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European Donkey Kong "Original edition" is NES update + missing level

A

Agent Unknown

Member
Please delete if this is already somewhere on the forum but I searched many times and couldn't find anything even though the Mario 25th bundle has been out for months.

http://www.aussie-nintendo.com/news/24186/

It's taken a mere 27 years, but Nintendo has successfully ported Donkey Kong to the NES in its entirety - kind of. While the recent red Wii bundle includes a 25th anniversary Super Mario Bros. ROM-hack here in Australia, Europe instead receives Donkey Kong - Original Edition as their built-in game.

Not much was known about this title until recently; some speculated it would be the original arcade version of Donkey Kong, others figured it'd just be the NES Virtual Console game pre-installed. As it turns out, Donkey Kong - Original Edition is actually a new and improved NES port, updated with extra sprite animation from the arcade game along with its cement factory level (sometimes known as the pie factory).

You won't find find this level in the NES version.

See, while Donkey Kong has all of four levels, the NES port only featured three of them. As it was one of the system's launch titles in 1983, it's rumoured that Nintendo simply didn't have cartridges big enough to store the whole game back then, so they removed an entire level and called it a day.

Why Nintendo of Europe didn't simply just throw the actual arcade version of Donkey Kong on the red Wii will likely remain some kind of mystery. Going as far as tinkering around with the NES port to finally 'complete' it is just a touch bizarre, and that's why it's awesome.

For now, Donkey Kong - Original Edition is exclusive to the red Wii hardware in Europe. Hopefully nobody accidently deletes this channel from their system. See below for a full playthrough of this edition. Holy crap, spoiler alert!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeXz_R8WLYI&feature=player_embedded
Click to expand...
 
S

ShockingAlberto

Member
Why Nintendo isn't just selling this and the Japanese SMB thing on American VC is beyond me. It's not like we're able to buy it any other way.
 
D

Drkirby

Corporate Apologist
I hope they just happened to find the source code to this version and didn't spend weeks coding it.
 
J

Jazzem

Member
synt4x said:
Well, then it just wouldn't be authentic to the PAL experience!
Click to expand...

NTSC folk have no idea how good they have it! I've been looking into getting a Mega Drive modded for 60Hz play, but it's not clear what PAL games will work okay when forced into 60Hz and what won't, so I'm going to have to mix and match PAL and NTSC Mega Drive games...gah!

At least we had the better looking SNES (and IMO the better Sega console name in Mega Drive).
 
J

Jazzem

Member
Drkirby said:
But we still had a 60Hz Snes.
Click to expand...

Shush, let us have one point at least ;_;

To get back on topic (sorry my fault), I hope they do port the original Donkey Kong arcade version eventually, it's one of those early arcade games I feel still holds up very well. Only one I (and I imagine many on here) have access to is the port on Donkey Kong 64.
 
D

drohne

hyperbolically metafictive
that's pretty bizarre given how easy it would be to just emulate the arcade version. or just pass off the old incomplete nes version. i bet there's like one middle-aged programmer at nintendo who was banished to some tiny cubicle in an obscure department for failing to put all four levels in the famicom version of donkey kong and ~25 years later he finally got his chance at redemption
 
A Black Falcon

A Black Falcon

Member
dave_d said:
Well they could release DK64 since I think that game has the arcade version as an unlockable.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if it's the arcade version, actually, I think I've heard it might not be, but it certainly is a very good port. It's got all the levels, the arcade graphics (not the simpler NES stuff), the original level intros (25 m, 50 m, the full ending, etc), and it saves your high score too.

Is this here actually an upgraded version of the NES game, or something more like the DK version in DK64?
 
W

wsippel

Banned
Emulating the originial arcade game is really, really hard. Took the MAME guys years to figure out the sound chip for example. I guess updating the NES port was a lot simpler.
 
N

Nikashi

Banned
A Black Falcon said:
I'm not sure if it's the arcade version, actually, I think I've heard it might not be, but it certainly is a very good port. It's got all the levels, the arcade graphics (not the simpler NES stuff), the original level intros (25 m, 50 m, the full ending, etc), and it saves your high score too.

Is this here actually an upgraded version of the NES game, or something more like the DK version in DK64?
Click to expand...


Upgraded NES version, still missing intro, still has wierd hammer placement, and SLOW ASS barrels. I swear to god Nintendo hates the arcade ver for some reason.
 
A Black Falcon

A Black Falcon

Member
wsippel said:
Emulating the originial arcade game is really, really hard. Took the MAME guys years to figure out the sound chip for example. I guess updating the NES port was a lot simpler.
Click to expand...

Then they should just remove Jet Pack from DK64 and release that on the VC. But that would require a minimum amount of effort, so I'm sure they won't be doing that anytime in the foreseeable future.

