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Donkey Kong 3
European arcade flyer
Developer(s)	Nintendo R&D1 Intelligent Systems Nintendo R&D2 (Famicom/NES) Hudson Soft (The Great Counterattack)
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Director(s)	Shigeru Miyamoto
Producer(s)	Gunpei Yokoi
Designer(s)	Shigeru Miyamoto
Composer(s)	Hirokazu Tanaka
Series	Donkey Kong
Platform(s)	Arcade, Famicom/NES, Game & Watch, NEC PC-88, NEC PC-6601, X1
Release	September 28, 1983 Arcade JP: September 28, 1983 NA: October 1983 EU: Late 1983 Famicom/NES JP: July 4, 1984 NA: June 1986 EU: September 15, 1987 Game & Watch JP/NA: August 20, 1984 The Great Counterattack X1, PC-88, PC-66 JP: 1984 e-Reader NA: September 16, 2002
Genre(s)	Shooter
Mode(s)	1-2 players alternating turns

Donkey Kong 3 is a shooter video game developed and published by Nintendo. It is the third installment in the Donkey Kong series and it was released for arcades worldwide in 1983, the Family Computer in 1984, then in North America for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986. The gameplay departs from previous Donkey Kong games, and it stars an exterminator named Stanley instead of Mario.

It was re-released on the Wii Virtual Console in North America on July 14, 2008, and in Europe on January 9, 2009. It was re-released on Nintendo Switch through Nintendo Switch Online.

Gameplay

Donkey Kong hangs from vines at the center of the screen, and the player-controlled Stanley the exterminator runs and jumps on platforms beneath him. Stanley can fire bug spray at both Donkey Kong and insects flying around the levels. A level is completed by continually using his sprayer on Donkey Kong, forcing him to the top of the screen, or by killing all of the bugs. A Super Sprayer can on the vines falls down when Donkey Kong is sprayed past it. The Super Sprayer only lasts for a limited amount of time, but it pushes Donkey Kong upward at a much faster rate, making it easier to complete the level. It only spawns at the start of each life.

The insects consist of Buzzbees, queen Beespies (which shatter into deadly pieces when destroyed), Creepy inchworms, Attacker bees, Kabutomushi beetles, and Butterflies. Some of the flying insects attempt to pick up the flowers at the bottom of the screen and carry them away. Lost flowers decrease the bonus at the end of the round.

There are three levels which repeat in a fixed sequence. An extra life is given at 50,000 points, and then the game goes to "survival of the fittest" mode thereafter.

Plot

Stanley is a bugman. Donkey Kong has taken refuge in his greenhouse and it is now up to Stanley to stop the ape from stirring up any more insects that will soon destroy his flowers. Stanley saves the flowers by spraying bug spray on Donkey Kong.

Reception

The game was moderately successful in Japan, where Game Machine listed Donkey Kong 3 on their December 1, 1983, issue as being the fourth most-successful new table arcade unit of the month. Despite this, it was a commercial failure in North America, particularly due to the wake of the video game crash of 1983.

Reviews for the arcade game were generally positive. Gene Lewin of Play Meter magazine rated it 8 out of 10. Computer and Video Games said that the game's "fast action and superior sound effects" made Donkey Kong 3 a "sure hit" in arcades.

Retrospectively, reception has been divisive, with criticism aimed at its departure of its predecessors and the lack of Mario. IGN gave the Virtual Console version a 6.0 out of 10, describing it as a "radical departure" from the previous Donkey Kong games, calling it "repetitive".

Legacy

A VS. series Game & Watch version of the arcade game has different gameplay. In this version, player one controls Stanley the Bugman and computer player (or player two) controls Donkey Kong in a duel against each other using exterminating spray cans to move the bees to the other side of them to make the bees sting their opponents. Players can only hold up to three amounts of spraying liquid in their spray cans. On one player mode, the higher player one as Stanley scores, the faster the spraying liquid on the side of computer player as Donkey Kong drops. A version of this game was included in Game & Watch Gallery 4 for the Game Boy Advance, but featuring Mario in place of Stanley and a Boo and a Fireball in place of the bees.

