When developing the first Mario vs Donkey Kong, Nintendo first considered making it a remake of Donkey Kong 94, then made it a spiritual successor instead.
I kind of see DK'94 as the last hurrah of the Arcade DK format, it was the end of an era before Donkey Kong Country became the franchise's identity. I think it's DKC more than anything else that obfuscated DK'94. It was a Tale of Two Donkey Kongs and one won out over the other.
I mean, the first Mario vs. Donkey Kong on the GBA also continued this Arcade DK format, as it's the sequel to this game, so it wasn't the _last_ hurrah just yet, but yeah it still ultimately fell to the wayside and that's sad to see, because this is the ORIGINAL Mario formula and its evolved form in these games is fantastic.
10:04 And speaking of glorious tiny details on stage six I realized the further you go back on the plane on the overworld The engines get louder over the map theme just glorious brilliant attached to detail hidden gem
I will throw this out there: I very much recommend picking up a Super Game Boy if you have a SNES. This game was the marquee title for the peripheral and it uses not only the the ability to add color in some amazing ways, but even leverages the SNES to give Pauline a voice clip for her "HELP!" and does some other really cool things! And I think another reason this one kinda got overlooked was because in the few years prior, Game Boy had gotten arcade ports like Burger Time, Lock n' Chase and Pac-Man, and while they all added a fair amount of extras, none where as expansive as DK '94, but that isn't super obvious on the surface, so many old enough to nostalgic for the golden age of arcades may have passed on it as just another port
The pre-cursor to Mario vs. Donkey Kong. This game may look like a GameBoy version of the Donkey Kong arcade game, but after defeating DK... It was the prologue this whole time, and then the real game begins.
I still have my copy of Donkey Kong '94. It has one of the best fake endings ever made that lets players know right away that the game is more than just a remake or port of the 1981 Donky Kong arcade title. Apparently, Donkey Kong '94 is better on the Super Game Boy because it features an arcade cabinet border and enhanced audio.
I rented this game as a kid. And when I was about done with the last supposed level in there, when I was about to turn it off, the scene changing and the rest of the game showing more of a puzzle platforming made me want to continue the rental. It was worth it back in the day.
I borrowed this from a buddy back in like early 2000s thinking it was just old school donkey Kong and it is... but then it opened up into this wonderfully challenging awesome movement hidden gem of a Game boy game and relatively cheap because nobody knows about it. I think Mario versus donkey Kong is a fitting successor to this franchise
It is one of the few games deserving the name „hidden gem“. I remember playing and finishing this as a kid and wondering many times, why nobody really remembers it. Great video!
I had this and the Super Game Boy back in the day. Even bsck then i was blown away by how good this was. The SGB version, besides being in color and having bezel art that mimick the arcade, also unlocks a "Help" sound sample for Pauline that you dont hear on the regular Game Boy hardware.
I've never seen the GameBoy port of Donkey Kong. I remember first playing this in arcade years back and after that I got hooked on both Mario and DKC. Great memories. It's interesting to see this port. I love old games. Such simpler times and they're always fun to go back and play.
Donkey Kong 94 is such an amazing game. I love that even back then. I didn't play it like when it first came out but I did play it as a kid in the 90s and had played it a bunch of since then although I haven't played it for over a decade now at this point. I used to play it on the big screen using the super Game Boy which added custom colors to it that made the game look a lot better and it had a nice frame that looked like an arcade cabinet to go around the screen. But another thing that I liked even better when playing this on the super game boy was that the sound effects were better. The ending credits theme sounded a lot better and when Pauline says help you actually hear her voice very clearly saying help. I sadly get the feeling from Nintendo switch online they're going to get lazy when they release this game on there. You see when you play the game boy catalog on Nintendo switch online, you can only choose to have the game have the appearance of the green on the original game boy, the black and white of the Game Boy pocket, and the colors of the Game Boy Color but you can't actually have it be switched to what color is the game would have on the super Game Boy which makes me think that they're not going to do anything that was a awesome quality of life improvement on the super Game Boy because they refused to let you choose the color scheme of what a game looks like there. Some games really should have that appearance when playing on the switch. The Game Boy Color wasn't released until 1998 so whatever games came out for the Game Boy before then did not have the beautiful colors turn off the Game Boy Color but the super Game Boy was released in 1994 I think so there are games on the Game Boy catalog for Nintendo switch online that were released and had color improvements on the super Game Boy that were released before the Game Boy Color was released such as Kirby's Dreamland 2 which looks pretty great on the super Game Boy and doesn't look that good on the Game Boy color. It's honestly a bit frustrating to me that they went this route and I feel like they're going to do so with donkey Kong
My dad bought me this game when I was 8. I had never played any incarceration of Donkey before, but I still thought it was so cool how the game opened up after beating the first four levels. Even then I knew this game was kind of special.
