In 1983 Nintendo’s Game & Watch grew up into a miniature arcade cabinet. The Table Top series gave the LCD games a full-colour screen, and Donkey Kong JR. was one of its first two titles, launched in Japan on 28 April 1983.
The story follows Nintendo’s 1982 arcade sequel with the roles reversed: Mario has captured and chained Donkey Kong, and his son must free him. Like every Game & Watch, it is also a clock with an alarm – Mario whistles when the alarm goes off.
Interesting facts
Mario plays the villain. The arcade Donkey Kong Junior (1982) turned the tables on the original: Mario is now the bad guy, guarding a caged Donkey Kong. The leaflet keeps the plot – “Donkey Kong has been captured and chained by Mario.”
Bach in a box. Hirokazu Tanaka wrote the music. The start jingle is based on Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, and the umbrella-and-balloon tune borrows from Offenbach’s “Galop infernal” – better known as the can-can.
Three screens in a year. Junior came as a New Wide Screen game (October 1982), this Table Top (April 1983) and a Panorama Screen (October 1983). Coleco also sold the Table Top under licence, and each Table Top title sold under 250,000 units.