Donkey Kong’s Most Creepy Mystery

Today we dive into the mystery behind some strange backgrounds of an obscure Donkey Kong 3 port for Japanese PC's. Why were they made like this? Do they have any significance? Let's find out together!
More info about the game here: www.mariowiki.com/Donkey_Kong...
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WildDogXD
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#creepygaming #donkeykong #pressstarttocontinue

[@PressStartToContinueYT]

UPDATE: Itagaki actually responded to my email (ironically the day I released this video!). Here's what he said: Hello Kevin. The background you are referring to is exactly the background image of the game screen, right? At those days, PCs had slow drawing speed and of course no sprite function, so some kind of technique was needed to move the object at a sufficient speed while composing the background and the object. That work was also a test of one of those techniques. The resolution of the background was reduced by half, and the number of colors available was very limited. I converted many photos to images and chose some images from them that look good even with that resolution and number of colors. So, the scenery I chose has no meaning in itself. Soooooo, I guess this solves it, nothing nefarious or unsettling here!

[@veryoriginal773]

tbh I didn’t even know anything could even be “scary” about Donkey Kong in general

[@novelezra]

Pin the comment dude!

[@PressStartToContinueYT]

@@novelezra lol it was pinned but when I edited it, the pin went away!

[@NewportBox100s]

Epic response that's awesome bruh

[@ReshiramR52]

wonder why he chose to respond until literally now

[@seabass7329]

The most unsettling part to me, is the fact that whole game seems to be based around blasting poor Donkey Kong's crotch into oblivion in various settings.

[@hdofu]

That’s Donkey Kong 3 in a nutshell

[@thenoseguy]

I hate it when Donkey Kong's crotch gets blasted into Elder Scrolls 4.

[@HowDoUPlayGames]

The game's entire loop is "rapidly insert bug spray into gorilla's rectum" and somehow this isn't the creepy part.

[@vidkiddo4595]

Lmao

[@pixelator5312]

@@hdofu in a nuts hell*

[@kenhollis6197]

I think they probably selected somewhat random and surreal pictures for the sake of being random and weird. Sometimes Japanese folks are really into that. The film "Funky Forest" is a prime example.

[@hdofu]

Ahhh, Funky Forest, I'm convinced this was an attempt at Japanese interpretation of Monty Python's Flying Circus.

[@nikitahichoii482]

those japanese amirite 👉👉

[@heavysystemsinc.]

Yeah, it's a case of Occam's Razor here. I would suspect Hudson just got a new image scanner/digitizer and couldn't wait to try it out and what better way than to spruce up the backgrounds to a port they were working on? And of course, they overthink things or at least take a 'designerly' approach, and so the pictures have to have some theme or connection between them and while we're at it, aliens and space and sci fi are very common things to be 'into' for anyone. Boom. Weirdo backgrounds. I mean, the intros to them tell you 'now you're here doing this game'. So, it's moderately narrative in an action game of all things, especially of the time. But yeah, I find things like this 'creepy', but out of context I can see it being strange. Some of these 'creepy pastas' in games strike me as folks going on about the 'suicide little person' in Wizard of Oz or how there's this whole idea that Pink Floyd's producer Alan Parsons intentionally sync'd up their album to the movie, etc. Some stuff is just hilariously weird for no reason. I dunno. Gotta go, my toilet's haunted by evil turd spirits and keeps filling itself every 20 minutes and it's been 19 minutes since the last one. See ya!

[@mrttripz3236]

Good old fashioned Japanese humour

[@emojimovie5177]

If you’re using pc, you can skip ads in less than a second by clicking on the video, then clicking ⬅️ and then clicking ➡️. Note: This does not work on mobile.

[@pedrongreen]

Honestly I don’t think they’re unsettling at all (apart from the aliens one). They all look like they could be a cover for some vaporwave album which is kinda cool!

[@diegoantoniofrias9309]

Same, I only came here because I didn't even know about that port

[@unoriginality5460]

To me,i didnt rven found the aliens one unsettling at all. It still looks like a vaporwave album cover,like you said,but the aliens just seem to be chilling and speaking with eachother yknow,talking about how this little dude is absolutely bonkers for fighting a giant ape with a bug killing spray. Wild.

[@pastrylol]

Yeah same

[@MiMiBrokenbourgh]

The aliens looks like green among us XD

[@jnnx]

The only people who prattle on and on about Vaporwave, never lived in the 80s.

