Some arcade games make it past location testing without issue; occasionally they need some tuning, or a redesign, but nothing prohibitive. Others fail to meet expectations and get canned. A select few survive this stage despite not passing muster, and that's possibly what happened with Donkey Kong 3. It's a sad yet mundane story of a product unable to meet (let alone surpass) its precursors, all the while eclipsed by the genre competitors it was aping.
Our tale begins further back than the original Donkey Kong, however, as this sequel owes much more to Nintendo's ill-fated vertical shooters of the time, particularly Radar Scope and Space Firebird. Both ancestors offered technically competent but uninteresting variations on the ubiquitous Space Invaders formula. To the latter's credit, the developers had a solid grasp on sound and graphical feedback by this point, with players feeling that crunchy impact while mowing down alien hordes. But the lack of risk-reward features like the degrading shields in Taito's game, or the cleverly evolving raid and bullet patterns of Galaga a bit later, meant that these post-Sheriff shooters were just too spare and derivative to stand out. I can definitely see why Nintendo's last attempt to break into the shooter market went for a mix of platforming, puzzling, and blaster action. And they would have had a winner if not for some critical problems in the pernicious primate's latest title.
The dastardly donk's back at it again…in a greenhouse? I suppose it's better than Congo Bongo's colonialist chase through the jungles. Genyo Takeda and Shigeru Miyamoto help provide the customary trappings of an early-'80s Nintendo arcade release, with fairly responsive controls accompanied by a very readable set of graphics. I rarely struggle to figure out what's happening on-screen even way late into a playthrough, and the SFX ring clearly in my ears. Nothing here feels like an evolution beyond Donkey Kong Jr., though. The likes of SEGA and Namco were already starting to produce more audiovisually stimulating stuff like the former's DK clone and the latter's Mappy. Also lacking here is much of the series' humor—the most I can recall is my amusement whenever DK gets his head stuck in the beehive. It's a rather sober outing for not-Mario vs. not-Kong, contrary to expectations that these developers had previously set. I'd be fine with all this if the game design itself was strong, but, well…
Simply put, the game's a bit too easy, with its difficulty level evolving mainly from faster attacks and a few additional enemy types. Our protagonist Stanley may have a measly little pesticide pump to work with, but the admittedly clever goal of scaring DK to the top means it's possible to ignore the bugs and just go for broke. Arguably the most fun I can have with Donkey Kong 3 is exactly that: speedrunning each board to get as high a time bonus as possible, ensuring I can regularly extend my lives. That sounds fun on paper; now imagine this game throwing you a frequent gun power-up which trivializes combat entirely. Sure, you have to actually lose a life for the upgrade to reappear, and there's still some hits on DK to go before it tumbles. But the relative ease of getting 1-ups via fast stage clears means it's often too easy to get this item. One has to play several stages before there's much threat of bees successfully stealing away with your flowers…which means perfect bonuses become a formality rather than a reward. Combine all these flaws and we've got a game loop which struggles to encourage more skillful play and leads to unsatisfying high-score runs.
The echoes of mediocre starfighting action from Nintendo's pre-Donkey Kong bombs reverberate throughout this final numbered entry, contrary to the heights their R&D teams would reach via many Family Computer releases to come. I feel bad for Genyo Takeda especially since he's so often singled out as the one responsible for playable yet dismal software such as this. To me, it doesn't seem as though releases like this suffered from a lack of foresight, ambition, or no-nonsense design. He later directed the StarTropics games, simultaneously within Nintendo's house style and quite distinct from anything Miyamoto's crew were involved with. (Let's also remember that Miyamoto was involved with Donkey Kong 3, yet the besmirchment's sent elsewhere.) Something managed to go wrong with each and every one of the company's arcade shooters, regardless of circumstances, and it's no surprise that they later played it safe with Solar Striker. If there's anything I'll give Donkey Kong 3 credit for, it's that shooting-heavy action platformers were a rarity in 1983. Add this distinction to the game's brand power and I'm unsurprised that it still sold reasonably well to arcade operators in Japan, no matter the lack of staying power. Still, I'd rather play Moon Patrol; even the best PCBs of '83 struggled to match that one in quality and replayability.
