Donkey Kong retrospective, Pt 2: Welcome to NES Donk City | NES Works

More songs about buildings and kongs. The origins of Donkey Kong, and how his NES version came about and compared to other adaptations of the game. And now we can move along to... other Donkey Kong games.

[@dgiglio84]

The fact that Nintendo continues to re-release this incomplete version of the game seriously bothers me. I never understood why the superior "Original Edition" is so exclusive. It should be made available on all of Nintendo's current consoles (including the NES Classic Edition.) Great video, keep up the good work!

[@IgoSplashman]

In a peffect world, Nintendo would have released their whole arcade lineup back and forth on virtual console already... but no, 10 million versions of the same old NES port is all we get.

[@georgehenson2412]

One reason may be because of the whole Ikegami mess. Nobody in the US knows the full terms of that arrangement other than that it was proved in court that Ikegami owned the code to the original arcade game.

[@dgiglio84]

Wow, good point. I didn't even think of that.

[@severeerror52]

Other than the rights mess already mentioned, Nintendo HAS, years later, actually made a romhack of this that finishes it.

[@gabrieleriva651]

We're talking about the same company who didn't bring Mother 1 to the west for twenty years, despite having a complete english ROM since the early; the same Nintendo who is sitting on tens of Satellaview games somewhere in their archive (including some never-dumped Kirby games and a complete remake of the original Legend of Zelda); the same Nintendo who never released Mother 3 in the west.

[@otakubullfrog1665]

It's amazing that we eventually got games like Super Mario Bros. 3 on a console that couldn't handle all four single-screen levels of Donkey Kong at launch.

[@gokaury]

The Switch now has the original arcade game for purchase.

[@ReaverPrime]

DK94 is one of my favorite games on the old brick. And thats saying alot coming from someone that lives and dies by RPGs.

[@mattdog1000000]

I'm disappointed you failed to mention the one thing the NES version of Donkey Kong gave us that wasn't in the arcade version, the title screen music, which then went on to become the main theme of the entire series, even extending throughout the Country games. The composer is relatively unknown as well, would be interesting to hear more about that.

[@rubberwoody]

miyamoto reportedly wrote the title screen music

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

@@rubberwoody Really? Damn, a man of MANY talents.

[@rubberwoody]

@@TheSmart-CasualGamer he also wrote the jingles on mission bumpers and start. Reportedly Kondo loved these little diddies and was delighted to work at nintendo after finding tha out

[@gabrieleriva651]

It is thought that Donkey Kong Original Edition was an unreleased prototype ROM, to be released in Europe in early 90s, maybe bundled with Mario Bros. The fact that the game was released only in the European 25th anniversary Wii, and that the game runs at 288i50, and it is CNROM (mapper 3) with 32KB PRG-ROM and 32KB CHR-ROM, makes it not unlikely.

[@221b]

The omission of the cement factory level and between-stage animations was most likely less to do with memory restrictions than with the fact that due to the NES's limited number of on-screen sprites Donkey Kong was rendered using background tiles, which was fine for the most part but made smooth movement impossible. Notice how Kong slides around (indicating which way the conveyor belts are moving) in the cement factory level of the arcade game but remains stationary (removing a vital part of the stage's playability) in the ROMhack.

[@Goldnfoxx]

That might make sense for 1986, but today? Why is it _still_ such a rarity?

[@katt-the-pig]

Even though it was already outclassed by the time it released in the US, I still enjoyed myself some Donkey Kong Classics when I was a kid. Rented it a couple times from a gas station that has since been torn down and replaced by a car wash. Perhaps my early interest in retro games is due to the fact that I was practically raised on Atari 2600.

[@hansamurai]

Gotta love the pie factory level!

[@mackerelphones]

Dang, I still need to play the Game Boy Donkey Kong. Anyway, as usual, the video is divine.

[@RottenPopReviews]

Best retro gaming series ever

[@gumboe2007]

Thanks for putting this together, I learned a lot from this. I happy trip down memory lane

[@MaxW-er1hm]

You know I've heard the explanation for removing the stage from several different sources and it's always the same story, but you have informed us that Super Mario was also fitted into the original cartridge constraints, and it's HUGE. I just have a hard time accepting that they couldn't have included all the stages from the beginning

[@JeremyParish]

SMB shipped on a much larger ROM that held twice as much graphical data as Donkey Kong. And it made use of a ton of tricks to squeeze those stages into memory. Read Nathan Altice's "I Am Error" for more on why DK's graphics were difficult to squeeze into 16KB of memory due to the NES's tile-based display system.

