Lost In Translation/Donkey Kong 3

This page is a stub for arcade games that are part of the Lost In Translation series using information based on MAME (version 0.113u2).
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Donkey Kong 3
Manufacturer	Nintendo of America
Released	1983
Control Method	4-way Joystick 1 Button(s)
Main CPU	Z80 (@ 4.000 MHz) (2x) N2A03 (@ 1.790 MHz)
Sound CPU	Mono (2x) N2A03 (@ 1.790 MHz)
Video Details	Raster (Vertical) 256 x 224 pixels 60.61 Hz 521 Palette colours
Screens	1
ROM Info	15 ROMs 75,008 bytes (73.25 KiB)
MAME ID	dkong3 · dkong3b · dkong3j

About The Game

Donkey Kong 3 is a platform arcade video game.

The 3rd and final arcade outing for Donkey Kong sees the giant ape once again cast as the enemy. Unlike the first 2 Kong games, the legendary character Mario doesn't feature, with the player taking on the role of 'Stanley', a gardener who is armed with a bug spray with which he must destroy the swarms of insects that attack Stanley and try to steal his plants.

Each level has five plants that must be protected. Stanley must also spray Kong to force the ape to the top of the screen and complete the level.

Trivia

Released in October 1983, Donkey Kong 3 was Nintendo's 3rd arcade featuring the hapless ape.

This game came out at the time of the big arcade game collapse. Companies such as Atari, Konami, and Taito saw a drastic reduction in sales for their arcade machines. Smaller arcade companies such as Centuri (producer of "Pleiades" and "Phoenix") simply went out of business. Although some notable games such as "Cloak and Dagger", "Track and Field", and "Elevator Action" were released, none of them had strong sales. Donkey Kong 3 was no exception to what was going on.

First of all, Donkey Kong 3 changed the look of their game. Second, Instead of Mario, they now used Stanley the Exterminator (This is the only Nintendo game to feature the character of Stanley). Unfortunately, Donkey Kong 3 was not well received at the arcades and did pretty poorly in sales. It did develop a cult of gamers who remained loyal to the Donkey Kong series, but it never offered any serious competition.

Lloyd Bromola holds the official record for this game with 2,132,100 points on June 27, 1985.

A bootleg was made by Kazutome in 1984 on the "Donkey Kong Junior" hardware!

Scoring

Target	Points
Beespy	100
Buttifly (Blue Bee)	200
Saving a Plant	400 points + bug's value
Caterpillar	400
Moth	700

The Queen Bee's scoring depends on how many Beespies are escorting her :

• Queen Bee with no escorts : 400 points
• Queen Bee with one escort : 700 points
• Queen Bee with two escorts : 1000 points

You get 500 points per plant saved. If you save all the plants in consecutive levels, you get the following bonus :

• First two consecutive levels (at this point, plants are not all full size) : 2000 points.
• Third consecutive level onward (saving all plants after all 5 have grown to full size) : 5000 points.
• If you lose a plant, you will get no plant bonus. Afterward you'll have to grow a new plant, resetting the plant bonus to 2000.
• You also get the remaining bonus points added to your score when you complete a level. The bonus points start off at 8000.

Tips and tricks

• When you start the game, Stanley will start at the bottom, middle of the screen. You job is to move him up to push Donkey Kong out of the area and to defend against the various insects that will plague Stanley. Using the joystick, you can easily navigate on the platforms as long as there is a platform above and below Stanley. Use this ability to maneuver to keep out of harms way.

• Your big goal is to prevent the insects from getting all of your plants. If you lose all of your plants, you lose the game. If you do happen to lose a plant, it takes two levels to grow another one.

• Some players use this to their advantage in order to increase their scores. They let the insect capture the plant, then they shoot the insect to get both the plant and insect bonus. In addition, they collect the bonus for having all five plants at the end of the level.

• When using the regular bug spray, you will have to go to the top of the platformed area and jump up to force Donkey Kong higher while defending yourself against the insects.

• Keep in mind, that the bug spray you start with is pretty weak; both in terms of range and power. Your immediate goal is to get Donkey Kong far enough up the ropes so that the super-bug spray can gets dropped. This will enable you to hit him from the bottom of the platforms and give you more running room to avoid the insects. Keep in mind, this super-bug spray only last for that level.

• The above will be especially crucial during the Caterpillar levels. The bug spray merely causes the Caterpillars to choke and cough and it doesn't kill them. Instead, you may end up creating a wall of choking Caterpillars that block your line of fire from Donkey Kong. Make sure you fire in-between the four rows of Caterpillars.

• You will note that on the Temple levels, there is no middle level, per se. Instead, you must work your way around to the right or left to get to the top platform. This delay could prove crucial since you will have to be very wary of the insects that will have had a head start on you.

• In the Caterpillar level, Donkey Kong likes to throw coconuts down on Stanley. There is a pattern to his throwing. He will first throw one to the left, then one to the center, then one to the right. The left and right coconuts that are thrown are aimed at the beehives, which will release a Beespy or Buttifly.

• In the later levels, after 18, for the non-Caterpillar levels, the pattern is a little different regarding the coconut throwing. Donkey Kong will throw a coconut to the right, then the left, then to the center.

• As you progress further into the levels, the insects become faster and more aggressive. As a matter of fact, after level 15, their shots are much more accurate when they shoot at Stanley. Also, the insects that don't shoot will home in on Stanley. This will require good joystick control if you are to survive.

• Be aware that the Queen Bees explode into shrapnel when killed. Four pieces will radiate downward. Most of the time, if you are centered under them, the shrapnel will go around Stanley. If you are moving, though, be aware that even though you killed the Queen Bee, you will still have to deal with the aftermath.

• Watch for patterns on the Jungle and Temple levels. The bees have a pattern when they swarm from their hives and come down to attack. Even on the later levels, when extra bees are involved in the attack, they still show patterns. Use this to your advantage.

Series

1. Donkey Kong (1981)
2. Donkey Kong Junior (1982)
3. Donkey Kong 3 (1983)

Staff

Designed And Programmed By

Shigeru Miyamoto

Cabinet and Artwork

• 

  Donkey Kong 3 arcade cabinet.

• 

  Donkey Kong 3 flyer.

• 

  Back of the Donkey Kong 3 flyer.

• 

  Alternate Donkey Kong 3 flyer.

Ports

Consoles

Nintendo Famicom (1984)

Nintendo Game Boy Advance (2003, "e-READER Series")

Soundtrack Releases

Album Name	Catalogue No.	Released	Publisher	Comments
Famicom 20th Anniversary Original Sound Tracks Vol. 1	SCDC-00317	2004-01-07	Scitron Discs	CD version.
Game Sound Museum ~Famicom Edition~ S-2 Donkey Kong 3	SDEX-0026	2004-04-28	Scitron Digital Contents	CD version.
Famicom Graffiti Nintendo Cartridge Edition	CA-4473	1990-01-01	Columbia	CD version.
Game Music Graffiti	COCA-6969~70	1990-12-01	Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd.	2 CD version.
Arcade Ambiance 1983	N/A	2003-01-01	Andy Hofle	Digital download only.

References

The contents of this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
The sources used include MAME (version 0.113u2) and history.dat (revision 1.28 - 2008-10-18).
Please see http://www.arcade-history.com for credits.