Donkey Kong Guide (GBA)
by KeeperBvK aka Burkhart von Klitzing
Contact: KeeperBvK@web.de
Dedication: I dedicate this work to my beloved dad who passed away on the
07/13/2005.
I always loved you and I always will. Thank you so much for the
time we had.
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0.1 Legal Stuff
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This Guide may not be posted on any other website other than
www.gamefaqs.com
www.gamerhelp.com
www.honestgamers.com
without my permission and it may not be used commercially in any possible way.
If you want to post it on another site please contact me via E-Mail or via
the Message Board.
Do not claim this guide or any part of it to be your creation.
If you find any mistakes (even regarding the language as I'm German) please
let me know.
Copyright 2007 Burkhart von Klitzing
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0.2 Version History
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1.00: Finished on 01/07/2006, 17 KB large
- Maybe at some point in the future I'll include a special section for the
various hazards of the game or for the characters, but as of now, this guide
is complete.
1.01: Finished on 01/10/2006, 17 KB large
- Ok, so there is an update and in fact it came pretty shortly after the
first release. ^^ Only thing I did was to correct a layout issue in the
contents section.
1.02: Finished on 02/23/2006, 18 KB large
- Experimental got its own section.
- Revamped the layout.
- Added Search Keys.
- Improved the contents section.
1.05: Finished on 03/16/2006, 18 KB large
- Added a question to the FAQ.
1.05: Finished on 05/13/2006, 18 KB large
- Added www.gamerhelp.com.
1.06: Finished on 03/12/2007, 18 KB large
- Added www.honestgamers.com.
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0.3 Contents
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Latest Update | Search Key |
------------------------|---------------|------------|
0.1 Legal Stuff | 1.06 | |
0.2 Version History | 1.06 | |
0.3 Contents | 1.06 | |
------------------------|---------------|------------|
1. What is Donkey Kong? | 1.0 | AAA |
2. Controls | 1.0 | BBB |
3. Walkthrough | 1.0 | CCC |
4. Scoring | 1.0 | DDD |
5. FAQ | 1.05 | EEE |
6. Highscores | 1.0 | FFF |
------------------------|---------------|------------|
7. Closing Comments | 1.02 | GGG |
8. Experimental | 1.02 | HHH |
------------------------|---------------|------------|
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1. What is Donkey Kong? AAA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Donkey Kong is the very first game ever created by designer-mastermind
Shigeru Miyamoto, now being re-re-re-and so on-leased on the GBA after
various versions on the NES, the Arcades, home computers, the E-Reader, etc.
All versions basically play the same, with the only real difference being the
lack of a fourth level on every Nintendo platform (except for Donkey Kong '94
on the GB). You are Jumpman, later on renamed Mario, star of numerous new
games for decades, trying to rescue Pauline from the giant ape going mad for
whatever reason. Although you might consider DK a Jump 'n Run, it resembles
Yoshi Touch & Go more than any real Jump 'n Run of today. There is no end to
the game, besides when dying and the main aspect is to get as far as possible,
racking up lots of points.
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2. Controls BBB
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_
_| |_
|_ _| The Control Pad: Move left or right, or climb up or down a ladder
|_|
The A button: Jump
The Start button: Pause the game
Select: Select a Game Mode on the Title Screen
The L and R button: Press both at the same time to open up the GBA-exclusive
menu
Press Select, R and L to exit Sleep Mode
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. Walkthrough CCC
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Explanation of abbreviations:
DK = Donkey Kong
P = Pauline
H = Hammer
J = Jumpman
U = Umbrella
Pu = Purse
F = Flame
________
Level 1:|
|| ||
_ _ || ||
(_)(_) DK || ||____________
(_)(_) ||P_|| ||
................||..||......____||
H || ''''''......______
|| ||
|| ____
||__________............''''''
______......''||'' ||
|| ||
____ || ||
''''''......__||__
|| ''''''||''''........||..______
H || ||
|| || ||________
|| ||____......''''''
