Donkey Kong (Gameboy)

Donkey Kong (Gameboy) was a world-wide chase to save Pauline from Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr.

History

Donkey Kong has returned to New Donk City and kidnapped Pauline in the process. Mario, in a much more athletic form, chases after Donkey Kong in the same Construction Site from the first time Pauline was kidnapped. Mario expected the loosened girders to stop Donkey Kong again, but he recovers quite quickly and takes off with Pauline again, this time deeper inside New Donk City.

After chasing Donkey Kong up a skyscraper, he makes his way to the nearby forest while trying to throw barrels at Mario. After getting closer to him, Donkey Kong boards a ship that Mario also manages to board due to his athletics.

The ship then reaches the jungle, where Donkey Kong quickly meets up with Donkey Kong Jr. along with some shrinking mushrooms to use against Mario. The chase continues further into the desert and into several pyramids.

After crashing through several pyramids, Donkey Kong hitches a ride on an airplane which soon takes off. The plane then lands on an iceberg that starts to break apart.

Donkey Kong drifts to the Mushroom Continent, with Mario still following him into a rocky valley. After scaling down the rocky pillars, their final destination leads them to Donkey Kong's Tower which Mario has to climb while being sidelined by the two Kongs every step of the way.

At the very top of the tower, Mario makes Donkey Kong fall and is reunited with Pauline. The reunion doesn't last long, however, as Donkey Kong uses a ton of Super Mushrooms to make him grow in size. His powerful slams allow enough barrels to fall down for Mario to use, and those were enough to fully defeat Donkey Kong.

Realizing they're in the Mushroom Kingdom, Pauline gives a Super Mushroom to Mario, which grows him in size. He catches the now-normal-sized Donkey Kong, who then yells for Donkey Kong Jr.'s help.

Lore

The Desert stage features pyramids, ruins, and hieroglyph-like markings on the walls. While the ancient art in cutscenes depicts the humans that used to live there as proportionally taller/realistic than Mario, the mummies that walk around as enemies are Mario's height. Despite any speculation, the Desert gives a further historical personality to the world of Mario.

It is very interesting that there is a Kong-based area, the Tower, in the Mushroom Kingdom or any territory close to it. On the other hand, while one can consider this tower to have been built long before the events of the game, it's also possible for this tower to be built for the events of the game.

Mapping

The original stages of Donkey Kong are connected to Big-City, separated by a wall due to it being a construction site. The third stage, Forest, is also based on the stages of Donkey Kong Jr., confirming that Donkey Kong was captured by Mario not too far away from the city. Generally, this game expands further on the settings the two arcade games provided.

Character

This game serves as the logical endpoint that the arcade games Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. provided: the chase. The cutscenes after each boss fight fits this cat-and-mouse theme with Donkey Kong always surprised whenever Mario manages to outsmart everything he's throwing at him. They're both very determined to win this chase.

The already-athletic Mario got a boost in athleticism in this game. Capable of handstands, handstand jumping, backflipping, and wire spinning. If the player has already mastered these athletic abilities, they're capable of witnessing Mario breezing through the original Construction Site which originally gave him a lot of trouble.

At the end of the adventure, Mario is grown big enough by the Mushrooms to be able to capture Donkey Kong again. He yells for help, Donkey Kong Jr. jumps into action, and it's implied that this chase will circle back into Jr. chasing Mario. They're both very determined to win this chase.

The final picture of the game shows Mario, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and Pauline smiling together. Despite all the capturing and chasing around, Donkey Kong didn't have much of a motive in kidnapping Pauline other than to play a joke in Mario's way. When that joke has run its course, what else can you do than make bygones be bygones - Mario's a very forgiving person after all.

The interview below also focuses on the relationship Mario and Pauline have with eachother. Mario's enough of an honest person to break up with someone, but the bond between eachother is already too strong that the two remain as friends as seen in later games.

Error

"Regarding Pauline, is she Mario's girlfriend?

Kameyama: She's an old girlfriend (laughs).

Miyamoto: Apparently the land of mushrooms is somehow in the vicinity of Donkey Kong's stomping ground that appears at the end. Around that point, he meets Peach, and probably starts to have a change of heart (laughs).

Kameyama: So basically, it's a story that takes place before Super Mario Bros.. After that, Mario became famous, so Pauline must have gotten dumped (laughs)."

This quote is saying that Donkey Kong for the Game Boy takes place before Super Mario Bros. This quote is also Kameyama's personal interpretation of events, or he's talking about the story of Mario breaking up with Pauline. This is Masayuki Kameyama's only Mario game he's ever worked on, so these are the only healthy arguments to give when dealing with conflicting statements.

We know the game Mario Bros. leads into Super Mario Bros. due to several sources confirming it as such. Furthermore, a lot of points (Luigi not being there, Mario wearing his modern clothing) prove these are not the correct order of events. This is also the only time Donkey Kong's in the Mushroom Kingdom and still would have an antagonistic role toward Mario, so it would most likely lead into certain DK Game & Watch Gallery games that released on the same console since those take place in the Mushroom Kingdom.

It would be more needlessly complicated to assume Mario, Pauline, and the Kongs arrive at the Mushroom Kingdom, only Mario hears about the crisis going on there, takes a detour back to New Donk City, gets Luigi, then goes back to the Mushroom Kingdom to start Super Mario Bros. while the Kongs and Pauline fade away from importance and you ignore the story of Mario Bros.

Timeline

• Mario gets an acrobatic stage show in New Donk City, likely due to the fame he got for his heroism during the events of Super Mario Bros.
• Donkey Kong returns, now with a tie, placing this game after previous games that feature Donkey Kong without a tie.
• Donkey Kong Jr. is still a child here.
• Mario, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and Pauline all end up in the Mushroom Kingdom in the game’s end.

See also

• Theory: Proposed Donkey Kong (Gameboy) World Map Locations