Now that you’ve got a Gameboy, you should definitely try out the Wario land series! Specifically 2 as that’s the last one playable on Gameboy and that’s when the series starts to become more of a puzzle-platformer rather than just a platformer (though you have to buy the black cart version). Also, you should 100% check out gargoyles quest! Whim I haven’t played it, it’s Super Nintendo prequel (?) is an excellent game id recommend to anyone (as long as they can find it for a good price)!
It's awesome to see another timeless classic game to be added to your video game collection! Edit: I'm still curious about how the Nintendo Switch 2 is going to be.
The SGB was such a great add-on that unlocked 1.000 more games to the Super Nintendo library. It's funny how Sega CD and 32X tried to upgrade the Sega Mega Drive with disappointing overpriced hardware while Nintendo began to sell even more Game Boy games thanks to their very affordable SNES accessoire. I loved the Super Game Boy as a kid. It allowed me to safe up for amazing (and cheaper) games much faster. 30 years later, Donkey Kong is still the best platformer on the GB and the best GB game in general. Everyone should play it with all the SGB features active, for the best experience. The game is not b/w like in your video. That's only when you downgrade it to the '89 Game Boy. It's specifically made for the '94 Super Game Boy. DK was "The Big SGB launch title" after all!
Just want to point out another reason why this game never standout: Handheld games are always underrated compared to Console games and even worse is handheld games that have the same name as a Console one, most people think its a downgrade port when its far from true, another example for this is the Mario Golf and Mario Tennis games from GBC, that despite their names arent ports from the N64 at all, they are actually RPG games based on their focused sport.
Their designs _are_ pretty different from each other though. This DK has a tie with white letters instead of yellow, has eyebrows, and an overall different face
I didn't know until recently that this was a game other than an arcade port for Gameboy. I remember it was marketed that way and people I know told me it was just the arcade game. I was shocked when I found a Let's Play posted of this game with levels. As far as the 3D craze goes, when it was new I did enjoy games like Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie and Harvest Moon 64 but I wished for games to be on a 2D plan and use 3D graphics like I would have loved Link Between Worlds. I feel like some were bummed because they like 2D games and Donkey Kong 94 no doubt suffered but innovation like Grim Fandango was few and far between. I felt the growing pains in like 1996/1997
This was the reason I got a Super Gameboy back in the day. The run-up to Country was the peak of hype I can remember getting swept up in other than Phantom Menace, so yeah I played the hell out of this. Surprised it is a hidden gem to be honest
Yessss! I was excited to finally see your review on this. Everything on your review was pretty much 1:1 for me when I played dk94 comparatively there wasn’t too much too nitpick about this game there was definitely a few times where some of the levels for me (back then as a kid) where some of the level design as well as timing did not make any sense I know as a kid I had a frustratingly hard time with the key drop/conveyor belt “mechanic” now, if I was to replay it, I’d have like one or two hiccups cause I just got too over confident in how good I think I am at the game. I just wish that some of the newer dk vs Mario titles kept that fluidity and liveliness that dk94 I did like the art direction making it vibrant and such as well as “some” new gimmicks but at the end of the day the newer titles just kinda felt like staring at the same background template. I honestly felt like I wanted to stop and drop the game part way through because of that alone. It didn’t help that the controls to Mario felt so delayed on his backflips and triple jumps and it just felt so slide-y to me. Never the less. I really enjoyed your take on dk94
I played this after Mario Vs. Donkey Kong on GBA, I was always disappointed in the DS sequels cuz of the completely different gameplay, so finding out about this one still in the 2000s and playing it all the way through was a magical and eye-opening experience! However I must say, this game *Really* oughtta be played on Super Game Boy, it's like, one of the best uses out of the SGB hardware I've ever seen!
Funny, I was thinking about how I used to play this game on the Super Game Boy back in the day while watching this video. Couldn't agree more! Was so cool to play all your game boy games on a big tv.
Clearly this video stuck in the back of my mind, as I’m also now the proud owner of DK ‘94. I cannot get over the level of acrobatic movement in something this primitive.
