Donkey Kong Jr. retrospective: Another vine mess | NES Works

[@lolman9630]

i love the original Donkey Kong to death but Junior is infinitely more interesting to play

[@angelthingjenny]

"We've never seen Donkey Kong Jr's arcade version repurposed in any capacity" is actually false now! In the series of arcade ports that the Switch has been given, Jr just became one of them. Which makes me wonder even more where that settlement lied.

[@esmerylan]

Maybe Hamster's just really good at securing rights from multiple parties. Now they need to find some way to bring the original Popeye arcade game to Switch!

[@mavrick45]

nearly spit out my water after that first line

[@gabrieleriva651]

6:25 I love that Donket Kong Country 2 brought back that climbing mechanic.

[@JVeg199X]

While DK Jr. might be easily overshadowed by its predecessor as both an arcade and NES game, I'd say it had its time to shine in the Game & Watch series. It got 3 different versions! (Or 4 if you count the Tabletop and Panorama releases as separate versions).

[@controlpadblues]

I might be in the minority here, but I actually prefer Donkey Kong Jr. over Donkey Kong.

[@MAMoreno]

It's less of a minority than this video would suggest.

[@controlpadblues]

Well, that's good. I dunno, I just felt the vine-climbing mechanic (and the strategy of dropping stuff onto the enemies) was more fun than the simple running and jumping of the original. The hammer from DK is iconic for sure, but man, I always found it so boring waiting for it to run its course with no barrels or enemies around.

[@ChrisGorski]

I also preferred DK Jr. to DK, but being born in 82, I didn't enjoy either in the arcade

[@controlpadblues]

Ditto, I was born in '83. I was 2 when the NES came out, so I came in on the craze a bit late - about '87 or so... I did enjoy the heck out of Donkey Kong Classics, though!

[@jasonjayalap]

Garfunkel lovers!

[@dimitreze]

I got to know Donkey Kong Jr. in Super Mario Kart. Then years later some movements of the characters in the Donkey Kong Country series, made more sense after I played Donkey Kong Jr.

[@CalaveraCandy]

Donkey Kong Jr was the first video game I ever played. At some long gone Chuck E. Cheese's with my big brother and our favorite baby sitter. ... Who knew it would be such a gateway drug?

[@mario64remix]

Jr looks so sad when climbing... I really like this game and if Donkey Kong didn't have that iconic first stage, I would say this one is better. Random funfact: Jr appeared alone in the 3DS ambassador program. The original DK didn't appear on the eShop until over a year later!

[@TrevRockOne]

What a lovely surprise to hear some Yes in this video.

[@Goldnfoxx]

Listening to people talk about Donkey Kong, Jr. over the years, I've come to realize that I am very much a different kind of gamer. I don't just prefer Jr. as a game; this was THE arcade game of my childhood. THIS was the reason I wanted to go back to arcades time and time again. I had the 2600 version (which just thinking about makes me never want to touch the system itself ever again), but a friend at the time had the ColecoVision version (on one of those rear-projection TVs that had the RGB lights), and I was constantly trying to get him to let me play the game. That level with the springboard alone kept bringing me back. Also...was that a clip of Saturday Supercade? Fun, fun fun...

[@Saxcat20]

I feel that Jr. is a great game, now DK 3...that is a different story.

[@BanditTheCatRIP]

I think DK3 is quite underrated, though a bit repetitive.

[@TheJadeFist]

I have to notice the treetops in DK JR here, look alot like the tree/mushroom tops in Super Mario Bros.

[@2001mark]

Hindsight, Jr offers more welcoming contemporary platform strategies. Also, I suck at DK so there's that too.

[@robintst]

Was always more of a fan of DK Jr. than the original. Was one of the first home ports I ever played on ColecoVision.

[@Artfanster]

As a kid, Donkey Kong (on Colecovision) was impressive but difficult, whereas DKJr was more fun and engaging

[@00coyote60]

I listen to "we will rock you" without listening to "we are the champions"

[@JeremyParish]

Monstrous

[@riverdealer]

Atari 400/800 had the best home port...had all 4 boards in proper order (USA ROM)...you also could choose what level you begin on (1, 2, 3, 4 and 0 for practice)

[@yuberus]

One day I'd love to find out the story behind the 7800 ports of DK and DK jr. They play identically to the NES versions, albeit with the 7800's screechy music and slightly different pixel sizes, which makes me wonder what the heck kind of license they had to do something so close to the NES versions.

[@underwaterlevelz1947]

They are both great games but I find Donkey Kong Junior to be easier. Donkey Kong's elevator stages represent a very difficult challenge not present in DK Jr.

[@ChrisGorski]

Another great video. I personally enjoy DK Jr. over the original.

[@the-NightStar]

I'm not sure I understand your constant assertion that Jr doesn't live up, that it's a "failure" or not as good. It's a vastly superior game to the original Donkey Kong in every way possible. Your constant assertion of this almost annoyed me off of watching the rest of the video, the way you kept harping on that, and trying to hammer that point in, when quite frankly I, and according to many people in the comments absolutely think you're wrong about this.