Save for its quick appearance on the Famicom, Donkey Kong 3 fell into footnote status much quicker than the average Nintendo hit of the time, and I attribute that to its shortcomings more than just its small delights. There's still a competent action game in here whenever you're unable to immediately trivialize a stage. I had fun timing my shots to avoid blocking myself with stunned snakes. The way Stanley gets wiped out by an ambush of insects is morbidly amusing. And while it becomes too damn straightforward after 15 minutes, I hardly mind this kind of accessible arcade experience after playing some of the period's more punishing stuff. But in exchange for that ease of completion, I expect way more variation in levels, enemy characteristics, and types of traps to deal with. It's because the game settles for so much less than it promises that I can't help but rate it so low. And as 1984's catalog would show, Nintendo themselves knew that the future belonged to increasingly complex and extensible game loops, even for cartridges as constrained as Excitebike. (Hell, it's a wonder that Takeda's own Sky Skipper gets more retrospective praise than anyone ever expected.) In the end, this gassed-up-the-ass gorilla had reached the end of his usefulness; it would take something altogether new and wild to bring back the beast.
Our tale begins further back than the original Donkey Kong, however, as this sequel owes much more to Nintendo's ill-fated vertical shooters of the time, particularly Radar Scope and Space Firebird. Both ancestors offered technically competent but uninteresting variations on the ubiquitous Space Invaders formula. To the latter's credit, the developers had a solid grasp on sound and graphical feedback by this point, with players feeling that crunchy impact while mowing down alien hordes. But the lack of risk-reward features like the degrading shields in Taito's game, or the cleverly evolving raid and bullet patterns of Galaga a bit later, meant that these post-Sheriff shooters were just too spare and derivative to stand out. I can definitely see why Nintendo's last attempt to break into the shooter market went for a mix of platforming, puzzling, and blaster action. And they would have had a winner if not for some critical problems in the pernicious primate's latest title.
The dastardly donk's back at it again…in a greenhouse? I suppose it's better than Congo Bongo's colonialist chase through the jungles. Genyo Takeda and Shigeru Miyamoto help provide the customary trappings of an early-'80s Nintendo arcade release, with fairly responsive controls accompanied by a very readable set of graphics. I rarely struggle to figure out what's happening on-screen even way late into a playthrough, and the SFX ring clearly in my ears. Nothing here feels like an evolution beyond Donkey Kong Jr., though. The likes of SEGA and Namco were already starting to produce more audiovisually stimulating stuff like the former's DK clone and the latter's Mappy. Also lacking here is much of the series' humor—the most I can recall is my amusement whenever DK gets his head stuck in the beehive. It's a rather sober outing for not-Mario vs. not-Kong, contrary to expectations that these developers had previously set. I'd be fine with all this if the game design itself was strong, but, well…
Simply put, the game's a bit too easy, with its difficulty level evolving mainly from faster attacks and a few additional enemy types. Our protagonist Stanley may have a measly little pesticide pump to work with, but the admittedly clever goal of scaring DK to the top means it's possible to ignore the bugs and just go for broke. Arguably the most fun I can have with Donkey Kong 3 is exactly that: speedrunning each board to get as high a time bonus as possible, ensuring I can regularly extend my lives. That sounds fun on paper; now imagine this game throwing you a frequent gun power-up which trivializes combat entirely. Sure, you have to actually lose a life for the upgrade to reappear, and there's still some hits on DK to go before it tumbles. But the relative ease of getting 1-ups via fast stage clears means it's often too easy to get this item. One has to play several stages before there's much threat of bees successfully stealing away with your flowers…which means perfect bonuses become a formality rather than a reward. Combine all these flaws and we've got a game loop which struggles to encourage more skillful play and leads to unsatisfying high-score runs.
