ULTIMATE GUIDEC
DONKEY KONG 3
NINTENDO HAS CREATED MANY MEMORABLE VIDEOGAME HEROES: MARIO, LUIGI, LINK… STANLEY THE BUGMAN? JOIN US AS WE DISCOVER HOW THE POOR PEST CONTROLLER OUSTED MARIO FROM THE THIRD DONKEY KONG ARCADE GAME – AND NEVER WORKED IN THIS TOWN AGAIN
WORDS BY MARTYN CARROLL
BEESPY
To
say that Donkey Kong 3 deviated from the first two games would be an understatement of gorilla-sized proportions. The platforming antics were out, replaced by an unsubtle shooter where newcomer Stanley has to blast waves of insects and repel Donkey Kong (who’s randomly descending the screen on vines, because DK does what he wants basically). Some have labelled it the ‘unkong’ game, on account of it intentionally disrupting a winning formula, and not necessarily for the better.
Second-guessing designer Shigeru Miyamoto is a foolish endeavour, but let’s consider that Donkey Kong 3 was primarily sold as a conversion kit for existing Nintendo cabs. If an arcade operator was looking to refresh a tired Donkey Kong machine would they want another platformer? And if they did, Miyamoto had that covered with another kit, a little something called Mario Bros. The tactic seemed to work. When the game debuted at the AMOA (Amusement & Music Operators Association) trade show in New Orleans in October 1983, Gene Lewin of the Play Meter industry mag recommended it as a “good investment” for arcade operators. “When converted, Donkey Kong 3 looks just like a brandnew game,” he wrote. “So much for the idea that conversions mean inferior games.” He did have one reservation though. “It has three scenes, but they are not as different from each other as they were in the earlier Donkey Kong games.”
STANLEY
This was a valid point. The first two games each had four scenes, and while they weren’t given official names by Nintendo, they featured enough unique elements to earn affectionate nicknames from fans – pie factory, rivet stage, springboard stage etc. In the third game the scenes are so similar that the key distinguishing feature is the colour of the platform at the bottom of the screen, hence they’re commonly known as blue, grey and gold. There’s no unfolding plot this time around either. Previously Mario was rescuing Pauline and Junior was saving his ‘papa’, whereas now you’re simply instructed to ‘spray Donkey Kong to the top’. This requires a little context. It seems that DK is looking to return to nature and has taken up residence inside Stanley’s greenhouse. Armed with your spray gun, you complete each round by either blasting DK to the top of the screen or destroying all of the insects which DK sends swarming down on you.