When Four Levels Became a Ninety-Seven Level Adventure

Revisiting the Games That Shaped a Lifetime of Gaming

When people think about Donkey Kong, they no doubt picture the arcade classic released back in 1981. It introduced both Donkey Kong and Mario to the world, laying the foundations for two of Nintendo’s most recognisable characters.

Since then, both have gone on to star in countless adventures, but one game often gets overlooked: Donkey Kong for the Game Boy, better known today as Donkey Kong ’94.

At first glance, it looks like a faithful handheld version of the arcade original.

That’s exactly what Nintendo wanted you to think.

More Than Just an Arcade Port

The game begins with the original four arcade stages. If you’ve played the arcade game before, you’ll probably expect the credits to roll once they’re complete.

Instead, Donkey Kong gets back up, grabs Pauline, and runs away.

Only then does the real adventure begin.

What follows is another ninety-seven stages spread across a variety of worlds, turning what looked like a simple arcade conversion into one of the Game Boy’s biggest and most inventive adventures.

Even today, I still think it’s one of Nintendo’s cleverest surprises.

A Puzzle Platformer in Disguise

I remember sinking countless hours into Donkey Kong ’94 when I first owned it on the Game Boy.

Most stages shared a simple objective: collect the key and unlock the exit.

On paper, it couldn’t sound simpler.

In reality, every level introduced a different puzzle.

Switches, moving platforms, enemies, springs, ropes, and Mario’s ever-growing collection of acrobatic moves constantly changed how each stage played.

As the adventure progressed, Mario learned techniques that felt far beyond what the original arcade game offered. Handstands, backflips, high jumps, rope swings, and other athletic moves gave him a surprising amount of mobility, allowing Nintendo to create increasingly inventive puzzles.

Looking back, it’s easy to see how many of these ideas would later influence the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series. Mario wasn’t just running and jumping anymore; he was becoming a much more agile and versatile character.

If you wanted every present hidden throughout the game, you had another layer of challenge waiting for you.

For a Game Boy title released in 1994, it felt enormous.

Thirty Years Later

Returning to the game over thirty years later reminded me why it has remained one of my favourite Game Boy games.

Yes, it shows its age in places, but great game design rarely becomes outdated.

The puzzles remain satisfying, Mario controls beautifully, and the constant introduction of new mechanics keeps the adventure feeling fresh from beginning to end.

It deserves to be remembered as far more than simply “the Game Boy version of Donkey Kong.”

One Puzzle Left Unfinished

I’m going to be completely honest.

When I first owned the game as a child, I never truly completed it on my own.

There was one puzzle late in the game that completely defeated me. I eventually needed help to solve it, and although I finished every other stage myself, that one level always stayed with me.

Returning all these years later gave me the opportunity to put that right.

When that puzzle finally fell under my own determination, it felt like I had closed a chapter that had remained unfinished since childhood.

The Final Climb

Reaching the final battle felt surprisingly emotional.

Even though I had faced the final boss many times over the years, it usually took several attempts before everything came together.

This time, it happened on the very first attempt.

When the final hit landed and the credits began to roll, another familiar feeling returned.

Tears of joy.

This wasn’t simply about beating a Game Boy game.

It was about finally completing one of the games that helped shape the gamer I would become.

The Journey

This return to Donkey Kong ’94 was recorded as a complete no-commentary playthrough. If you’d like to experience the adventure from beginning to end, you can watch the full playlist on YouTube.

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▶ Watch the complete Donkey Kong ’94 playthrough on YouTube

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Still Worth Playing Today?

Absolutely.

Although I didn’t set out to collect every present hidden throughout every stage, I achieved exactly what I wanted from this journey.

I finally completed Donkey Kong ’94 entirely on my own, something I had never managed as a child.

Looking back, I think Donkey Kong ’94 remains one of Nintendo’s most overlooked classics.

People often remember it for the first four arcade stages.

What they sometimes forget is that those four levels are simply the beginning of one of the finest puzzle platformers ever released on the Game Boy.

It may not receive the same recognition as the original arcade game or the Donkey Kong Country series, but it deserves to be remembered in its own right.

Three decades later, it still surprised me, still challenged me, and still reminded me why I fell in love with gaming in the first place.