Donkey Kong, Jr. is a 1982 platform video game by Nintendo. It first appeared in arcades, and, over the course of the 1980s, was later released for a variety of platforms, most notably the Nintendo Entertainment System. Donkey Kong, Jr. is the North American arcade version and various ports to non-Nintendo systems. Its eponymous star, Donkey Kong, Jr., also called simply Junior or abbreviated as DK Jr., is trying to rescue his father, Donkey Kong, who has been imprisoned. Donkey Kong’s cage is guarded by Mario, in his only appearance as an antagonist in a Nintendo video game. This game is the sequel to the video game Donkey Kong, which featured Mario as the hero and Junior’s father as the villain (while in this game, it’s the other way around). Mario has captured Donkey Kong and placed him in a cage as punishment for kidnapping his girlfriend, Pauline. Donkey Kong, Jr. must rescue his father from Mario by working his way through a series of stages. Mario attempts to stop DK, Jr. by releasing animals and putting obstacles in his way. When Junior succeeds at the final level, Donkey Kong is freed and kicks Mario into the distance, leaving him to an unknown fate. Like its Donkey Kong predecessor, Donkey Kong Jr. is an arcade-style platform game. There are a total of four stages, each with a unique theme. DK, Jr. can run left and right, jump, and grab vines/chains/ropes to climb higher on the screen. He can slide down faster by holding only one vine or climb faster by holding two. Enemies include “snapjaws,” which resemble bear traps with eyes, bird-like creatures called “nitpickers”, and “sparks” that roam across the wiring in one of Mario’s hideouts.
To pass the first three stages, DK, Jr. must reach the key at the top. In the fourth stage, Junior must push six keys into locks near the top of the stage to free Donkey Kong. After a brief cut scene, the player is taken back to the first stage at an increased difficulty. Junior loses a life when he touches any enemy or projectile, falls too great a distance, or falls off the bottom of the screen. Additionally, he loses a life if the timer counts down to zero. The game ends when the player loses all of his or her lives.
