As featured in Retrogaming Times Monthly issue #44, January 2007.

After rescuing his girlfriend Pauline from the grasp of Donkey Kong, Mario decides to get his revenge on the giant ape.  Mario has caged Pauline's former kidnapper and is holding him hostage.  It's up to Donkey Kong's son, Donkey Kong Junior to save his papa in this sequel to one of the most popular arcade games of all time.  Released in 1982, one year after the original arcade blockbuster, Donkey Kong Junior was and would continue to be unique for a number of reasons.  This time the roles were reversed with the player controlling the younger member of the Kong family, Junior.  Mario was portrayed in a negative light as the villain of the game for the first time ever, something that would never be repeated to this day.  It was also one of the first games that continued the story of a previous title by reusing known characters as well as introducing new ones.  Additionally although the game play retained the same "get to the top of the level" objective, the mechanics and levels were completely reworked to match the change in player character size, ability, and species.  Donkey Kong Junior joined the original Donkey Kong as one of the original Famicom launch titles and was also released as one of the first NES games in the Arcade Classics Series.

As with the previous title Nintendo converted the game on their own and the NES release is a direct duplicate of the Famicom version.  Just as with Donkey Kong, arcade Donkey Kong Junior used a vertical monitor which lends itself to the usual rework to fit on horizontal televisions on the NES.  The graphics are compressed down and stretched out but since the stages in Donkey Kong Junior have more to do with moving horizontally than vertically, the change in perspective doesn't seem as drastic as it did with Donkey Kong.  Changes in platform spacing are negligible and the basics of each stage are recreated pretty much verbatim.  Player and enemy characters are squished and stretched as well but again not as heavily as in the previous game's NES recreation.  In this writer's opinion the sound is actually better on the NES than it was in the arcade with clearer sound effects and cleaner music.  Over all the sound package just seems tighter and more refined on the NES hardware as opposed to the original hardware.  Directional control is mapped to the directional pad and the A button is used for jump, perfect controls as with the previous game.

While the graphics are good and the audio is superb there are some tradeoffs when it comes to the core gameplay.  Where the NES port of the original Donkey Kong felt like it played slower than the original, Donkey Kong Junior feels like it plays faster than its arcade counterpart.  Junior's movements seem faster and more precise on the NES than they did in the arcade with quicker reactions when moving between vines and making jumps.  On the flip side enemies and platforms seem to move slower on the NES version than on the original arcade game.  Faster movements from Junior and slower movements from hazards mean the NES version is far easier to progress in than the arcade original.  In a vast improvement over the previous game all four boards are included: vines, jumpboard, hideout, and chains.  However the order of the stages between the original and home conversion are completely different as before.  In the NES version all four stages loop in order where in the arcade a stage is added to the sequence after each completion of the chain stage, starting with just vines and chains.  The little intermission sequences are missing in the NES version, these include the introduction of Donkey Kong being pulled up in his cage and Mario pushing Donkey Kong away upon completion of each area, with the exception of the chains stage.  The ending sequence that plays after the completion of each chain stage has been compressed and is shorter on the NES than it originally was in the arcade.  The chain stage is also slightly different on the NES as Donkey Kong doesn't progressively break free of his binds as each key is pushed up the chains into a lock as in the arcade.

Personally I've always felt that the original arcade Donkey Kong Junior was one of the most difficult classic arcade platformers ever created.  The reduction in the speed of enemies and increase in the speed and responsiveness of Junior makes the NES game far easier for newcomers to pick up and play.  Even on the more difficult "Game B" mode the NES version still plays smoother and easier than the original, granted the second game mode does a lot to close the gap between the arcade and home difficulty.  The solid gameplay, great sound, beautifully detailed graphics and familiar characters go a long way to make this one of the premier arcade to NES conversions out there.  As I noted in the previous issue of Retrogaming Times Monthly, this game is included along with the original Donkey Kong in the Donkey Kong Classics compilation cartridge.  The dual game Donkey Kong Classics cartridge is a must have for any NES library.
 

"InsaneDavid" also runs a slowly growing gaming site at http://www.classicplastic.net/dvgi

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