[@radioactivechimp]

The simplest answer is that this port's development was rushed and they had to use backgrounds from a canceled game in order to meet deadlines. The complicated answer is that porting Donkey Kong 3 to PC opens up a portal to vaporwave hell.

[@XXXXX8]

*vaporware

[@quickchuckle1471]

0

[@quickchuckle1471]

L0

[@bryede]

That was my assumption. This is something else turned into DK3.

[@BMoser-bv6kn]

@@XXXXX8 ... WAVE. > : ( kzbin.info/www/bejne/qIXJkmBvlqiHj8k

[@joanahkirk338]

Theory: These images were intended for a space shooter game, which was reskinned with Donkey Kong Characters when the developers got the rights, as why the game doesn't have much to do with Donkey Kong That or they're just random images and the development team didn't have much time to design anything else, having these as stock images already, or placeholders

[@Minersteev]

space shooter on the highway

[@siduxjxhdgzhdjxhxuuxxyhgg1079]

Space shooter in the cave

[@FlamesTheCyndaquil]

Space shooter in volcano

[@vidkiddo4595]

Space shooter: Donkey Kong 3

[@theohobo]

That’s a really cool theory, I hadn’t thought of that! That’s my belief now

[@geodaet83]

The most disturbing thing is that Donkey Kong is wearing a perfectly knotted tie but nothing else. Imagine walking around like that 😱

[@rarewaffle3531]

pretty disturbing Donkey Kong doesn't NEED a tie. It doesn't protect him or keep him warm. He wears it because he understands it gives him some sort of decency, which he chooses to ignore to walk around NAKED

[@dudestep]

@@rarewaffle3531 decency, or status?

[@TokyoXtreme]

Don’t have to imagine 😏

[@vallisdaemonumofficial]

How to be the classiest one at the nude beach 👔

[@Vee_Sheep]

when Donkey Kong does it he's a "video game icon" and "cool" when anyone else does it it's "public indecency" and "illegal" and they're "going to prison for a decade"

[@maverickREAL]

If the backgrounds got more disturbing as time went on this could be a perfect creepypasta

[@Xkbtbox]

Bruh.....

[@MelancoliaI]

It has that exact feel of weird, out of place details growing slowly more sinister that is the hallmark of all great creepypastas.

[@Pupppeteer]

I was thinking when you emailed the guy he'd be like. Finally someone is worthy!!! lol. Maybe it was a doki doki situation where things just got repurposed.

[@hdofu]

no, partly due to hardware limitations, Hudson didn't do straight-up ports on most of these games, opting to create original games similar but not all the same that could play on the limitations and strengths of early Japanese pcs.

[@GriffithFromBerk]

Donkey Donkey*

[@angmering5899]

I think these images only seem creepy to our eyes now; they probably wouldn't have seemed creepy to someone playing this when it was released. Games were often pretty abstract, and it was probably quite novel to see *any* semi-realistic pictures rendered on a computer screen (even though their pixel art was super primitive). Also, the font. To us, that's straight-up analog horror font; but back then, it was just a typical stock videogame/computer font. And the fact they have nothing to do with Donkey Kong? That seems weird to us in modern times, where consumer computer technology is more standardised, ports stick closely to their original releases, and game franchises have strict brand and style consistency rules (*especially* the Mario series that spawned from Donkey Kong). Back then, it was way more wild west.

[@lieutenant_lucky_rocks]

This. We’ve made pretty much everything relating to old PCs retroactively creepy. There are way weirder design choices from that era.

[@deli_9697]

I think they look very cool

[@emojimovie5177]

If you’re using pc, you can skip ads in less than a second by clicking on the video, then clicking ⬅️ and then clicking ➡️. Note: This does not work on mobile.

[@scott4981]

88 back to the future

[@Buglin_Burger7878]

The fact you used a fake image for the thumbnail... really makes it feel like you're forcing something to be creepy that isn't and the reason you didn't use the actual game ones is because they aren't creepy. If the item itself is creepy then it should show that on its own merits... and without the dislike system on KZbin I can't tell if you do this a lot or how much of this is honest/dishonest. I don't like having to express this via comment... but it is practically forced now due to KZbin's changes since this is the only way to communicate these things now.