I remember DK'94 being well received generally back in the day but yeah definitely overshadowed by DKC as well as the common misconception about what the game was in general public. I knew it was more than just a remake of the original arcade game but never really got around to it till I started collecting retro in the mid-2000s.
This game is better than Mario vs DK in my opinion. Mario vs DK is fine, but its too easy. Sure, it has unlockables, and expert levels but its not the same. At least the base game of DK '94 is more "meaty" and tougher, rather than the developers relying on unlockable content for more experienced players. The latter approach seems too lazy.
@@michaelhockaday7426 I know you weren't saying MvDK is bad, just saying that I feel like both are good in their own ways (It's fine to think that DK94 is better though)
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When developing the first Mario vs Donkey Kong, Nintendo first considered making it a remake of Donkey Kong 94, then made it a spiritual successor instead.
OOOHHH that makes sense!
SHAME 😢
I kind of see DK'94 as the last hurrah of the Arcade DK format, it was the end of an era before Donkey Kong Country became the franchise's identity.
I think it's DKC more than anything else that obfuscated DK'94. It was a Tale of Two Donkey Kongs and one won out over the other.
I agree!
I mean, the first Mario vs. Donkey Kong on the GBA also continued this Arcade DK format, as it's the sequel to this game, so it wasn't the _last_ hurrah just yet, but yeah it still ultimately fell to the wayside and that's sad to see, because this is the ORIGINAL Mario formula and its evolved form in these games is fantastic.
10:04 And speaking of glorious tiny details on stage six I realized the further you go back on the plane on the overworld The engines get louder over the map theme just glorious brilliant attached to detail hidden gem
I will throw this out there: I very much recommend picking up a Super Game Boy if you have a SNES. This game was the marquee title for the peripheral and it uses not only the the ability to add color in some amazing ways, but even leverages the SNES to give Pauline a voice clip for her "HELP!" and does some other really cool things!
And I think another reason this one kinda got overlooked was because in the few years prior, Game Boy had gotten arcade ports like Burger Time, Lock n' Chase and Pac-Man, and while they all added a fair amount of extras, none where as expansive as DK '94, but that isn't super obvious on the surface, so many old enough to nostalgic for the golden age of arcades may have passed on it as just another port
2:51 Mario is a fucking ninja lol
😂
It’s very interesting that a lot of Mario 64‘s moves come from this game
Great game. I really recommend Mole Mania, another puzzle Game Boy game it's terrific!
I'll check it out!
The pre-cursor to Mario vs. Donkey Kong. This game may look like a GameBoy version of the Donkey Kong arcade game, but after defeating DK... It was the prologue this whole time, and then the real game begins.
Yes! It was great
I still have my copy of Donkey Kong '94. It has one of the best fake endings ever made that lets players know right away that the game is more than just a remake or port of the 1981 Donky Kong arcade title. Apparently, Donkey Kong '94 is better on the Super Game Boy because it features an arcade cabinet border and enhanced audio.
This game was held back entirely by its name.
This should have been called "Mario Vs. Donkey Kong" or anything else
Yeah, you're not wrong
Donkey Kong 94 is an Underrated Masterpiece!
I remember watching antdudes videos about it
I rented this game as a kid. And when I was about done with the last supposed level in there, when I was about to turn it off, the scene changing and the rest of the game showing more of a puzzle platforming made me want to continue the rental. It was worth it back in the day.
Haha nice!!
I borrowed this from a buddy back in like early 2000s thinking it was just old school donkey Kong and it is... but then it opened up into this wonderfully challenging awesome movement hidden gem of a Game boy game and relatively cheap because nobody knows about it. I think Mario versus donkey Kong is a fitting successor to this franchise
It is one of the few games deserving the name „hidden gem“.
I remember playing and finishing this as a kid and wondering many times, why nobody really remembers it.
Great video!
Thanks!!
I had this and the Super Game Boy back in the day. Even bsck then i was blown away by how good this was. The SGB version, besides being in color and having bezel art that mimick the arcade, also unlocks a "Help" sound sample for Pauline that you dont hear on the regular Game Boy hardware.
The Super Game Boy version also changes the credits theme.
I've never seen the GameBoy port of Donkey Kong. I remember first playing this in arcade years back and after that I got hooked on both Mario and DKC. Great memories. It's interesting to see this port. I love old games. Such simpler times and they're always fun to go back and play.
Donkey Kong 94 is such an amazing game. I love that even back then. I didn't play it like when it first came out but I did play it as a kid in the 90s and had played it a bunch of since then although I haven't played it for over a decade now at this point.