The echoes of mediocre starfighting action from Nintendo's pre-Donkey Kong bombs reverberate throughout this final numbered entry, contrary to the heights their R&D teams would reach via many Family Computer releases to come. I feel bad for Genyo Takeda especially since he's so often singled out as the one responsible for playable yet dismal software such as this. To me, it doesn't seem as though releases like this suffered from a lack of foresight, ambition, or no-nonsense design. He later directed the StarTropics games, simultaneously within Nintendo's house style and quite distinct from anything Miyamoto's crew were involved with. (Let's also remember that Miyamoto was involved with Donkey Kong 3, yet the besmirchment's sent elsewhere.) Something managed to go wrong with each and every one of the company's arcade shooters, regardless of circumstances, and it's no surprise that they later played it safe with Solar Striker. If there's anything I'll give Donkey Kong 3 credit for, it's that shooting-heavy action platformers were a rarity in 1983. Add this distinction to the game's brand power and I'm unsurprised that it still sold reasonably well to arcade operators in Japan, no matter the lack of staying power. Still, I'd rather play Moon Patrol; even the best PCBs of '83 struggled to match that one in quality and replayability.
Save for its quick appearance on the Famicom, Donkey Kong 3 fell into footnote status much quicker than the average Nintendo hit of the time, and I attribute that to its shortcomings more than just its small delights. There's still a competent action game in here whenever you're unable to immediately trivialize a stage. I had fun timing my shots to avoid blocking myself with stunned snakes. The way Stanley gets wiped out by an ambush of insects is morbidly amusing. And while it becomes too damn straightforward after 15 minutes, I hardly mind this kind of accessible arcade experience after playing some of the period's more punishing stuff. But in exchange for that ease of completion, I expect way more variation in levels, enemy characteristics, and types of traps to deal with. It's because the game settles for so much less than it promises that I can't help but rate it so low. And as 1984's catalog would show, Nintendo themselves knew that the future belonged to increasingly complex and extensible game loops, even for cartridges as constrained as Excitebike. (Hell, it's a wonder that Takeda's own Sky Skipper gets more retrospective praise than anyone ever expected.) In the end, this gassed-up-the-ass gorilla had reached the end of his usefulness; it would take something altogether new and wild to bring back the beast.
Uma sequência bem não-ortodoxa, para dizer o mínimo. O que por si só não é ruim! Transformar Donkey Kong num shmup pode não ser lá muito intuitivo, mas se bem feito, não haveria problemas!
Fica a questão, então: o resultado é bem feito? Eu diria que quase. A ideia é legal, o visual condizente coma a franquia e época e tudo bem charmosinho. Entretanto, o game tem a falha crítica de ter um ritmo/curva de dificuldade muito mal balanceada que rapidamente o torna num arcade bem estressante. Se esforçar para dominar um jogo e morrer diversas vezes vem com o território, mas deixar o jogador sem nem perspectiva de como diabos poderia ter sobrevivido não. Depois de meros 15 minutinhos já fiquei fadigado com o game, o que nunca é um bom sinal para um arcade.
Fica a questão, então: o resultado é bem feito? Eu diria que quase. A ideia é legal, o visual condizente coma a franquia e época e tudo bem charmosinho. Entretanto, o game tem a falha crítica de ter um ritmo/curva de dificuldade muito mal balanceada que rapidamente o torna num arcade bem estressante. Se esforçar para dominar um jogo e morrer diversas vezes vem com o território, mas deixar o jogador sem nem perspectiva de como diabos poderia ter sobrevivido não. Depois de meros 15 minutinhos já fiquei fadigado com o game, o que nunca é um bom sinal para um arcade.
It sucks but i kinda like it
Motherfuckers told me this was a shmup to make me play it, well it kinda is and it fucking blows.
You shoot DK in the ass with bug repellent.
This is a peculiar one. Donkey Kong being a mildly obnoxious obstacle is the only reason this is even called a DK game- otherwise its just a really weird Space Invaders/ Galaga knockoff. There are no barrels, bananas, Mario... but honestly that isn't a bad thing. At this point in time the Donkey Kong franchise was known for being experimental and inconsistent, much like most major series at the time, such as Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda.
It's cool to see Nintendo try their hand at an upwards shooter/ defense game, and the skin of being an exterminator, shooting down bugs and snakes while being berated by a flipping GORILLA is just wacky enough to be charming.