[@waddafugg3072]

I agree

[@jemmapellemma8185]

I also agree. I found none of the game images unsettling or creepy in any way. I specifically clicked this video because I assumed the image in the thumbnail was from the game; and wondered why it would have text like "in the children room" - but the reality is that all the text from the actual game is just a description of its image. While the tone of the backgrounds does not match Donkey Kong as we know it today, it's very typical of the "hey this one's cool enough to use" styles of the time. This video also uses the trend all over KZbin right now of trying to make something look like it was awkwardly translated from Japanese in an effort to make it look more cute or creepy or whatever but it's all just click-bait - and in this case *completely fabricated.*

[@drachenzahne9262]

I felt like this video was trying to play up the supposed "creepiness" of the images, which I don't like. I also didn't like that the thumbnail wasn't even a real image from the game, it comes off as very deceitful and clickbaity. Admittedly, one other nitpick I have is that people sometimes over-analyze this stuff. When I saw the pinned comment containing a reply from one of the devs, it confirmed what I had already assumed--that the BGs were chosen for their aesthetic factor, not to tell a story.

[@squeedles_1943]

I agree completely. If you wanna make a video about this that's fine, just change the thumbnail to an actual screenshot, like the alien one. I was waiting the whole time for him to explain the children one

[@ennibee6684]

Thanks, you saved me time

[@MelancoliaI]

It's weird how Donkey Kong is no longer threatening in DK3. He's not pounding the ground, having tantrums, and rolling barrels. It seems like he's trying to escape a horrible fate at the hands of you, the player. Just another creepy detail I noticed.

[@jemmapellemma8185]

_This video is click-bait._ I specifically clicked this video because I assumed the image in the thumbnail was from the game; and wondered why it would have text like "in the children room" - but the reality is that all text from the actual game is just a description of its image. While the tone of the backgrounds does not match Donkey Kong as we know it today, it's typical of the "hey this one's cool enough to use" tropes of the time (as Itagaki verified). This video exploits the trend of trying to make something look like it was awkwardly translated (usually from Japanese) in an effort to make it look more cute or creepy or whatever but it's all just click-bait - and in this case *completely fabricated.*

[@drachenzahne9262]

i'm glad i'm not the only one who noticed this.

[@slyhunter]

Yeah I disliked just because of the clickbait thumbnail

[@squeedles_1943]

I think this video is proof that click bait is going to be more common. The dislike button was all we had to really know if it was a real video or not

[@drachenzahne9262]

@@squeedles_1943 i have this chrome extension that allows me to view dislikes (I think it's called "Return KZbin Dislikes"), it was on 666 dislikes last time i checked edit- its now at 749 dislikes edit 2 - at 900 now

[@novelezra]

I think this is creepy in the same way Yume Nikki is creepy. It's because a lot of imagery draws from the past. Yume Nikki rarely shows any violence or actual horror. But the imagery is so uncanny and so reminiscent of the art works made by ancient cultures that you subconsciously feel like there is a hidden message trying to be conveyed. Even if there isn't one at all. Theres a very famous statue in Japan called the Tower of the Sun. It's featured prominently in Naoki Urasawa's Manga series 20th Century Boys. A mystery coming of age series about a group of kids who need to stop some malevolent group that they somehow started. It's very much like "IT" but more thriller/mystery aspects to it. The Tower of the Sun for some reason is one of the most uncanny pieces of famous art I can think of. It's meant to be a very positive work but I think (like myself) a lot of people found it to really unnerve them and it's not surprise it's used as a weapon in the manga series.

[@zicklane]

can't you literally stab like everyone and everything that walks in that "game" as soon as you get the knife effect ?

[@novelezra]

@@zicklane Yep! And I'd argue that if you asked most people what they remember from that game. Most people still would say "The feeling of dread and confusion" and not "when I went all stabby stabby"

[@CachiCordova]

@@zicklane Yume Nikki still never has the intention to scare you (except for uboa and FACE).

[@Da_mutha_peckin_H.A._double_T.]

@@CachiCordova I don't know why but it kinda pisses me off that Undertale just straight up ripped off Uboa.

[@cuteshark7261]

Yume Nikki lol

[@singletona082]

Personal theory is this port was originally a galaga esque game and they got the rights to donkey kong, so that's why the title cards are so out of place.

[@VJFranzK]

No, the actual play action is the same as the arcade, they're both Galaga esque.