I used to play it on the big screen using the super Game Boy which added custom colors to it that made the game look a lot better and it had a nice frame that looked like an arcade cabinet to go around the screen. But another thing that I liked even better when playing this on the super game boy was that the sound effects were better. The ending credits theme sounded a lot better and when Pauline says help you actually hear her voice very clearly saying help.
I sadly get the feeling from Nintendo switch online they're going to get lazy when they release this game on there. You see when you play the game boy catalog on Nintendo switch online, you can only choose to have the game have the appearance of the green on the original game boy, the black and white of the Game Boy pocket, and the colors of the Game Boy Color but you can't actually have it be switched to what color is the game would have on the super Game Boy which makes me think that they're not going to do anything that was a awesome quality of life improvement on the super Game Boy because they refused to let you choose the color scheme of what a game looks like there.
Some games really should have that appearance when playing on the switch. The Game Boy Color wasn't released until 1998 so whatever games came out for the Game Boy before then did not have the beautiful colors turn off the Game Boy Color but the super Game Boy was released in 1994 I think so there are games on the Game Boy catalog for Nintendo switch online that were released and had color improvements on the super Game Boy that were released before the Game Boy Color was released such as Kirby's Dreamland 2 which looks pretty great on the super Game Boy and doesn't look that good on the Game Boy color. It's honestly a bit frustrating to me that they went this route and I feel like they're going to do so with donkey Kong
My dad bought me this game when I was 8. I had never played any incarceration of Donkey before, but I still thought it was so cool how the game opened up after beating the first four levels. Even then I knew this game was kind of special.
Heck yeah, I love that!
Now that you’ve got a Gameboy, you should definitely try out the Wario land series! Specifically 2 as that’s the last one playable on Gameboy and that’s when the series starts to become more of a puzzle-platformer rather than just a platformer (though you have to buy the black cart version). Also, you should 100% check out gargoyles quest! Whim I haven’t played it, it’s Super Nintendo prequel (?) is an excellent game id recommend to anyone (as long as they can find it for a good price)!
I absolutely will!!
WarioLand 3 is so underrated it’s insane (although that one’s on Game Boy Color)
Great Video! I love how nicely you explain everything!
Thank you!! :)
Definitely need this and DK 64 added to NSO ASAP!
Agreed!!
It should also have the Super Game Boy mode, since withour it it's an incomplete experience
It's awesome to see another timeless classic game to be added to your video game collection!
Edit: I'm still curious about how the Nintendo Switch 2 is going to be.
This was my first Game Boy game in 1995. Took years to convince my parents to buy me one, but as it turned out I started with the best game
The SGB was such a great add-on that unlocked 1.000 more games to the Super Nintendo library.
It's funny how Sega CD and 32X tried to upgrade the Sega Mega Drive with disappointing overpriced hardware while Nintendo began to sell even more Game Boy games thanks to their very affordable SNES accessoire.
I loved the Super Game Boy as a kid. It allowed me to safe up for amazing (and cheaper) games much faster.
30 years later, Donkey Kong is still the best platformer on the GB and the best GB game in general.
Everyone should play it with all the SGB features active, for the best experience. The game is not b/w like in your video. That's only when you downgrade it to the '89 Game Boy. It's specifically made for the '94 Super Game Boy. DK was "The Big SGB launch title" after all!
The DK guy is back!
😎
jump man.
I also liked to play this game a lot as a kid! 😄 This is basically like a continuation to the Donkey Kong arcade game.
Exactly!
Just want to point out another reason why this game never standout: Handheld games are always underrated compared to Console games and even worse is handheld games that have the same name as a Console one, most people think its a downgrade port when its far from true, another example for this is the Mario Golf and Mario Tennis games from GBC, that despite their names arent ports from the N64 at all, they are actually RPG games based on their focused sport.
I loved this game as a kid, played it all the time on my gameboy and super gameboy
Great stuff as always !
Thank you!! :D
I like how they made Donkey Kong look like him in DKC only for them to make them different characters
Their designs _are_ pretty different from each other though.
This DK has a tie with white letters instead of yellow, has eyebrows, and an overall different face
@yeah. They give off the same vibe but the face looks much more like cranky than modern dk
This is one of my favorite Gameboy games. Its soooo underrated!
I didn't know until recently that this was a game other than an arcade port for Gameboy. I remember it was marketed that way and people I know told me it was just the arcade game. I was shocked when I found a Let's Play posted of this game with levels.