Really though, there's very little reason to play this game. The NES version has two- count 'em- TWO stages that cycle with minor variations, and the enemy variety is really piss-poor. I will give credit where credit is due however, the multitasking that you have to do with guarding the flowers, keeping DK at bay and managing the oncoming bug and snake waves is pretty satisfying, I just wish it was placed in a more robust and mechanically interesting package.
It's cool to see Nintendo try their hand at an upwards shooter/ defense game, and the skin of being an exterminator, shooting down bugs and snakes while being berated by a flipping GORILLA is just wacky enough to be charming.
Really though, there's very little reason to play this game. The NES version has two- count 'em- TWO stages that cycle with minor variations, and the enemy variety is really piss-poor. I will give credit where credit is due however, the multitasking that you have to do with guarding the flowers, keeping DK at bay and managing the oncoming bug and snake waves is pretty satisfying, I just wish it was placed in a more robust and mechanically interesting package.
What an odd game. It doesn't really make any effort to expand upon the first two, instead choosing to do it's own thing. Spraying Donkey Kong's balls is weird, and the bugs can be relentless. I don't really like this one, but it can be fun for brief spurts. 2/6
Another case of an arcade game sequel being an extreme departure from previous entries, but unlike with Dig Dug where you could still see a lot of similarities if you just squinted a bit, the only thing this has in common with previous titles are that it's a video game and that there's a giant ape. This is more akin to a fixed shooter like Space Invaders than the platforming gauntlets you'd expect, and while on its own this would be absolutely no problem at all, given the way so many of these arcade series ended up changing things up to make it feel worth getting a grip on a whole new game to sink your coins into, what really becomes a problem is that the game itself also really sucks. The biggest problem I have is the strong imbalance between how readily you can handle what's thrown at you depending on whether you have one specific powerup, but neither state providing anything even resembling a middle ground.
Either you pathetically fire away with your basic sprayer which deals with everything at such a slow pace that it's almost impossible to both consistently keep shooting Donkey Kong while also keeping the swarms of enemies at bay, or you get the powerup and are able to spam away and beat stages in 5 - 10 seconds without moving from your starting location. In either case it just doesn't feel at all engaging to mess around with and it feels like it lacks this underlying sense of concrete strategy that can be learned with enough practice, always feeling a bit stupid to deal with at even the best of times. The stage progression is also rather unfortunate in the way that it focuses more heavily on adding new enemy types rather than focusing more heavily on potential level layouts to explore. This is mainly a problem because even the basic waves of enemies feel pretty intense and erratic to deal with, with the stages themselves being extremely simple and almost unchanging.
By adding new stage layouts that are subtly different in a number of ways, it could recontextualise even these basic enemies and craft a far less repetitive experience compared to focusing on introducing new enemies that functionally feel basically the same anyway, all of them being erratic flying menaces that you can never quite get the pattern down for. This would also lead to a far smoother difficulty curve where the player could have a bit more breathing room compared to the mountainous spikes that occur whenever you start a new stage. Overall I kinda like what the idea was here, turning every level into a pseudo-boss fight while also defending against hordes of other enemies, creating a neat balancing act where attention has to be paid to both elements to succeed. Unfortunately though, as is, it's an absolute pain to get anything done in it and is either far too unforgiving and chaotic, or too braindead and easy to really feel like you're accomplishing anything.
Either you pathetically fire away with your basic sprayer which deals with everything at such a slow pace that it's almost impossible to both consistently keep shooting Donkey Kong while also keeping the swarms of enemies at bay, or you get the powerup and are able to spam away and beat stages in 5 - 10 seconds without moving from your starting location. In either case it just doesn't feel at all engaging to mess around with and it feels like it lacks this underlying sense of concrete strategy that can be learned with enough practice, always feeling a bit stupid to deal with at even the best of times. The stage progression is also rather unfortunate in the way that it focuses more heavily on adding new enemy types rather than focusing more heavily on potential level layouts to explore. This is mainly a problem because even the basic waves of enemies feel pretty intense and erratic to deal with, with the stages themselves being extremely simple and almost unchanging.