[@GiuseppeGaetanoSabatelli]

@@VJFranzK wut. Did you see the video or play DK3? It's not at all like Galaga or Galaxian. Lol

[@VJFranzK]

@@GiuseppeGaetanoSabatelli I played all 3 + Space Invaders, GORF, Zaxxon, Phoenix, Pooyan, Scramble etc. when they were new. They are similar in "early shmup" play action, even if DK3 has some "platformer" elements.

[@GiuseppeGaetanoSabatelli]

@@VJFranzK Gorf should be an example of why you're wrong lol. The game is literally about you fighting other games' aliens. Each mission is a clone of a different arcade game. Xd Just because DK3 has you shooting upwards doesn't mean it's a smup clone. It has platforming... Lol

[@VJFranzK]

@@GiuseppeGaetanoSabatelli Whatever. It's not really a platformer because you can't lose by falling. There's also no jump button, and you can't stomp, or otherwise stop the enemies without spraying. The Shmup elements are the most central to gameplay, and that's how you complete the levels.

[@mikenayers5981]

I’m thinking it’s using what’s now known as the “25% different rule” when someone’s using an IP under license. They probably had to make their DK3 PC game significantly distinguishable, but still letting it be recognized as that game. My guess is, they were looking for a cash grab, and didn’t want to put forth a lot of effort, so they changed the gameplay, and used stock backgrounds.

[@akirbyobsessee7396]

The 25% rule refers to royalties, not content.

[@mikenayers5981]

@@akirbyobsessee7396 At times it applies to content. Like with Star Trek Discovery.

[@magentalizard1250]

The aliens one would be much scarier if I didn't see among us every time I looked at it

[@shaggytheshaman]

Odd? Sure. "Gives us a vibe that we shouldn't be seeing them?" ...this is what happens when a generation grows up raised by creepypasta.

[@monophone903]

I mean, it's just kind of fun to think of things this way. It makes the world more mysterious and fascinating to be quite honest. I know it's just some image with some text slapped on it but it makes me feel things damn it, let me let it make me feel things since our world is already feeling like some fucked up dystopian comedy anyway

[@charperdove]

its something odd that doesnt fit in the game? ofcourse we feel like we shouldnt be seeing them,quite a jump to conclusion💀

[@jordy9606]

Yeah, because we're supposed to be seeing something that's deliberately hidden inside the game as a test. Lol

[@ApeBrainGames]

This game was the direct inspiration for Hong Kong '97. Change my mind!

[@carlcouture1023]

We could always see if Ultra Healthy Video Game Nerd could ask Kowloon Kurosawa about that.

[@ryancurrier6845]

For me the creepiest was playing Diablo when i was little. There was this one time i booted up the game but it didnt start, instead the only thing that played was dialogue from the a cutscene I'd never seen before. So I'm staring at my desktop with nothing visibly running but I'm hearing the voice of the devil threaten my soul. For my little brother, it was his super mario plushie going off in the middle of the night without provocation repeatedly saying "it's a me, mario!" My bro was SCREAMING. Lol

[@V1RuSxK1Ng]

I spent 10 minutes listening to the same "why is it in donkey kong 3?" question. Thanks buddy

[@tommygarson8592]

honestly, to call these images disturbing is a faaar far stretch. I understand what you said about everyone having their own ticks but, I think they just look cool man. its not really all that spooky

[@professionalnerd4055]

I don't find them disturbing exactly but they do have an eerie, spooky sort of feeling. A lot of them feel like liminal spaces, which a lot of people also find creepy

[@eternalux6343]

If I had to guess I'd say these backgrounds were created for an unrelated, unreleased game but ended up being used in this for whatever reason, like time or budgetary restraints or something similar.

[@gamingforalaugh77]

The death screen on old 3d donkey kong games terrified me especially the uncanny facial expressions

[@hopegallows1392]

This kinda reminds me of the Icelandic translation of Dracula, which was a complete rewrite of the story

[@jacquesmendiola-tagle3394]

I'm pretty sure it's just to test/showcase the graphical capabilities of the hardware. Nothing more

[@Hambrack]

Alright, here's a theory I have for why exactly they look so disturbing: they shouldn't. I remember watching a video (I think it was by the 8-Bit Guy) where he showed how old DOS games (the ones with that garish pink and cyan colour palette) are meant to look on a proper (older) screen. I forget the details, but I remember the result being way better. Maybe that's what happened, and the images were meant to be seen on a CRT with a specific connection, not a high definition screen.

