Donkey Kong Jr. is Nintendo's sequel to Donkey Kong with the roles reversed: Mario is the villain who has caged Donkey Kong, and his son has to rescue him. The team first planned to make Donkey Kong the hero, but his large size caused problems, so they created a smaller son. Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi designed the game, and Japanese Wikipedia notes that this is the game in which Mario first got a personal name.
Junior climbs vines and chains and drops fruit onto Snapjaws and Nitpickers; in the fourth stage he pushes six keys into locks to free his father. Like its predecessor, the arcade game ends in a kill screen at level 22. The arcade version reached North America in August 1982.
The Famicom version was one of the console's three launch titles in Japan on 15 July 1983. The arcade game came back on Nintendo Switch through Hamster's Arcade Archives in December 2018, and the NES version joined the Nintendo Switch Online library on 15 May 2019.123
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Donkey Kong Junior | Arcade | August 1982 | Nintendo | 1 |
| NA | Donkey Kong Jr. | NES | June 1986 | Nintendo | 3 |
| NA | Donkey Kong Jr.NES version on e-Reader cards; region not stated in the source | Game Boy Advance | 2002 | Nintendo | 1 |
| JP | ドンキーコングJR.Donkī Kongu Junia | Arcade | 1982 | Nintendo | 2 |
| JP | ドンキーコングJR.Donkī Kongu JuniaFamicom launch title | NES | Jul 15, 1983 | Nintendo | 3 |
| EU | Donkey Kong Jr. | NES | Jun 15, 1987 | Nintendo | 3 |
| JP | ドンキーコングJR.Donkī Kongu JuniaNintendo eShop (NES version); North America 14 June 2012, Europe 23 August 2012 | Nintendo 3DS | Apr 18, 2012 | Nintendo | 1 |
| WW | Arcade Archives DONKEY KONG JR.Arcade version | Switch | December 2018 | Hamster | 1 |
| WW | Donkey Kong Jr.NES version in the Nintendo Switch Online classics library | Switch | May 15, 2019 | Nintendo | 1 |
Also known as: ドンキーコングJR. JP2Donkī Kongu Junia JP1Donkey Kong Junior NA1
Box art by region
NA Donkey Kong Jr. 
EU Donkey Kong Jr. 
JP ドンキーコングJR.
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Version differences
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TitleArcade (NA)Home conversions
The North American arcade release and most conversions by other companies use the full title Donkey Kong Junior.1
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GameplayArcade (JP)Arcade (US)
The Japanese arcade game cycles through its four stages in order, while the US version changes the order: 1-4, 1-2-4, 1-3-4 and only then 1-2-3-4.1
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ContentFamicom/NES
The Famicom port keeps all four stages, unlike the Famicom Donkey Kong, but loses small touches such as the shackles in the demo, the splashing blue Snapjaws and the breaking eggs.2
Where to play legally today
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Nintendo Switch Online Subscription
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Arcade Archives Purchase
Reception
In Japan the arcade game was the eighth highest-grossing arcade game of 1982. It won the 1984 Arkie Award for Best Audio-Visual Effects and was one of five games in the first official video game world championship in January 1983.1
In lists
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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