By adding new stage layouts that are subtly different in a number of ways, it could recontextualise even these basic enemies and craft a far less repetitive experience compared to focusing on introducing new enemies that functionally feel basically the same anyway, all of them being erratic flying menaces that you can never quite get the pattern down for. This would also lead to a far smoother difficulty curve where the player could have a bit more breathing room compared to the mountainous spikes that occur whenever you start a new stage. Overall I kinda like what the idea was here, turning every level into a pseudo-boss fight while also defending against hordes of other enemies, creating a neat balancing act where attention has to be paid to both elements to succeed. Unfortunately though, as is, it's an absolute pain to get anything done in it and is either far too unforgiving and chaotic, or too braindead and easy to really feel like you're accomplishing anything.
If it wasn't for the presence of the big ape himself, along with the title of the game, you can barely tell that this is a Donkey Kong game. It is so vastly different compared to the last two games in terms of plot (or lack thereof), gameplay and characters. Although, that isn't all that bad, as the graphics are fine, the music is fine, and I don't really hate the characters in the game. The gameplay is where things go south, as it is very repetitive, which you could say about the last two games as well, but at least they had varied level design, while this one barely changes anything in between them. Not to mention, it is piss easy, as if you get going immediately upon the stage starting, you will easily spray Donkey Kong up to the top in 2-3 seconds. Not even joking. Overall, while I wouldn't say this is a bad game, it's not really that memorable either. And be honest, who even remembers who the he'll Stanley the Bugman is?
Game #14
Game #14
Why the hell is this in the 100 worst games of all time on this website lmao, sure its a mid arcade game but don't diss my man stanley like that
Who the hell is this
This game is Tiger Electronic levels of bad. By the standards of its time. It does not deserve to exist. Its awful
actually worse than the original donkey kong. literally what the hell is the point of this game. theres like nothing to it. its so easy to cheese. bruh.
This game's ok. I prefer playing it over the original and DK Junior but that isn't really saying much.
Popeye Space Invaders
In an alternate universe, Donkey Kong 3 and Stanley the Bug Man skyrocket in popularity instead of the series' first entry. Soon after this game, we're introduced to Stanley's brother, Eugene, in 1984's "Stanley Bros". In 1986, "Super Stanley Bros" solidifies Stanley as Nintendo's mascot, who proceeds to star in the classic titles "Super Stanley World", "Super Stanley Sunshine", and "Super Stanley Odyssey". Donkey Kong becomes known for releasing hostile insects rather than barrels, leading to a significantly different version of "Donkey Kong Country".
Donkey Kong 3… what the meh?
First of the title, where the hell is Donkey Kong 2??? Donkey Kong 3 feels unnatural, like I feel violated just reading the title of Donkey Kong 3, it feels weird.
That’s how I can describe this game, it’s just weird man. New Protagonist named Stanley, he’s fucking boring glad he’s never seen the light of day again, so Donkey Kong has broken into a Greenhouse and it’s our job to stop him, It’s so weird, at this point Mario was stopping Koopas in the sewers but like, could they not have used Mario? What was the constraints here.
Anyway, uh this game is fucking boring, despite the decent graphics and Music. You spray Donkey Kong in the ass and a few insects with an power up and Bonus Flowers that give you extra points, I will admit, there’s a bigger arsenal of enemies than ever before in these games but the gameplay itself is monotonous, at the very least the other 2 Arcade games had some variety but you’ll experience the entire game in 5 Minutes.
Well, that’s all the Arcade games done, finally we can get to the good stuff, now we wonder where did the Mario Bros go after they stomped the hell out of the Koopas?
First of the title, where the hell is Donkey Kong 2??? Donkey Kong 3 feels unnatural, like I feel violated just reading the title of Donkey Kong 3, it feels weird.
That’s how I can describe this game, it’s just weird man. New Protagonist named Stanley, he’s fucking boring glad he’s never seen the light of day again, so Donkey Kong has broken into a Greenhouse and it’s our job to stop him, It’s so weird, at this point Mario was stopping Koopas in the sewers but like, could they not have used Mario? What was the constraints here.