[@BryonLape]

It was the 8-Bit Guy and he hooked a PC up to a old TV.

[@Hambrack]

@@BryonLape I know, but he specified a specific connection, which I can't remember. I don't know how feasible it is to play this game on an old PC (especially given it was meant for a machine that was way different from the ones available, at the time, in the west). But regardless, it would be an interesting experiment. Maybe we need to find the Japanese equivalent of the 8-Bit Guy and ask them to find out.

[@ethanterry7290]

These backgrounds will be the backdrop for 6 hour vaporwave mixes within the week.

[@masterxak]

Lol, sounds like the scientology story about aliens getting dropped in a volcano.

[@DKomnicide]

Holy shit, I’m a huge fan of Donkey Kong games and gaming history in general, and I never knew Donkey Kong 3 even existed

[@jeremygalloway1348]

Now you do sir...now you must play it. And tell us your thoughts lol

[@ydnar71]

The bird at 10:00 is a real place you can go see this. Its apart of the Nazca Lines in Peru! Specifically, this one is called the Condor. I've had the wonderful experience of flying over these giant geoglyphs in a small airplane there. They were created by ancient peoples about 2000 years ago, however some have speculated that it was the work of aliens. You can somewhat compare them to a cropcircle, which only makes sense from an aerial viewpoint. Located in a flat desert, its hard to imagine how or why they were created since they can't truly be appreciated from ground level perspective.

[@BAIGAMING]

I know he responded, but I bet he got the photos from stock images in the old days. Maybe it was a commercially sold CD that contained stock images specifically of alien and UFO environments, which was probably not the best choice for a Donkey Kong game.

[@Unquestionable]

Love weird unsettling stuff like this. Even with the update on why it was created the way it was it give some excellent creepy nostalgia vibes, similar to a movie you might have caught late night as a child yet couldn't recall much beyond random disconnected scenes.

[@Jdeadevil]

You talking about Earthbound? xD

[@robxholicfoxyfan8552]

For a second, when I saw the Children Room example in the thumbnail, It thought about Donkey Kong Country 3's game over screen.

[@JusticeforLiberty]

The only thing unsettling about this is that someone finds it unsettling. Damn , people get triggered by the most mundane things.

[@professionalnerd4055]

I don't think he's triggered, he's just having fun with it. I personally love images with eerie, spooky vibes like this

[@patrickmoroney2991]

The guy who archived the Sharp X1 version revealed that the game's manual didn't provide a story either - in fact, Hudson Soft wanted players to send them letters describing their own interpretations of the level progression!

[@hdofu]

Hudson truly created some fascinating exclusives for the Japanese pcs including 2 Mario Bros ones

[@aleksoctop]

The aliens really remind me of Starmen from the Mother series.

[@omarpikm2101]

am

[@Pinkooru]

Sus

[@VampyreBassist]

I need all of these backgrounds for my PC wallpaper. I love them!

[@youssoufmoussa3874]

Wow, that's awesome that you found those images. I never even knew this game existed, it's pretty interesting stuff.

[@supnight2197]

this is the office of fnaf 2, kinda nostalgic 5:42 also these could be some type of liminal spaces they give off the type of vibe

[@VJFranzK]

I thought you might say this: Why was Stanley never featured in any future Mario title? A creepy answer is: If Stanley loses they eat him, leaving only his sprayer and ominous music! And like most early games, there's no way to "win", only continue to higher levels. (DK3 doesn't end with a glitch, like DK1) Here's a good discussion of the history: He began nameless with a game and watch title "Green House", which I think I still have, somewhere. "Mr Game And Watch" has the sprayer in Smash. kzbin.info/www/bejne/apiypXmpYq6VjdU

[@moister3727]

Because he's not famous enough

[@theotherjared9824]

If Rare didn't decide to abandon the ZX spectrum and buy a bunch of super computers on a whim, this would have likely been the last donkey kong game ever made.

[@Vee_Sheep]

i would love it if these sorts of images were used for some spooky indie game/ARG my analog horror gremlin is in love with these, especially the red "Mysterious Planet"

[@doxiedaddy7784]

Could be used for NES Godzilla Replay if CosbyDaf is still working on it

[@Vee_Sheep]

@@doxiedaddy7784 yooo, that'd be awesome they do especially have some strong NES Godzilla energy

[@cainthulaz1]

What I'm gathering from those pictures makes me think of L Ron Hubbards world origin story as well as the basis for the cult of Scientology. Especially with the aliens that appeared like ghostly or soulish characters like thetans would, Volcanoes where these souls would be dumped, the mushroom cloud when nukes were thrown into those volcanoes, and space related pictures in general that would depic the scifi of the story. Not sure if the other pictures could be linked to the story as well.