Of course though the arcade versions should be listed too, it's kind of absurd that DK and DK Jr. aren't in the Wii Virtual Arcade.

Nikashi said:
Upgraded NES version, still missing intro, still has wierd hammer placement, and SLOW ASS barrels. I swear to god Nintendo hates the arcade ver for some reason.
Click to expand...

That's disappointing. It's great that the pie factory level is in it, but beyond that it doesn't sound like there's that much reason to care about this...
 
S

Son.Ralph.Funk

Member
ShockingAlberto said:
Why Nintendo isn't just selling this and the Japanese SMB thing on American VC is beyond me. It's not like we're able to buy it any other way.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure the arcade Donkey Kong is on the virtual console.
 
B

BGBW

Maturity, bitches.
On the bright side it's now easier to go for a world record, even if you only get to hold the title for a day.
 
N

Nikashi

Banned
Son.Ralph.Funk said:
I'm pretty sure the arcade Donkey Kong is on the virtual console.
Click to expand...

It's not, the Arcade version has only ever been released by Nintendo again in DK64, they've never released it in any other way whatsoever :/
 
S

storafötter

Member
Wasnt this version game in Donkey Kong 64, thats the only version of this game I played and looks very identical. I liked the blue coin challenges too.
 
W

Why would you do that?

Member
That's... kinda awesome. It's like a new NES game is being released, made for Europe. I'm surprised Nintendo'd actually go through that sort of trouble.

I wonder if they'll release it in other territories...
 
L

LordAlu

Member
Jazzem said:
NTSC folk have no idea how good they have it! I've been looking into getting a Mega Drive modded for 60Hz play, but it's not clear what PAL games will work okay when forced into 60Hz and what won't, so I'm going to have to mix and match PAL and NTSC Mega Drive games...gah!

At least we had the better looking SNES (and IMO the better Sega console name in Mega Drive).
Click to expand...
I have a modded Mega Drive and almost all my games play just fine in 60Hz. Some of them don't like it if you have 60Hz selected when you turn it on, but you can always start it in 50Hz and then switch to 60Hz afterwards - it doesn't affect the game negatively at all. I think only one of my games doesn't like 60Hz at all but I can't remember which one :(
 
Z

Zero-Crescent

Member
There's one theory I've seen before about DKOE, I remember reading it before when the Red Wii was announced in Europe, though I can't remember where I read it.

Background: Back in 1993, Nintendo released an updated, arcade-accurate port of Mario Bros. for the European NES market, under the "Classic Series" branding. (Source)
Theory: It is not much of a leap to assume that Nintendo was developing a similarly arcade-accurate port of Donkey Kong for the "Classic Series" brand. Likely due to the late life-cycle launch window, development was probably close to completion, but the cartridge was never released, much like what happened to Earthbound Zero in the US. If NoE still had a cart of the "Classic Series Donkey Kong" lying around...

FAKE EDIT: After some searching, I found the source of this theory:
http://dreamandfriends.com/2010/11/17/so-nintendos-giving-away-prototype-roms/
 
A

Agent Unknown

Member
dave_d said:
Well they could release DK64 since I think that game has the arcade version as an unlockable.
Click to expand...

Nikashi said:
It's not, the Arcade version has only ever been released by Nintendo again in DK64, they've never released it in any other way whatsoever :/
Click to expand...

Whoa crazy, never knew this. Barely played DK 64 much in the day let alone owned or even rented it (all the collectathon comments and a medicore demo I played of it at EB turned me off) but it may be time to hit up ebay now.
 
D

DDayton

(more a nerd than a geek)
Agent Unknown said:
It's beyond me why they won't just release DK on VC Arcade. :(
Click to expand...

Well, there was the whole lawsuit over the rights to the code for the arcade game, which resulted in some sort of hush hush settlement...
 
E

El Pescado

Member
DavidDayton said:
Well, there was the whole lawsuit over the rights to the code for the arcade game, which resulted in some sort of hush hush settlement...
Click to expand...
Wait, what? I have never heard of this.
 
C

Chet Rippo

Member
Agent Unknown said:
Whoa crazy, never knew this. Barely played DK 64 much in the day let alone owned or even rented it (all the collectathon comments and a medicore demo I played of it at EB turned me off) but it may be time to hit up ebay now.
Click to expand...

Not to mention you have to play through the arcade game twice to actually beat DK64.
 
