynamehasspacesinit8687]

@@x-fun3149 creament pies 💀

[@jasonross6727]

@@mynamehasspacesinit8687 Would make for one hell of a pie fight!

[@louistournas120]

I thought Donkey Kong, the arcade version had 255 screens. I saw it in a movie called the King of Kong. One screen is called the kill screen since it would randomly crash.

[@bes03c]

Another great video. This channel covers ideas I have not seen anywhere else.

[@pojr]

Thank you! That's one of my biggest aims, to make videos you usually can't find anywhere else

[@mitch_sorenstein]

You've been gaining a lot of subscribers the past few days, the algorithm has smiled upon you!

[@zackwest]

Subscribed! Great video, nice pro looking work and editing. You could use that 1 minute conclusion as a short. A nice little bite sized set of facts. Looking forward to more!

[@superstarChanChan]

I'm so thankful that KZbin recommended your videos. Keep up the awesome work! Also, I can't for the life of me remember the Genesis song you use in your conclusion sections. I've heard it in Sonic ROM hacks but can't remember the original game. I must know! Thanks again!

[@pojr]

Thank you! The conclusion music is from Cosmic Carnage on the Sega 32x. I first heard it from Metal Sonic Hyperdrive.

[@Innocuils]

Heck ya, keep em coming Pojr! Glad I stumbled on this channel!

[@pojr]

Thank you!

[@bltvd]

You are doing a great job with your channel!

[@TheDonTime]

Great video! Congratulations on 3k subs! You are one of my favorite KZbin channels and I wish you much success.

[@pojr]

Thank you so much!

[@Ragnarok182]

You've come a long ways pojr, you do both old and new gamers proud, keep up the amazing work.

[@ImagineABear]

I remember actually downloading this on my 3DS. I was a Club Nintendo member back in the day. 😁

[@jayo1212]

As was I, and I got it!

[@JoshuaBloom01]

DK64 has the full version of Donkey Kong in it, you actually have to play and beat all 4 levels to gain an item you need to advance the game! There are also a couple of other cool old games hidden away in DK64 too!

[@MaxOakland]

That’s so cool. What other games are hidden in it?

[@JoshuaBloom01]

@@MaxOakland There's an older game called Jetpac that Cranky has you play. It's another game where you need to achieve a certain score to get a coin you need to continue the game.

[@GooseTronics]

i subbed, solid stuff... hope you the best with your channel

[@robertdanker6193]

Great video!! I learned alot about a version of Donkey Kong I never knew about!👍👍

[@derelictfields]

Congratulations on your channel's growth! I really enjoy your content, and it looks like your hard work is starting to pay off! Well deserved!

[@pojr]

Thank you!

[@TheWrightClanX5]

Excellent video - love the content - keep it up! 😊

[@gamewizardks]

By the way, great video and congrats on the growth.

[@kranibal]

I really enjoyed this video! Great editing too!

[@EvilMariobot]

Seeing as how we got the arcade perfect version in not only DK 64, but now in the Arcade Archives series on Switch; we technically didn't miss out on anything here aside from the sheer novelty of seeing the true 50m stage on NES.

[@michaeltylerstewart]

This channel is going places, I keep gettin recommendations from the algorithm and every video is a banger.

[@legendsflashback]

Great video, subbed

[@glennshoemake4200]

Having played the original Donkey Kong at the arcade in the early 80s, it's always been a favorite arcade game of mine. I did buy the excellent Arcade Archives version on Switch when it was released.

[@fintux]

If my memory serves me correctly, the one of the (key?) requirements for the NES engineering team to create a console that will be able to run Donkey Kong that is very closely matching the arcade version. Which would also explain why it was the only port of the game that was so close to the original.

[@DumbBunny5328]

The lack of the cement factory on the famicom/nes version is kinda inexcusable because the Commodore 64, Atari 800, and Vic-20 versions had 4 stages (in the more complex international order even) on measly 16K cartridges

[@maxxdahl6062]

Not really, most of the other console versions had even less.

[@DumbBunny5328]

@@maxxdahl6062 most don’t have the intro scene but only 5 out of 18 conversions lack the cement factory

[@maxxdahl6062]

@@DumbBunny5328 All of the console versions beside the famicom/NES have at least two stages gone.

[@dereketnyre7156]

I remember the Vic-20 version of Donkey Kong having the cement factory level

[@maxxdahl6062]

@@dereketnyre7156 Yeah most of the computer versions had them all. But the console versions other than NES tended to have at least two stages gone.

[@RedBlueSpot]

4:24 The best version is the Commodore 64 version of Donkey Kong (Ocean version). It inludes all levels and all cutscenes.