[@Reth_Hard]

Like many others, Itagaki is obviously working for the aliens and they're slowly preparing us for the big invasion...

[@timbrown1834]

Very interesting. Some of the themes like the nazca lines and pyramids remind me of Illusion of Gaia.

[@elfiebranford9330]

Game Theory: This is all just a secret message reminding the player that Stanley is gonna pump DK with so much bug-gas, that he's forced to return back to the Planet of the Kongs.

[@lennyface5314]

I think Hudson has a thing for this kind of Vaporwave-ish backgrounds. Has anyone else played Honeycomb Beat? Some backgrounds and music give a similar yet more canny vibe than what was showcased in this video.

[@megamix5403]

9:43 That looks... s u s

[@omarpikm2101]

AIRPOD SHOTTY

[@ob2kenobi388]

"On the country road" John Denver, you've done it again!

[@webbrowser6454]

Personal theory, due to porting/miscommunication/shenanigans, there was an error along the way and these backgrounds that were supposed to go along with a space themed game like galaga or space invaders etc. got stapled onto DK3 instead.

[@CrazyFanaticGamer]

Btw, the "image on the ground" is part of a series of Prehispanic drawings called the Nazca lines, in Ica, Peru

[@drachenzahne9262]

reminded me of xevious tbh

[@edenengland1883]

"subtle creepiness from kirby games" those games werent subtle at all, kirby final bosses have always just been horrifying

[@fonejunky6306]

I think he was referring to that one planet in crystal shards that was implied to be post -apocalyptic earth

[@legoboy7107]

I actually knew about this Donkey Kong 3 PC version by HudsonSoft for a few years now, yes it's a similar thing to Super Mario Bros. Special. Hudson made 4 of these games I believe, with Punch Ball Mario Bros, Mario Bros Special, SMB Special, and this Donkey Kong 3 game. I've been able to get the 3 Mario Bros. games and play them (I've actually played them quite a bit, I genuinely like many things about them) but I have never for the life of me been able to actually find a playable dump of Donkey Kong 3: Great Counterstrike, it seems to be the most lost of the four and even in discussions about Hudson's PC Mario ports is rarely mentioned. Nice to see someone finally dumped it, maybe I'll actually be able to play it finally. I did actually do a pixel fanart recreation based on that "On the Highway" background a few years ago because I thought it looked really cool. On another note, I always found it really cool how Hudson got creative with their ports rather than simply doing a 1-to-1 conversion. Punch Ball is basically the NES version of Mario Bros. but with the key mechanic changed from hitting enemies from below to throwing a ball at them to stun them, and even added moving platforms. Meanwhile Mario Bros. Special is basically a complete new sequel to Mario Bros. with completely new mechanics and multiple level layouts, in a manner more akin to the original Donkey Kong than Mario Bros. Super Mario Bros. Special modified and remixed the levels of SMB1 and even added several completely brand new ones, and they were way more creative in their design in many aspects, and also added many new powerups and brought enemies back from Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. And then this version of Donkey Kong 3 has like a completely different story where instead of chasing DK out of Stanley's greenhouse, you now pursue him to multiple locations and into space. Obviously Hudson was very limited by the low capabilities of the PCs they were developing for, but there was still so much creativity put into these "ports" and it shows. And then later on Hudson went on to make the Mario Party games, so that's cool. Yeeeeaahhh...I used to have a massive phase for these early 8-bit HudsonSoft Mario PC games a few years ago, so I know way too much about them and have played them more than most I'm pretty sure (with the exception of DK3 because yeah, I've never actually been able to find it, just videos of it). I have beaten SMB Special multiple times (the SharpX1 version because there's a disc error after beating 8-3 on the PC88 version, and while there is a way to fix it and play 8-4 and beat the game, I was never able to figure out how to do that fix, and the SharpX1 version is just way better anyway. There's also a game-breaking corruption in 4-4 on the PC-88 version, but there was a patch made on Romhacking.net that fixed that issue) and I think it's genuinely pretty enjoyable, though for your average Mario player I'd instead recommend playing either a recent NES romhack of SMB1 that adds in EVERYTHING from SMB Special, not just the level layouts themselves like with the old SMB1 hack, or this remake someone made in SMBX 1.4.4.

