This sequel to Donkey Kong certainly does more in comparison to its predecessor. It contains one extra unique level, and the programming of the level themselves look more complex than Donkey Kong's.

That's all the praise I can give this game, however, as I didn't enjoy playing through the 4 levels this game had to offer.

The controls for Jr. were very janky, sometimes getting stuck on corners or remaining unresponsive after a jump for a split second. The AI of the enemies were also all over the place for me, as only the birds on the 2nd stage were reasonably predictable.

I did end up beating all 4 stages eventually, but it's not a game I would want to go back to get a higher score.

As the sequel to Donkey Kong, this is an alright follow-up. The game is essentially a role reversal of the last one, where Mario is now the villain, and DK Jr. has to save the original Donkey Kong, except this time around, it isn't as good. The graphics are good enough, the music is good, the designs are cartoony and fun to look at, and the gameplay is... frustrating. Climbing instead of jumping isn't as fun, and it can be a struggle, especially with how fast you go down and up, depending on what position you are on the vines. Overall though, it is an acceptable sequel to the original game, but not one I would go out of my way to play again.

Game #13

A proposta desse spin-off é um tanto subversiva em relação ao Donkey Kong original. Há uma inversão de papel e aqui o DK foi capturado e cabe ao Jr resgatar o macacão. Aqui temos uma variação de estágios que não é tão ampla assim, mas garante um loop de 4 fases, das quais 3 possuem a mesma estrutura de ir do ponto A ao ponto B. A 4ª fase apresenta um desafio na forma de uma tarefa especial de conduzir chaves até o topo dos cipós, quebrando o formato..

Como se trata de um título antigo, o design envolve pontuar o máximo possível, repetindo esse loop à exaustão enquanto se torna cada vez mais difícil.

Uma questão que achei interessante foi refletir se o Jr não seria uma protoversão do Kiddy Kong do Donkey Kong Country 3, no futuro. Será que se inspiraram nele pra reciclar o design?

Vemos aqui também algumas ideias que mais tarde voltarão como características centrais da série Country: cipós e plataformas, apesar de que neste título temos dano por queda, algo que foi posteriormente descartado na franquia.

São ideias bacanas, mas que não são suficientes para tornar o jogo tão bom assim, por conta da natureza do seu design antigo e em minha opinião, anacrônico.

As an NES game released early in it's life, and an arcade game to the icon Donkey Kong game, Donkey Kong Jr. cements itself as one of the first sequels in video games. While I would attest to the idea that sequels in video games are usually better than the original, you wouldn't know that playing this game.

Donkey Kong Jr. sets itself up as a inversion of the previous game, with Donkey Kong being held captive instead, and it's up to his son to save him. The game is a traditional get from A to B platformer that has you go thru 4 different levels then cycles you back. In every way Donkey Kong Jr. hits the same beats as the first one, but it just doesn't impress.

From the way each level is designed to only having one proper way to go up, to just how bland the levels actually are, it just feels like Donkey Kong Jr. is just riding the coat tails of it's predecessor. The first two levels look nearly the same at a glance, and the 3rd level is just devoid of anything interesting. With the only really interesting level being the final one which you do save your dad. The sounds are far more irritating as climbing vines not only takes longer, but is far more constant compared to Mario's walking in the previous game. Vine climbing itself also has a fair share of problems with the way the mechanics seem simple, but are more difficult to control once you use them more. This all kinda leans into the game just not feeling as good as it's predecessor's easier control scheme and level design.

I honestly was shocked just how much I didn't like this game the more I played it. Each loop just made me think that it was done better in the previous game. Donkey Kong Jr. certainly gets some points for at least trying something different, but that same reason is why the game doesn't feel nearly as good as the original.

Oh ho ho, getting slightly better there DK arcade games.


I mean it’s an improvement from the first one, there’s a bit more to the controls, general platforming has some more unique things to it and HOLY MOLY THERE’S 4 LEVELS INSTEAD OR 3.
Aside from that stuff though, yeah it’s still pretty barebones, but this doesn’t have as much of an excuse because it didn’t really revolutionize games kinda like the original did.


Onto Donkey Kong 3……….I’ll see y’all again in like 15-20 minutes.