[@LaughinMyButtOff]

Wowza, 27k views since yesterday! Heading to 4k subs! You're dedication is paying off. Great vid!

[@OriginalMasters]

Pretty fascinating video, thanks!

[@dikkekipgaming]

Europe also received an updated rerelease of Mario Bros. on the NES, with the ability to turn mid-air, graphics more accurate to the arcade version and the stage intermissions that were missing from the original NES version

[@Mega__00F]

Congrats on reaching 3000 subs

[@vincenzomottola7778]

If you don't know, the Atari 7800 version of Donkey Kong is based on the NES version, due to the color palette, HUD and lack of cement factory/most cutscenes. And it came out in 1988

[@jeepz9618]

Donkey Kong Country on Super NES still one of my all time favorites

[@LITTLE1994]

20 years? You mean 27 years later...

[@SuperJM9]

It is true that the NES can use a maximum of 32KB of program ROM without enhancement chips, but in 1983 Nintendo didn't even have ROMs of that size available to them. Donkey Kong and all the early Famicom games only have 16KB of program ROM. So that is likely why the cement factory level was omitted.

[@EddyDisaster]

Donkey Kong 94 on the game boy is the definitive edition of arcade Donkey Kong, which includes all original levels plus 97 extra levels across 9 worlds.

[@chrishowarth6623]

Still play that, its my favourite of them all

[@runpcjon]

The Atari 400 version was released in 1982 or 83 only 16K and included all four levels, It was the first home version to include all the levels. And although not arcade perfect, I still think it plays the best of the bunch.

[@kranibal]

Awesome video!

[@limabravo0001]

Only 3.39K subs? The content quality and production is just as good as mrwhosetheboss. Other game tech channels better put on their seatbelts this guys gonna zoom to 10 million subs in no time. Just don't forget about your fans mister!

[@KetilEspens]

I recommend the Atari 8-bit version which has all four stages and even the intro animation.

[@mikel6989]

Over 3k now! Congrats

[@pojr]

Thank you!

[@mudd7331]

I got the repro cartridge years ago and was wondering how it came about… thanks for the information!

[@captaincomedian6320]

The NES rom I found of Donkey Kong Original Edition has the whole game rotated 90 degrees, to provide the arcade-accurate vertical screen alignment. Also, the sounds are similar, but clearly different. This video makes it seem like there's yet another version, a home version with horizontal screen alignment. What gives?

[@VOAN]

Also know that Coleco had two versions of Donkey Kong, one for the original ColecoVision and one for the Coleco Adam computer. The Coleco Adam computer version had all four levels but there's a catch, there's three difficulty you had to go through to get to all four levels. There's easy setting which when you first start only had you go to 25mm and 100mm, finish those and the medium setting kicks in sending you back to 25mm then after that 75mm and eventually 100mm again. After you clear 100mm for the second time the game sent you back to 25mm and then eventually 50mm (which is the Cement Factory, level), then 75mm, and eventually 100mm. Note that each difficulty also gets harder as well. Also even though the newer NES version had the Cement Factory level in the game, it's still missing the buy in screen (the screen that says "How High Can You Go?" showing the number meter you're at), this screen was seen on most version of DK including the Game Boy version but was missing from the NES version.

[@kevinlawson1746]

One of the best versions I've ever played is on the Atari 8-Bit Computer, not only does it have all four screens, but if you wait before starting the game you also get the intro , it's a very impressive and an amazing bit of programming.

[@gamewizardks]

The Donkey Kong arcade machine that can be unlocked in Donkey Kong 64 also has the cement factory level.

[@10p6]

The NES / Famicom can technically directly access 64KB of Memory / ROM (believe it is configured to 32KB though.) Most games are not a limitation of the cart size, but a limitation of Nintendo not wanting to pay for much more expensive ROMS back in the day. Same goes to Atari and the rest, the smaller the ROM size the larger the profit they made.

[@TweetsieRailroader]

So that’s what happened to the infamous “Pie Factory” stage! Thanks for telling this story!

[@MBJ84]

Very informative. Never heard of that version

[@RetroDawn]

LOL! I just watched this and see that I was quoted at 2:44. When I said "Same..." in reply to carm3d, I was pointing out that he wrote "kilobyte" twice. I think the way you used to say it was 100% a-ok, and I defended your pronunciation in other comments. KEELO is German and French pronunciation of the prefix, and I've been known to use it myself occasionally over the last more than 4 decades I've been saying it--although I've said "K" far more than kilogram.