[@hdofu]

Someone did their homework :3

[@legoboy7107]

@@hdofu Lol thanks :)

[@Hugo_Tate]

Donkey Kong mystery? Fuck yes

[@DevilMaster]

The aliens and an exploding volcano make me think of Scientology. The cover of L- Ron Hubbard's book "Dianetics" is an exploding volcano, and the lore Scientologists want you to pay for the right to hear is about aliens thrown into volcanoes and NUKED (from which, the mushroom cloud). Either the programmer of this port was a Scientologist, or had heard about Scientology.

[@ChaunceyGardener]

You worked hard to meet the 10-minute quota of content on this one.

[@Butt_Slayer]

As long as the roots are not severed, all is well.

[@EscarBOOM]

this is about that pc game with the aliens isnt it

[@EscarBOOM]

update: yeah it is

[@Pinkooru]

@@EscarBOOM amogsu

[@doddsino]

They were probably used from other games, most likely a point and click game that never made it to market, so they used the images to stretch out the gameplay experience, much like many other arcade games did in terms of different backgrounds. It was just a lazy way to do it without having to be creative otherwise. They probably never expected anyone to ask about it.

[@SmashJT]

Man this was a fantastic video I missed out on when you first published it. You are such a great storyteller and yeah… I agree.. creepy AF backgrounds. Love this stuff

[@EQOAnostalgia]

The fact that it says THE saturn freaks me out, understanding the occult.

[@mnmfonted4112]

Love your videos bro! Keep it up, man!

[@JJJJAAAJJFDF542]

5:43 the office looks like the office from fnaf 2

[@katatchison6727]

did you know that canonically mario is stanleys older cousin? i found that out from watching this vid!

[@TearyEyesAnderson]

The aliens look a bit like the villains in the 64DD game "Doshin the Giant 1", they are villagers covered in blankets, running around causing mischief. If you want to see a rather strange game check out Dshin's expansion disk, for the 64DD. peeing hearts, all sorts of strange goings ons. Took me forever to translate both games, and figure out what to do, to see all the "More Than Giant" video clips. Bonkers spin-off sequel, but I still had fun.

[@chavesa5]

So this is what children like? I've rarely seen anything so forced.

[@voidlancer39]

What?

[@Progger11]

"Yo! Check out the newest Donkey Kong!!!" "Oh, awesome! What's the game mechanic this time?" "You shoot bug spray up Donkey Kong's ass!!!" " 😐"

[@TheReal_Pumpkian]

"🤨"

[@Nick-up5wv]

Also the aliens👽 look like the creepy ones in the background in Super Mario Galaxy 😳

[@mikapeltokorpi7671]

There is at least that Nazca condor image, that looks like it is drawn, not generated from any image.

[@johnsensebe3153]

I think they might have been from an unreleased (and probably unfinished) game from a completely different genre, used in the DK3 port to save development time.

[@youtuber-rh1eg]

I think the backgrounds look really cool but theres something familiar about them which is odd because I never played that version of donkey Kong 3

[@613-shadow9]

it's probably the sussy aliens

[@ATalkingSock]

This is incredibly fascinating. The Bygone era of game developers working by rote fills me with such whimsy lol

[@seth7726]

Going deep down the rabbit hole is always fun. Great video! Hopefully we get a response in the future to uncover the mystery.

[@violenceisfun991]

So what made you decide to become a peeDoughFile?

[@nintenx1235]

5:02 seems kinda sus. It’s low hanging fruit, but someone’s gotta take it.

[@jahhhh88]

Ok so in the ominous office picture, it’s clearly reminiscent to the fnaf 2 office, all the way from the hallway in the front, two crushed papers on the desk. Two open areas seeming to be vents on both sides with a button on top reminiscent to the light buttons above the vents, and the clearest evidence is both the checkered floors and the hazard marks at the top of the hallway, along with the round roof lamp, that’s why I’m confused on if when this port was made and why it’s so reminiscent to the fnaf 2 office

[@lethalethan07]

“In the children room” *AmorAltra has entered the chat*

[@memer__man_]

5:45 that's the fnaf 2 office

[@michaeldelaura9710]

I think it's obvious but I love that the 'On the Ground Picture' background is the Hummingbird Nazca geoglyph

[@LMC764]

Wait Donkey Kong? I have only read the title and i already have several questions

[@MathewRenfro]

@7:13 ASTRON "All your base are belong to us."