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

Nice use of the TRON clip. Do you think they ever started on Return of Donkey Kong?

[@THEmuteKi]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="46">0:46</a> Ah, the heady days before William S. Session's name was plastered all over every arcade game's attract mode

[@Poever]

the_muteKi who?

[@DeathCrustPunk]

Just a theory: they usually say the 4th level in DK was left off do to time constraints or cartridge limitations. I wonder if it was left off so people still had a reason to play it at the arcade.

[@JeremyParish]

Seems unlikely. The arcade game was two years old when the Famicom arrived, and Donkey Kong was already on its second sequel. Coin-ops weren't really meant to have a lifespan of more than a year or so… especially in Japan where things become intensely popular for a few months and then fade quickly.

[@DeathCrustPunk]

good points

[@natethefighter]

I'd argue that finest vintage port of Donkey Kong is the Atari 8-bit computer version. It has all the stages, the animations, and controls like a dream. It doesn't look as good, but I'll take that trade.

[@LexLucid]

Read the great story of how Landon coded this excellent port. www.dadhacker.com/blog/?p=987

[@IgoSplashman]

I grew up with the C64 Atarisoft port. Apart from the highly disproportionate sprites, it still is one of the most faithful ports, containing all levels, which look and feel just like the original. The only thing missing are the "how high can you get"-screen and jingle and just a few animations.

[@mariosblocks2254]

New Donk City!

[@Goldnfoxx]

Yeah, it kills me that I've never seen a home port of the full, largely-unadulterated version of DK, mainly because in 1981 I was 6, and I can't think of any other game in arcades at the time that I would be more unlikely to play just due to the fact that the cabinet was nearly always occupied. The fact is, despite being a gamer since the Pong era, I have no memory of ever (EVER!) playing the cement factory level. Not one, not once. And Nintendo's weird approach to issuing out releases that include it baffles me like no other phenomenon in gaming. And despite having the dream of a Silver Spoons-like personal arcade cabinet room for my entire life, I've never approached having the funds to own original boards of any stripe. It's like they actively *want* players to download ROM hacks, but Nintendo more than any other video game company, has been active in shutting those projects down at every turn, so...mixed signals there.

[@masonasaro2118]

it's on switch now.

[@jamesmoss3424]

They look the same. 😀👍🎮

[@WhiteZerox]

Cash ayy!

[@FallicIdol]

Do you know why the black box games usually messed with the coloring of the graphics?

[@JeremyParish]

In the game or on the packaging? In the game, probably has to do with the fact that NES can only generate 52 colors and doesn't have a pre-defined palette, so colors were kind of "whatever" based on the user's TV sets and developers had to best-guess it.

[@alabrecque3]

Donkey Kong Jr. on the nes is the same as D.K. from Donkey Kong Country for snes. In this short clip notice the old gorilla playing the original Donkey Kong music on girders kzbin.info/www/bejne/q2GUm4eArap5g6M

[@JeremyParish]

Huge if true

[@masonasaro2118]

that's... um... pretty fucking obvious, dude. cranky kong outright says he was the original dk. dk jr.’s fate is debatable though, he might be modern dk, he might be modern dk's father, who knows anymore. i don't even know if jumpman is the same mario as the one we have now anymore.

[@FancifulDancingStar]

@@masonasaro2118 Nintendo's never been consistent about this, and the people at Rare have stated that Cranky's meta commentary about being the original DK was just "British humor", so I don't think all that stuff has ever been meant to be taken seriously. Especially since so much of it relies on fourth-wall breaking.

[@supermariofan772003]

The Atari 8-Bit version of Donkey Kong is the best version IMO.

[@riverdealer]

the Atari 400/800 "8 bit" was far superior to the NES version...the 8 bit included all 4 boards in proper US order. the game also included the option to start the game on L-01 through L-05...also it included the "How high can you get" screen before each screen...it also had the scene with Kong climbing up the structure, (although only during the attract mode)...GREAT version, and still think the only version better is the arcade ROM

[@2yoyoyo1Unplugged]

HE HAS NO STYLE...

[@masonasaro2118]

HE HAS NO GRACE...