D

DDayton

(more a nerd than a geek)
El Pescado said:
Wait, what? I have never heard of this.
Click to expand...

http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=2&cId=3182436

http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Blog:Ikegami_and_Me

http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Ikegami_Tsushinki

http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Ikegami_Tsushinki said:
Ikegami Tsushinki (池上通信機), founded on September 10, 1946, and incorporated on February 21, 1948, is a manufacturer of broadcasting equipment. [1] In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the company was apparently involved with developing arcade games. Among those games was Radar Scope, which Ikegami designed and developed for Nintendo . . .
. . . Yamauchi assigned a young Shigeru Miyamoto with designing a new game using the Radar Scope hardware. What Miyamoto came up with was Donkey Kong. Nintendo decided to work with Ikegami, which had the technology to program it. Ikegami wrote all the code and sold Nintendo 8,000-20,000 PCBs (Nintendo copied 80,000 without permission). Since there was no contract between Ikegami and Nintendo, Nintendo did not have the source code. But Nintendo wanted a sequel, so DK was disassembled and reverse engineered (through subcontractor Iwasaki Giken) and soon came Donkey Kong Junior (noted as being the first Nintendo game developed entirely in-house). In 1983, an angered Ikegami sued Nintendo for ¥580,000,000 for copyright infringement, claiming it owned the original DK code. In 1990, the two companies settled out of court. The details of that were not released to the public. In another trial that year, it was determined that Nintendo did not hold the copyright to the DK code.[1]
Click to expand...
 
W

wsippel

Banned
DavidDayton said:
http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=2&cId=3182436

http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Blog:Ikegami_and_Me

http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Ikegami_Tsushinki
Click to expand...
Looks like Ikegami expected someone to try and reverse engineer the code and hid a message in one of the ROMs, terrible Engrish included:

CONGRATULATION !IF YOU ANALYSE DIFFICULT THIS PROGRAM,WE WOULD TEACH YOU.*****TEL.TOKYO-JAPAN 044(244)2151 EXTENTION 304 SYSTEM DESIGN IKEGAMI CO. LIM.
Click to expand...
http://maws.mameworld.info/maws/romset/dkong
 
D

Dreamwriter

Member
I think it's odd that the NES version didn't have all 4 levels in the first place. Sure, it was a launch title for the system, but more than that, Donkey Kong was the game the NES was designed to play. When Nintendo went to the company that designed the system, they specifically asked for a system that could recreate Donkey Kong on a TV screen. So it's odd that it couldn't fit all 4 levels in the default cartridge size.
 
D

Dyno

Member
They was pies! PIES I TELLS YA!

And they were in line with all of the other random non-sequiters that make up a Mario game.
 
wondermega

wondermega

Member
The Ikegami stuff fascinates me, much in the way the whole "Midway/General Computer/Ms Pac-Man" stuff fascinates me (the company which "created" Ms Pac-Man illegally, in the first place, actually has been making printers ever since..)

It is frustrating that all of that history is so unbelievably hazy, and especially since it's from a petty tight-lipped foreign market (and so many decades ago) we'll never know the juicy details. Of course, many people don't want to know. What if Miyamoto only had a passing contribution in creating DK/Mario/etc to begin with? (Does it even matter?)

As for this new "freak" version of DK being released, I'll speculate that perhaps the code for the NES/Famicom pie level has been sitting completed for decades as well - maybe dating back to the version's original production - and they merely "flicked a switch" to enable it in this version. Again, why stir the pot? So bizarre (but, I love the mysterious drama)
 
alf717

alf717

Member
50Hz just makes the world cry.

Edit: ouch beaten to the punch.

Hey Nintendo! I will buy this if you release this in the US.
 
G

Glix

Member
dave_d said:
Well they could release DK64 since I think that game has the arcade version as an unlockable.
Click to expand...

If they did, I bet they would take that part out. I would say I'm 99% sure.

edit - Wait its not an unlock and you need to play it to beat the game?? Wow, weird.
 
A

Agent Unknown

Member
DavidDayton said:
http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=2&cId=3182436

http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Blog:Ikegami_and_Me

http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Ikegami_Tsushinki
Click to expand...

I'd heard whispers of this before a few years ago but forgot and never got around to researching it, thanks. Time to do some reading.

wondermega said:
The Ikegami stuff fascinates me, much in the way the whole "Midway/General Computer/Ms Pac-Man" stuff fascinates me (the company which "created" Ms Pac-Man illegally, in the first place, actually has been making printers ever since..)

It is frustrating that all of that history is so unbelievably hazy, and especially since it's from a petty tight-lipped foreign market (and so many decades ago) we'll never know the juicy details. Of course, many people don't want to know. What if Miyamoto only had a passing contribution in creating DK/Mario/etc to begin with? (Does it even matter?)
Click to expand...

Heck yeah, it matters. I mean, it wouldn't destroy my world but in light of this I do now wonder how much of the gameplay Miyamoto was responsible for. But then again whatever really happened shouldn't be too earth shattering, when has Miyamoto ever done coding himself? I've always seen he and Tezuka as Lucas/Spielberg and the programmers/coders as Industrial Light and Magic.
 
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