[@monkeymanbob]

Quite surprised that you don't get more subs & views. We received two official 8 bit home computer versions (there was dozens upon dozens of clones) in the UK. Atarisoft in '83, and Ocean in '86 for the Commodore 64 (so guessing the US would have received them too). Both featured all levels, but the Atarisoft version did something weird with the order of the levels. If you look at the level as 1,2,3,4 The first playthrough was 1.4 Second was 1,3,4 And by the third re-run you finally got all levels, in order.

[@priestesslucy3299]

There have been other comments saying the US Arcade Version had the same level order, meaning only the good players ever saw the Cement Factory. Dunno if accurate

[@Final_Starman]

Great vid

[@CommodoreFan64]

I just recently stumbled on this channel, and glad I did 👍 Having said that, Nintendo is a company I have a big love/hate relationship with, as many of their games have brought me some of my most fond gaming memories over the past 42 years of my life, and I thank them for that, but I also feel that Nintendo many times over the years has given it's western consumers the big shaft up the backside by not releasing things like this here, among some of their other notorious practices I think we all know about lol!

[@brain.stepper]

Maybe that's why they released the Mario's Cement Factory Table Top Game. To offer the level in some way.

[@Rybagz]

The Atari 8-bit computer version has all 4 levels and is the best of the releases of the time. It would have also been on the 5200 console except Coleco had the rights to console ports. Also, it had the intro animation and all fit into a 16K cartridge.

[@maxxdahl6062]

Eh I would say the commodore 64 one was better and also had all the stages.

[@Oribaa90]

Exactly what I was missing in this video. You can play it on an Atari XEGS so you can also call it a home console port. To be exact it is a computer port on a console version of a computer. Fair enough 😅

[@legoboy7107]

Wow, crazy how I just found out about this version's existence a couple weeks ago (from an offhanded comment in a video by a guy named PhantomBane) and all of a sudden there's now this recent video on this obscure version. Used to think for years that the NES version without the 2nd level was the only NES version to exist. I have since played this version now and quite like it.

[@thetravenousgamer]

I was in on the Club Nintendo program, and I still have this on my 3DS

[@sowhodecidedthat3924]

I don't know if you can dig a little deeper, but I thought it was said to have been originally coded this way and then cut out, not that Nintendo 20 years later got some coders to code in the 4th level. They just at the time had to trim it down for various reasons but still had the original untrimmed version.

[@SpacePortArcade]

I subscribe to and watch a good number of arcade channels. Admittedly unsolicited, but avoiding filler words like 'so' and repeated content sections could make it even more enjoyable to viewers.

[@bildo1977]

10:38 What game is that music from? Isn’t it from some Pac-Man Arrangement release?

[@Earths1stgamer]

The Atari 400/800 has the cement factory and Mario is super fast love that version. This is not a revised game either it came out in 1983.

[@pojr]

Very true. I actually did talk about this version in my Atari Keyboard video

[@Benanov]

There's a Commodore 64 version too, shipped on Cartridge. I had a copy. (My friend has the cart now, he got all the c64 stuff when I moved out)

[@feenix219]

You should check out some of the homebrews for the ColecoVision and the 2600. They have pretty much fixed the earlier versions of donkey Kong as well. It's ColecoVision donkey Kong arcade is great.

[@atrain818]

According the website "the cutting room floor." The data for the cement/conveyer level is on the original Nintendo cartridge. It simply goes unused. I think they said it was omitted due to time constraints.

[@TKdaFox1]

Nintendo only recently stopped making NES anything. The Donkey Kong for Gameboy was really fun.

[@DavidRomigJr]

The Coleco Vision, Intellivision, and Atari 2600 version were all done by Coleco (and actually all say Coleco Donkey Kong on them). The head of Coleco famously said he was going to Japan to secure the console rights on his terms and Nintendo hit him with a this-is-the-deal, take it or leave it, so he took it. There were rumors that Coleco made the Atari 2600 and Intellivision version inferior to the Coleco Vision version on purpose, but I saw a clip from a convention panel were one of the original employees said this was not the case, they simply knew the Coleco Vision inside and out but weren’t very familiar with the other two consoles. Considering the extreme video and ram limitations on the Atari 2600, I believe it. Coleco had the rights to all console versions but not the computer rights, which became a big issue when they made their Adam computer which was just a Coleco Vision with computer peripherals like a keyboard that was apparently buggy as hell because they rushed it too market. When Nintendo found out Coleco Donkey Kong ran on a computer, they were not happy about it because it meant strictly speaking they broke their contract. Since these releases there have been impressive home brew ports due to: modern support tools, no development time restrictions, and easy access to mappers. The Atari 2600 at least runs on a MOS 6502 variant, same as Commodore 64, Apple II, and NES, but with the upper address lines not exposed at the chip level limiting memory addressing to 8k which limited ROMs to 4k without a mapper. The 2600 also only has 128 bytes of RAM which was shared between globals and stack because RAM was super expensive at the time. And it had 2 8-bit player sprites, 2 1-bit player missile sprites, 1 1-bit ball sprite, and a blocky playfield that was either mirrored or repeated that had to be set EVERY raster line or it repeated the previous. Most of the CPU’s time was spent “drawing” the screen. The 2600 was designed specifically to play Pong and Combat. Though, Jay Miner did add the ability to double-size and repeat sprites and companies like Activision figured out clever exploits to do things like 6-digit sprite scores and impressive designs to the limitations. David Crane actually designed a DSP for Pitfall 2 to do extra calculations and 3-part music harmony. In a post-mortem presentation, he referred to it as cheating. Anyway, I raved a bit there at the end. I’m a fan of code that eeks out every last bit of performance on limited systems.