The NES version of Donkey Kong 3 was released on the Wii Virtual Console, 3DS Virtual Console and Wii U Virtual Console, whilst the arcade version was released on the Nintendo Switch eShop as part of Hamster's Arcade Archives series.

The current world record is held by George Riley (USA) at 3,538,000 points (2011).

Semi-sequel

In 1984, Hudson Soft developed a semi-sequel for the Japanese-only NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-6601, and Sharp X1 personal computers titled Donkey Kong 3: The Great Counterattack. A version for the FM-7 was also planned, but was never released. This game is significantly different from the original. While the object to shoot Donkey Kong up in the air remains, it has 20 outdoor backgrounds such as a bridge, Planet Saturn, a desert, a pyramid, and a highway. Stanley can only move from left to right and is no longer able to jump.

For decades, Donkey Kong 3: The Great Counterattack was inaccessible outside of Japan. In December 2017, a copy of the Sharp X1 version was bought at a Yahoo! Auctions online auction. Two months later, it was made available via emulation. The PC-8801 version was subsequently uncovered in January 2019.

Notes

1. Japanese: ドンキーコング3, Hepburn: Donkī Kongu Surī
2. Japanese: ドンキーコング3 大逆襲, Hepburn: Donkī Kongu Surī Dai Gyakushū

References

1. Akagi, Masumi (October 13, 2006). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971–2005) [Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971–2005)] (in Japanese). Japan: Amusement News Agency. p. 128. ISBN 978-4990251215.
2. "Donkey Kong 3 (Registration Number PA0000191724)". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
3. "Video Game Flyers: Donkey Kong 3, Nintendo (EU)". The Arcade Flyer Archive. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
4. "Donkey Kong 3". Arcade History.
5. "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型新製品 (New Videos-Table Type)". Game shut the :アミューズメント通信社|Amusement Press, Inc. (in Japanese). December 1, 1983. p. 32.
6. Lewin, Gene (January 15, 1984). "Gene's Judgements: Critiquing AMOA Show Conversions, Dedicated Games". Play Meter. Vol. 10, no. 2. pp. 60–2.
7. "Donkey Kong Swings Back". Computer and Video Games. February 1984. p. 50.
8. "Donkey Kong 3 Review". IGN. Archived from the original on August 13, 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2008.
9. "Nintendo - Official Site - Video Game Consoles, Games". www.nintendo.com.
10. Deaves. Gaz, Gaming Editor. Gamers Edition, Guinness World Record 2012
11. Records, Guinness World (January 3, 2012). Guinness World Records 2012 Gamer's Edition. ISBN 9781904994763.
12. ^ "You Can Finally Play A Long-Lost Donkey Kong Game". Kotaku. February 25, 2018.
13. "Oh!FM-7：ドンキーコング3 大逆襲（ハドソンソフト）". www.fm-7.com (in Japanese).
14. "Donkey Kong 3 : Dai Gyakushuu (PC-8801)". www.gamingalexandria.com.

External links

• Donkey Kong 3 at the Killer List of Videogames

• 1983 video games
• Arcade video games
• Donkey Kong video games
• Nintendo e-Reader games
• Game & Watch games
• NEC PC-6001 games
• NEC PC-8801 games
• Nintendo arcade games
• Nintendo Entertainment System games
• Nintendo Switch games
• Nintendo Research & Development 1 games
• Sharp X1 games
• Video game sequels
• Video games about insects
• Video games about plants
• Video games scored by Hirokazu Tanaka
• Video games developed in Japan
• Video games directed by Shigeru Miyamoto
• Virtual Console games
• Virtual Console games for Wii U
• Nintendo Switch Online games
• Multiplayer and single-player video games
• Hamster Corporation games