Donkey Kong (Game Boy)

Donkey Kong
Also known as: Game Boy Donkey Kong (title screen) Developers: Nintendo EAD, Pax Softnica Publisher: Nintendo Platforms: Game Boy, Super Game Boy Released in JP: June 14, 1994 Released in US: June 21, 1994 Released in EU: September 29, 1994 This game has unused areas. This game has unused code. This game has unused sounds. This game has a prerelease article

The Game Boy Donkey Kong is the precursor to the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series. Grab keys, open doors, throw barrels at monkeys and vice versa. Notably, this was one of the final times people would see "classic" Donkey Kong before Rare rebooted the franchise later that year, with a bit of foreshadowing being sprinkled in by giving the titular ape his soon-to-be-signature tie.

There are several surprises to be found when playing this game using a Super Game Boy.

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Prerelease Info

Odd Stage Option

This stage option appears directly after the 9-5 option. Selecting it effectively freezes the game.

Unused Stages

Game Genie codes 3E4-F3D-081 ??4-F4D-4CE 004-F5D-C49 (where "??" is one of the below IDs) will send you to that stage when you try to enter Stage 1-1. To actually play the stage, be sure to die on Stage 1-1 once before turning on the codes.

Stage 65

Identical to Stage 9-9, with two exceptions. The first is the Rappy enemy circling the middle platform.

The second is this odd counter. It displays how many times in the game you've hit an object while doing a handstand.

Stages 66-67

Like stage 65, but with two Rappies. In stage 67 the two Rappies move faster.

Stage 68

An odd hybrid of stages. The layout is from Stage 0-1 (25m), but the level graphics are from Stage 9-5.

Interestingly, if the same stage is accessed from World 9 (by using the Game Genie codes above, but using a saved game that has already reached World 9 and entering a World 9 stage with these codes enabled), certain behavior differs. The stage starts immediately without Pauline's (misplaced) cry for help, and if the stage is completed Donkey Kong actually reacts to Mario reaching him... in the same way as Stage 0-1! This does not occur when the stage is accessed from any other World, and may suggest this stage was originally intended to be played from World 9, possibly being an early version of Stage 9-5 (which in the final game is a more arcade-accurate version of 25m).

Stages 69-FF

A near-barren stage that takes up the remaining stage ID slots.

Unused Sound

To do: Rip it.

There is an unused medium explosion SOUND 410C0088 command in all versions, located at 0x078100. This could have been used anywhere, although it would have likely been during the boss battles when Donkey Kong stomps the ground making objects fall, or when Giant Donkey Kong slams his fists in the final battle.

Game Genie code 027-71C-916 will replace the SOUND 4180808C loaded shortly after booting up.