[@MrJonline]

Anyone noticed how in the japanese ad used in this video the kid very briefly blows into his cartridge before sticking it in the console. AFAIK Nintendo always officially discouraged blowing in cartridges but showing that in the advertisement shows how in touch they were with their user/fanbase back then. Compare that to now when Nintendo kinda seems to hate their own customers seeking out opportunities to disappoint, offend and punish at every corner

[@Hwi1son]

You should do a video on video game terminology. (Control deck, system, machine, console, dpad ect..) Though I'm sure it would be quite an undertaking I'm kind of upset that I never knew the 4th level LOL. But then again we never got the full game at home.. until like 5 consoles later

[@syzygyio]

You’re mistaken in saying the Atari 7800 “is much older than the NES” - Atari 7800 is newer than Famicom.

[@erockbrox8484]

Also someone made a fan port of Donkey Kong for the NES which makes the game display in vertical mode where you have to turn your TV 90 degrees to play it. The arcade is a vertical CRT the NES home version was in horizontal mode.

[@kbramlett6877]

Since I am 48 years old, I grew up in the golden age of video games and saw DK for the first time and I could not get enough of it. Now, the only to play it out in the field is if you are lucky enough to find an original arcade cabinet of it or on one of those Multi-Cade machines. These Multi-Cades contain a bunch of games on one machine. The games on these Multi-Cade cabinets have 80s arcade classics on them. The other way to play the original arcade version is via MAME. An arcade game emulator. When I first played the NES/Famicom home version, I was wondering where the Cement Factory stage went along with the cut scenes. I felt cheated. Since I was pretty good on the arcade version, the NES version was too easy for me. With the updated version on the Wii, Nintendo could have quite easily given us consumers the original arcade ROM. I still wonder why they did not.

[@kenseigerj2659]

what's the song you use during the conclusion part?

[@pojr]

It's from Cosmic Carnage

[@kenseigerj2659]

​@@pojr Thank you!

[@LuckiiTucky]

buddy i think opening a merch store before you even hit 5k subs might be jumping the gun a bit

[@TokyoXtreme]

I’m not first, but I’m still early. I also want to add that this channel is extremely solid, and you are an excellent presenter. It’s going to blow up soon.

[@LostForestX]

I thought they were pies when I was younger lol. Also greats on 3K! Here's to 5K!

[@fazares]

didnt know about this one...gotta buy a repro cartridge

[@The_Future_isnt_so_Bright]

The 2 songs and intro of Donkey Kong Jr are still tunes I humm to myself all the time. The first level and final level with the chains, keys , and birds. Never heard the arcade versions, not sure if they were different.

[@shawnmyers1880]

So is the arcade version availed to by online for the Nintendo switch?

[@pojr]

Yup, it is.

[@kbramlett6877]

One more thing, there is a documentary about two guys fighting for the world's high score on Donkey Kong. The name of the documentary is "The King of Kong: A Fist Full of Quarters."

[@atariboy9084]

What's funny is I have Donkey Kong for The Atari 400/800 Home Computer and it has all 4 levels. But there's a darker back story on DK arcade and why the main cement factory was missing in many game ports and that is the lawsuit between Nintendo and the programmers at Ikegami Tsushinki who was actually programmed the arcade game. And when Nintendo started secretly copying the game's code, they got sued. For a good back story head over to a KZbin video title 'Nintendo STOLE this game and got sued for $14,000,000' by Thomas Game Docs.

[@richiemendez7906]

Did they add in the cut scenes too?

[@bigjake360t]

This is a great console generation to be an arcade fan. You have got Arcade 1up, Hamster, DotEMU, and several fist party developers releasing arcade collections.