[@MrDirkles]

It's an opinion 🙂

[@TommyLuv]

i'll be honest, i think it's even better than the arcade. it's not as intensely hard, the controls are much more responsive to that even to the arcade game of Donkey Kong Jr. and you get to play levels back to back. (im thinking NES VS Arcade and not Switch kuz on the switch you have the option to play either version of DK Jr.

[@bluedistortions]

As a young kid in the 80s, video games were the most interesting thing in the world to me, but I didnt get much opportunity to play them, especially not arcade games. The first time I remember getting to play an arcade game, one of my dad's friends owned a Donkey Kong unit, and gave me unlimited plays. I remember walking away after about 5 deaths. It never was that interesting to me, I guess I just dont understand the adoration. I found Jr. more fun when I got to play it at my Uncle's.

[@basedcatholic4479]

I always preferred this game to its predecessor.

[@riverdealer]

Donkey Kong Junior was my favorite 'sequel' game at the time it was released...compared to sequel games at the time, DK Jr. looked and played nothing like it's predecessor...whereas other sequel games like Asteroids Deluxe, Space Invaders Part II, and Boot Hill (sequel to Gun Fight) looked and played identical to the original

[@acepilot87]

I've got to say, I love your series and I've found it incredibly informative (Game Boy Works is my favourite). But yours has got to be the first retrospective of any kind that I've seen saying that Jr is the worse game of the two. It's an interesting and different opinion. I can very much see your point, but I've got to side with the majority opinion on this one: DK Jr is, for me, the more inventive, interesting and fun title.

[@holdingpattern245]

it's cooler to say that the second game is better, but you'll never see a King of Kong Junior movie

[@acepilot87]

@@holdingpattern245 Is it cooler to say that? I've never considered that before. And no, you'll never see a King of Kong Junior film but I'm also not suggesting that Donkey Kong wasn't hugely important or culturally significant. It was. Donkey Kong was a pioneering game, and cultural phenomenon, and as a result it is much more in the cultural consciousness than its sequel. But that doesn't necessarily mean it was better to play. And, at any rate, it's all just opinion.

[@holdingpattern245]

@@acepilot87 I guess it is, there are probably people who think Donkey Kong 3 is the best

[@sonicmario64]

I've never even heard of "less fun" and "still good" in the same sentence before... You can't have one without the other, you know!

[@JeremyParish]

Is it really THAT hard to grasp the idea that something can be good without being quite as good as a superior work?

[@sonicmario64]

It all depends on what you mean by that because I assumed that when you said that "Donkey Kong, Jr." was less fun, you meant that it can't be enjoyed by those who actually do find it to be more fun, especially since it's way better and more complete than the NES version of "Donkey Kong", after all.

[@JeremyParish]

This is a retrospective and design critique, not a mandate on what people are and are not allowed to enjoy in their spare time.

[@EdgedShadow]

I liked Jr more than the original.

[@kevinbowyer7205]

Excellent video!

[@Reoko77]

the first sentance alone had me dying. subbed so fucking hard.

[@JB_Hunkamunka]

I honestly don't think Nintendo was consciously aiming to do something new and different with Donkey Kong Jr. My hunch is they took inspiration from Ms. Pac-Man to make a new protagonist as a relative of the previous game's title character, and all the little tweaks and adjustments made to accommodate said new protagonist added up more than one might've thought. I have no way to prove that and I might be wrong, but it strikes me that the broad strokes of the game are still pretty much Donkey Kong, so it seems more natural to me for them to start from there rather than with a mandate about 'let's do climbing instead of jumping' or what have you.

[@trayson]

"It's less fun too." 😒

[@dimitreze]

Is it true that Donkey Kong from Donkey Kong Country is actually Donkey Kong Jr.?

[@ChrisGorski]

I recall that Cranky Kong from DKC was the original DK and that DKC's hero DK was his grandson. This leaves DK Jr out there in limbo

[@gabrieleriva651]

Chris Gorski didn’t DK jr and Donkey Kong “Country” coexisted in Mario Tennis?

[@RetroCabeza]

Oh boy Oh boy! Popeye! :D

[@jjmah7]

Or like Eruption, without Pretty Woman

[@DrCorndog1]

Yeah, but "Your Move" and "I've Seen All Good People" are listed as part of the same track, so who'd even consider that?

[@JeremyParish]

I've heard it happen on the radio a few times. Some monstrous DJ...

[@pheenmachine]

A Yes fan? I mean I'm already subscribed but I'll click it again

[@jamesmoss3424]

Give donkey Kong jr some respect I played it before it was cool. 😀👍🎮

[@Riz2336]

I never was a big fan of DK Jr. it's okay but to me it gets old kind of fast.

[@MaxW-er1hm]

Absolutely fascinating, that they reverse-engineer their own game and got sued for it LOL

[@scottpilgrim99]

Donkey Kong Jr. KILLED Mario! That's why he wasn't in Donkey Kong 3.

[@tsp1999]

NS as in Nintendo Switch!