Anyway, uh this game is fucking boring, despite the decent graphics and Music. You spray Donkey Kong in the ass and a few insects with an power up and Bonus Flowers that give you extra points, I will admit, there’s a bigger arsenal of enemies than ever before in these games but the gameplay itself is monotonous, at the very least the other 2 Arcade games had some variety but you’ll experience the entire game in 5 Minutes.
Well, that’s all the Arcade games done, finally we can get to the good stuff, now we wonder where did the Mario Bros go after they stomped the hell out of the Koopas?
Honestly Nintendo; what happened to Stanley
I have no idea who I was playing as or what I was doing but somehow I beat it
I'm not deep into Donkey Kong lore pre-DK 64 and I haven't played the two previous games, so I don't know who this Stanley dude is. However, I do know that if Stanley just focuses on shooting DK 95% of the time, his greenhouse will be at peace in no time. I'm also a big fan of the greenhouse being the damsel in distress this time around.
(Chosen from backlog using a random number generator)
(Chosen from backlog using a random number generator)
The problem isn't that it lacks Mario. The problem is levels are too easy to finish with high scores, and in general by just blitzing DK, and that almost no levels make it boring. Especially because the levels barely matter on a non-speedrun most of the time. Too primitive to say much more, play Space Invaders if you want this kind of game.
Pros: Really fun action of dodging projectiles and shooting incoming bugs and critters, as well as DK's rump! It's a decent mix of vertical shooter and platformer, and in the arcade especially, it can be pretty exciting! Great presentation in the arcade version too, much higher quality than the NES counterpart.
Cons: A far more limiting experience than either previous DK arcade games. It's just not as fun as pure platforming. DK himself feels kind of like an afterthought in this compared to the prior two games.
What it means to me: Took me a long time to even find out this game existed at all, and when I did, I was perplexed by it! Didn't properly play it until adulthood, where I enjoyed it at a great arcade spot, and now I really do appreciate it.
Cons: A far more limiting experience than either previous DK arcade games. It's just not as fun as pure platforming. DK himself feels kind of like an afterthought in this compared to the prior two games.
What it means to me: Took me a long time to even find out this game existed at all, and when I did, I was perplexed by it! Didn't properly play it until adulthood, where I enjoyed it at a great arcade spot, and now I really do appreciate it.
does anyone even actually like this one?
Talvez o jogo mais curioso a carregar o nome do famoso gorila, uma vez que o jogo é praticamente um shoot'em up fixo. Conceitualmente muito interessante mas não achei particularmente muito divertido, já que a única variação no desafio é abarrotar a tela com mais e mais inimigos até o pobre Stanley the Bugman ser devorado por uma nuvem de insetos bizarros.
I appreciate Nintendo's attempt at doing something different with the third game, but blowing literal smoke up DK's ass isn't it for me. On its own merits, it works fine, but the lack of much variation in the levels and the very simplistic shooting mechanic didn't bring anything interesting to the table. Unique for the sake of being unique isn't automatically good.
After two classic arcade platformers, Nintendo decided the third entry should involve Donkey Kong tormenting a bug man, who has to fight him and all the bugs in a manner similar to a shmup. It's...okay, I guess, more of a curiosity than the classics that the original and Jr. were.
The weakest of the arcade trio. It's okay, but pretty easy. Strays away from its older brothers' platforming innovation. I do not get how the logical progression of the first two games is "some guy shoots bug spray up Donkey Kong's butt". The bug spray upgrade is way overpowered compared to the original game's hammer. I guess it's interesting, getting SHMUP gameplay into the Donkey Kong series?
DK3 takes a sharp right turn from DK and DK Jr. and ends up basically being a shmup. It's still pretty fun but it doesn't have much weight in video-game history.
3.5 - Good: Good but not a standout
3.5 - Good: Good but not a standout
Guess Mario too busy
Was kinda surprised to see this game ranked so low; It's honestly my favorite out of the original DK trilogy. I get the departure from the previous two games feeling off, but this one still stands well on its own merits.