Donkey Kong: Original Edition (NES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthrough of Nintendo's 2010 arcade-action game for the NES, Donkey Kong: Original Edition.

This obscure bit of Donkey Kong history was originally released as a Virtual Console title that came as a pre-installed bonus on PAL models of the bright red 25th anniversary edition Wii console. A couple of years later it resurfaced on the 3DS, and then in 2018 it was rolled out again for the debut of Nintendo Switch Online.

Original Edition is an updated version of the original NES Donkey Kong game (   • Donkey Kong (NES) Playthrough - Ninte...   ), so while it was never released in cartridge form, it is still a "real," official NES title. It utilizes a larger ROM than the 1985 version did in order to restore some of the content that had to be originally cut due to memory restrictions.

The biggest change is that the arcade game's cement factory (50M) stage is included as the second stage in the now-four stage rotation. It's nice to have a more complete representation of the game on the NES, but its implementation here makes it clear why this was the stage was previously left on the cutting room floor: this was the stage that the NES's hardware was least capable of accurately reproducing. Donkey Kong now stands stationary and impotent at the top of the screen, and there's a ton of sprite flicker that shows up on the row with the oil barrel. For whatever reason, one of point items is also missing. It's neat to have it included, but it's more compromised than the other stages.

The other notable change is the new animation for when Donkey Kong grabs Pauline and climbs the ladder to the next stage. Now you can catch a fleeting glimpse of Donkey Kong's firm glutes and Pauline's bloomers! Wee!

Beyond those two additions, I believe the only other difference is the change made to the copyright text on the title screen. The stage intro animations and the "How high can you get?" screens are still missing.

Original Edition doesn't do anything to reinvent the wheel, but it is an interesting (however half-hearted) effort to polish up an old game. It's still much better than the (surprisingly good) Atari 7800 port (   • Donkey Kong (Atari 7800) Playthrough ...   ), and it still falls far short of the amazing Game Boy game, though (   • Donkey Kong (Game Boy) Playthrough - ...   ).

I have to wonder why they didn't just release an emulated version of the actual arcade game instead.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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