As far as the 3D craze goes, when it was new I did enjoy games like Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie and Harvest Moon 64 but I wished for games to be on a 2D plan and use 3D graphics like I would have loved Link Between Worlds. I feel like some were bummed because they like 2D games and Donkey Kong 94 no doubt suffered but innovation like Grim Fandango was few and far between. I felt the growing pains in like 1996/1997
This was the reason I got a Super Gameboy back in the day. The run-up to Country was the peak of hype I can remember getting swept up in other than Phantom Menace, so yeah I played the hell out of this. Surprised it is a hidden gem to be honest
Awesome!
Yessss! I was excited to finally see your review on this. Everything on your review was pretty much 1:1 for me when I played dk94 comparatively there wasn’t too much too nitpick about this game there was definitely a few times where some of the levels for me (back then as a kid) where some of the level design as well as timing did not make any sense I know as a kid I had a frustratingly hard time with the key drop/conveyor belt “mechanic” now, if I was to replay it, I’d have like one or two hiccups cause I just got too over confident in how good I think I am at the game.
I just wish that some of the newer dk vs Mario titles kept that fluidity and liveliness that dk94 I did like the art direction making it vibrant and such as well as “some” new gimmicks but at the end of the day the newer titles just kinda felt like staring at the same background template. I honestly felt like I wanted to stop and drop the game part way through because of that alone. It didn’t help that the controls to Mario felt so delayed on his backflips and triple jumps and it just felt so slide-y to me.
Never the less. I really enjoyed your take on dk94
Thanks! :)
I played this after Mario Vs. Donkey Kong on GBA, I was always disappointed in the DS sequels cuz of the completely different gameplay, so finding out about this one still in the 2000s and playing it all the way through was a magical and eye-opening experience! However I must say, this game *Really* oughtta be played on Super Game Boy, it's like, one of the best uses out of the SGB hardware I've ever seen!
Funny, I was thinking about how I used to play this game on the Super Game Boy back in the day while watching this video. Couldn't agree more! Was so cool to play all your game boy games on a big tv.
This was also the game where Donkey Kong received his now iconic red monogrammed necktie.
So true!!
Yes, this is basically Mario vs. Donkey Kong Zero
Clearly this video stuck in the back of my mind, as I’m also now the proud owner of DK ‘94. I cannot get over the level of acrobatic movement in something this primitive.
SO glad you are enjoying it, it's a true gem
Love this game and I too hope it joins NSO soon so more people can experience it.
Some of Mario's movement techniques in Mario 64 come from this game.
Yes they do! And it's so funny that you comment on this because I just finished watching Ghostbusters 2 to celebrate New Year's 😂
I had this one back in the 90s. I rarely played it on the gameboy though preferring to play it on my Super Gameboy in colour.
Fair
I remember DK'94 being well received generally back in the day but yeah definitely overshadowed by DKC as well as the common misconception about what the game was in general public. I knew it was more than just a remake of the original arcade game but never really got around to it till I started collecting retro in the mid-2000s.
I was very pleasantly surprised!
its just called Donkey Kong
@@sb6482 Yes it is. But people have colloquially called it DK '94 for so long my brain just adds it naturally.
@@sb6482 to be honest it's actually called "Game Boy Donkey Kong" you can see it in the title screen of the game
The music in this the game is so catchy and memorable like a Mario soundtrack should be! So what happened with Mario vs Donkey Kong’s music?
This game is to the original Donkey Kong what Peter Jackson’s King Kong is to the 1933 version, also this game deserves a color remaster
I agree!
Need another game like this
Agreed
How I wish they had remade this in HD instead of MvDK (GBA)
Commenting for the algorithm. I never knew this game existed.
Thank you! :)
Of course it feels like Mario vs Donkey Kong, it's the origin of it!! It's like saying that Super Mario World feels like Super Mario Bros 😂😂😂
I didn't know it was the origin lol!
@@TheJustintendo Yeah, the first Mario vs. Donkey Kong is the sequel to this game.
This game is better than Mario vs DK in my opinion. Mario vs DK is fine, but its too easy. Sure, it has unlockables, and expert levels but its not the same. At least the base game of DK '94 is more "meaty" and tougher, rather than the developers relying on unlockable content for more experienced players. The latter approach seems too lazy.
Honestly, I think both are good in their own ways
@rainlion10 i wasn't saying Mario vs DK is bad. I was just saying that I think DK 94 is better.
@@michaelhockaday7426 I know you weren't saying MvDK is bad, just saying that I feel like both are good in their own ways
(It's fine to think that DK94 is better though)