[@KeinNiemand]

If this was a nick robinson video: Deprate and out of answers I booked a plane ticked and flew to japan in search of answers.

[@protoborg]

The image on the ground that you see at one point is a geoglyph of a giant bird. It is also sometimes called Nazca lines.

[@jahredharrison4069]

Y'all will see a low poly 8 colour PNG of a trout and tell me it's terrifying and I'm meant to believe it

[@fonejunky6306]

No

[@SpicyPunkRockerOfficial]

Awesome video, subbed!

[@TheChrisRolla]

Pretty sure they’re just titles for each level background to “add” something to the home port.

[@Asterra2]

Well, if nothing else, I can tell you that the background of "Earth" is Apollo 17's famous photo, and "Mushroom Cloud" is one of the photos of Ivy Mike, the first hydrogen bomb.

[@thegardeniaprojectcollecti793]

The fun thing about art is that the artist's aim and intent is not the only meaning carried through the creation. A Creative act is driven by the Creative energy, which cannot be predicted--this is the nature of Creative work. So, having ruled out the artist's intention shaping the feelings conveyed, consider what the audience brings to the table, and the aim and intent of the Creative energy itself. What do these images have in common? What parallels in life do these symbols draw?

[@andrewmihovich4252]

I can't swear to what the precedent is like. But if we're talking about aliens, "At the Dome" looks like the alien "zoo" from the film version of _Slaughterhouse Five_ .

[@LordS20000]

I'm going to say my theory before I watch the whole thing, these backgrounds were filler, the game wasn't fully finished, and these filler backgrounds were just probably pictures the devs liked, I've done similar things in my programs. They are pictures that are just there until the devs have the final background layer. This game is clearly a unfinished copy, I'm guessing they never finished it. Edit: I just finished the video, the odd story might of just been for fun, maybe it was pictures from another game he was working on, or a personal project, and he reused the assets as filler during development

[@LoveStruckChrista]

If there actually was a significance in the “story” I would say that they weren’t aliens instead they were in hazmat suits (I think that’s what they’re called) because mushroom clouds come from nuclear bombs. Before anyone says anything about it, yes I saw the comment that said that he replied

[@vaporygon137]

Aliens dropping a nuke (mushroom cloud) into an active volcano is like a core premise of Scientology. This could legitimately be a reference to the cult of Scientology and the works of L Ron Hubbard.

[@LegenHarryThing4076]

The Most Creepy Part Here Is That, You Need To Smoke Donkey Kong's Ballsacks...

[@Pophet84]

i dont get why the crator of the video things that the backrounds are unsettling? they most likely just picked a variety of some random pictures and used them as backrounds. nothing more nothing less. the pictures are not creepy, dont have any sort of hidden stuff, dont move, are nothing inexplicable or whatever. just pictures. i guess they were taken from a canceled project or something. so out of convinience, they took what they had.

[@turtlepie4363]

Even though the background images have no meaning, I still find it interesting to make a story out of it. For example, the geoglyph picture is commonly referred to as the hummingbird, which in Incan belief is known as the messenger of the heavens.

[@-Unidentified_Comment-]

The original Donkey Kong 3 is probably my favorite Donkey Kong game in a strange way so I find it so interesting and exciting that I’m finding this mysterious thing out and that it has increased the amount of eyes on the game

[@joyconboyz1409]

What on earth? I’ve never heard about this when it was found. This is kinda crazy how often do we find lost versions of Nintendo game

[@johnclark926]

I wish there were PC ports for modern Nintendo titles. It would be epic if there was a Super Mario Odyssey Special where there’s a loading screen every time you change a camera angle and remix content ripped from previous Mario games, or Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze where all the backgrounds are replaced with random stock images with occasional satanic imagery complete with cultists draped in crimson robes.

[@Itshomski]

Great vid like usual!

[@freak0429]

Oh so the thumbnail was clickbait, cool.

[@pentexsucks43]

They have to, if they actually showed how not creepy these "spoooooky mystery!" Videos were, hardly anyone would watch

[@cursedex80]

"Wait... what do you mean we're not making a port of Space Invaders? Do you have any idea how hard I've been working on the backgrounds?"