______......||....''||''
|| ||
|| ||
''''''''''............__||__
|| ''''''------......______
___ ||
|OIL| || ||
______|___|J__________||______............------------''''''
Donkey Kong awaits at the top of this level and he's not eager to let you
join him. First of all he throws down a barrel straight into the oil can,
creating a flame that can move into all directions, so don't waste any time
and start running to the right-most ladder. Donkey Kong also rolls down a lot
more barrels which will either follow the whole path or take random shortcuts
at the ladders. Unfortunately you cannot climb up the broken ladders, but the
barrels can move down them. At least you can use them to climb up into a
somewhat safe position. A rarely used, but very dangerous attack by DK is to
throw a barrel diagonally. While this even grants you a little break when
being on the right side of the level, it can be extremely unfair when
climbing up the fourth ladder. Basically all you can do against this is to
hope for the best.
The first two ladders should be easy to climb up. Afterwards check if an
obstacle has already come near the upper end of the third ladder. If one has,
climb up a bit and wait for the barrel to pass, otherwise just climb up
quickly and dodge any barrels. Close in on the next ladder, jump over any
hazards coming your way and wait for a good moment to get to the ladder and
to climb it up. This moment should be when there is no barrel on the level
above you, that could roll down the ladder, but most often you need to wait
for a moment when there is only one barrel near-by and hope for it not to
come down while you are climbing up. If you want to take your time and play
it safe, move on to the ladder on the left, get up there and grab the hammer
to reach the fifth ladder. Again, don't step right under it yet, but wait for
the area above to become safe. Climb up, go to the very last ladder and
rescue Pauline...well, nearly. ^^
Ignore the first hammer as it is too far off the way.
________
Level 2:|
|| ||
|| ||
DK || ||____________
||P_|| ||
________________||__||__________||________
|__| |__| ||
| | || __Pu
| | || ____ ||
| | ||__ ||
| | ______ ||
_U____ | ________ | || ||
|| | || || | || _F____||__
|| | || || | || ||
|| | || || | || ||
|| | || || | ||__ ||
|| | || || | ____ ||
|| | || || | ||__
____|| | || || | ____
|| | || || | ||
|| | ||F_|| | __||__
|| | | ____
|| | | ____
_J||__ | | ______
_| _|
__________|__|____________|__|______________________________
In this stage Donkey Kong substitutes the barrels for springboards, which
should be way easier for you to avoid and in fact the whole level is easier
than the first one.
Get up to the highest platform, pick up the umbrella and wait for the flame
on your right to climb down the ladder (How can it actually climb? We'll
never know.). Now wait for a girder to be just below or right on your level.
Jump onto it and then onto the next platform where you wait for a girder to
be slightly above or on your level before hopping onto it. Go down until your
girder is just next to the static platform on the right. Wait on the second
platform here until a springboard reaches the bottom. Now reach the ladder,
climb up and again, wait for a springboard to come past before moving on. If
the near-by flame is on its lowest platform you'll also need to wait for it
to climb up. Proceed to the left-most ladder and move up. Now it's time to
decide whether you only want to beat the level or rack up some points. In the
latter case, closely watch the springboards and the flame to easily reach the
purse on the right before moving up to the top storey. Walk a few steps to
the left, so the springboards nearly hit. Wait for one to pass by, then
quickly advance to the last ladder and finally rescue Pau...not again. ^^
________
Level 3:|
_P__ DK
U_____..____________________________..______
|| || H || ||
|| || || ||
|| || || ||
|| || || ||
__||____..||________________________||..____||__
|| || ||
H || || ||
|| || ||
|| || ||
__||______..__Pu__________||____________..__U___||__
|| || || ||
|| || || ||
|| || || ||
|| || || ||
__||________..______||____________||______..________||__
|| || ||
|| || ||
__||_________J______________||__________________________||__
Here Donkey Kong himself can only harm you by touching him directly. Besides
the ape you need to watch out for the flames that spawning more and more
after a while. They are fast and they can climb ladders, so beware.
Fortunately, though, they are pretty dumb and they cannot cross gaps.
Instead of reaching the top-most spot the goal here is to walk or jump over
the eight special blocks in the girders to make DK fall onto his head.
