Daniel Keast

This is a Switch remake of a Game Boy Advance game. I never played the original, but I did intend to. It’s a sequel to the Game Boy Donkey Kong game, which I replayed in September 2024 and have always loved.

This is the game that convinced me to buy a Switch 2. I actually got the console at launch with Mario Kart World but the announcement of this game is what made me want one. It was clear from the original videos that this was made by the team that made Super Mario Odyssey, which was just fantastic.

I picked this game at random as something to play with my youngest son, Joe. I’d never played this version before, and we managed to get all of the retro achievements within about twenty minutes. It only has two of the original games four levels, and is obviously very simple graphically. We both had a lot of fun playing through it though, it definitely has a lot of the feel of the arcade game.

This is the 1994 Game Boy version, not the original 1982 arcade machine or any of the ports. It starts as if it was a simple port of the original game, but quickly becomes so much more than that. After you finish the first four levels you are taken to a map screen where you chase Donkey Kong in an attempt to rescue Pauline across groups of four levels. In the first three levels of each group you need to find a key, then carry it to an exit door. Each forth level is a boss fight against Donkey Kong.