How to play Donkey Kong Junior online
- Run, climb and slide: arrow keys
- Jump: Z
- Choose one or two players: up and down on the title screen, or F2 (Select)
- Choose a difficulty level: left and right on the title screen, or F2 (Select)
- Start a game: Z
- Pause: F4. Restart: F3 (Reset). Back to the title screen: F2 during play
Gameplay
The roles from Donkey Kong are reversed. Mario has locked the big ape in a cage, and you play his son, Junior, on a rescue mission. You get three Juniors. Each screen is a race against a bonus timer: reach the goal and the time left is added to your score, but if it hits zero you lose a life. You also lose one if a Snapjaw catches you, or if you fall from a vine or jump off a platform and miss.
The manual describes four screens. In the jungle you climb vines up to the key. On the springboard screen you bounce up while avoiding birds called Nitpickers. In Mario’s hideout you jump over sparks and globes on your way to the top. On the chains screen you push six keys up into the locks of the cage. After that the round starts again in the jungle, and the Snapjaws and Nitpickers get tougher.
Climbing has a trick to it. Junior climbs faster holding two vines or chains, but slides down faster on just one. Fruit can be knocked down onto the enemies below. One fruit can hit several of them, and each hit is worth more.
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| Jump over a Nitpicker, spark or globe | 100 |
| Push a key into a lock | 200 |
| Drop a fruit | 400 |
| Fruit hits a first / second / third enemy | 800 / 1,200 / 1,600 |
You get an extra life at 20,000 points.
Tips
- Climb on two, slide on one. Using the right grip saves seconds on the bonus timer.
- Wait for a crowd before dropping fruit. Let two or three Snapjaws line up under it for the bigger bonus.
- Be careful near platform edges. Jumping off a platform without catching a vine costs a life, so line up every jump.
- Give the jumps time. Reviewers found jumping a little slow, so start your leaps early.
The story behind Donkey Kong Junior
Nintendo released Donkey Kong Jr. in arcades in 1982. Atari later brought it to the Atari 2600, the Atari 8-bit computers and the 7800. Coleco had made earlier home versions, but it had left the video game business by the time the 7800 cartridge appeared. The 7800 version was developed by International Technology Development Corporation, the same company behind the 7800 versions of Donkey Kong and Mario Bros., and came out in North America in November 1988.
By then the arcade game was several years old, and the Nintendo Entertainment System was the console everyone talked about. A later review in The Atari Times liked that this version keeps all four screens, while the 7800 Donkey Kong leaves one out. The reviewer also found the jumping a little slow and the music off-key, but called the graphics close enough to the arcade.