At the beginning run to the centre ladder, climb up and walk over the left
and the right block. From now on there is no universal guide, since you'll
never know where the flames are gonna move to or where they spawn. Get a
feeling for their speed so you can decide whether you are able to reach a
block before the flames do. Try to reach every block as quickly as possible
without getting trapped somewhere and ignore the hammers. If you're
surrounded or if you need to reach a heavily-guarded block you might want to
pick it up, though.
Now, you've finally rescued here and finally you can...what? Level 1 again?
Just a bit harder than before? No wonder Pauline is out of the business after
the first Donkey Kong game: You just can't really rescue here.
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4. Scoring DDD
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{---------------------------------------------------------------------------}
|Level Clear Bonus| Found in every level |
|----------------- |
|When starting a level you will find a 5000 right under the word bonus in |
|the upper right corner of the screen. This number decreases as time passes |
|by, so do your best to reach the end of the level quickly as the number |
|tells you how many bonus points you receive then. |
|On your second run through the game the counter starts at 6000, then at |
|7000 and so on. |
{---------------------------------------------------------------------------}
{---------------------------------------------------------------------------}
|Barrel Jump Bonus| Found in level 1 |
|----------------- |
|Jump over a barrel to receive 100 points. You don't get any combo bonus or |
|something when jumping over multiple barrels at a time, just 100 multiplied|
|with the amount of barrels. |
{---------------------------------------------------------------------------}
{---------------------------------------------------------------------------}
|Barrel Smash Bonus| Found in level 1 |
|------------------ |
|Grab a hammer and hit a barrel for 500 points. |
{---------------------------------------------------------------------------}
{---------------------------------------------------------------------------}
|Item Bonus| Found in level 2 and 3 |
|---------- |
|Nab a purse or an umbrella for 800 points. |
{---------------------------------------------------------------------------}
{---------------------------------------------------------------------------}
|Block Destroy Bonus| Found in level 3 |
|------------------- |
|Walk or jump over a special block to receive 100 points. |
{---------------------------------------------------------------------------}
{---------------------------------------------------------------------------}
|Flame Smash Bonus| Found in level 3 |
|----------------- |
|Grab a hammer and hit a flame for 500 points. |
{---------------------------------------------------------------------------}
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5. FAQ EEE
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- Is there a possibility to get more lives?
- Yes: Get 20,000 points to be awarded an extra life.
- What's Game A and Game B?
- Both of them actually are the same game only with a minor difference in
difficulty. Game B starts out a bit harder.
- How come Mario's called Jumpman here, but all it needs for him to die is a
wimpy, little fall?
- Well, he's not called Fallman, is he? ;)
- Is it possible to foresee whether a barrel will roll down the regular path
or down a ladder?
- No, unfortunately not.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6. Highscores FFF
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Game A: 54,100
Game B: 41,700
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7. Closing Comments GGG
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Donkey Kong used to be a great game and, no doubt about it, it gave Miyamoto
a triumphant start as a game designer, but why does Nintendo port this
classic to new systems all over again? Downloading it in Animal Crossing is a
great chance to relive the old days or to take a look at games that have been
all about before you were into gaming. Spending twenty bucks for the GBA
version on the other hand is simply unnecessary, especially since we still
don't get the missing factory level. Anyway: I bought the GBA version for
five Euros factory sealed and I don't regret it. Finally I can save the
highscore now. ^^
I'd appreciate any comments, questions, high scores, critics or whatsoever,
so please mail me at KeeperBvK@web.de if you have anything to tell me (even
misspellings and stuff).
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8. Experimental HHH
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In some other guides I've seen the author implement the following and I
thought "Why not give it a try for your own guides?":
If you really like this guide and you think it helped you or entertained you
a bit or whatsoever and you feel like rewarding me not only by writing a nice
e-mail, feel free to send some money to my paypal account at:
LH_Zerberus@web.de
Of course I don't want to make somebody send me money who doesn't really want
to (even if I could, I wouldn't ;) ), but (also of course) I'd appreciate any
contribution.
Thank you very much for reading this guide and hopefully some more of my
stuff on gamefaqs.