Donkey Kong 3
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.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
- Stanley
- Stanley's job is to defend the greenhouse that Donkey Kong has
invaded. He does this with his trusty bug spray. When Stanley pumps
his spray can, the spray travels a certain distance before dissipating
so it's not useful against targets that are far away. Stanley primarily
uses his bug spray to zap bugs or to make Donkey Kong scoot up the vines
that he holds onto. In order to complete each stage, Stanley's goal is
to either push Donkey Kong all the way up the vine using bug spray, or
defeat every insect present in that stage. There are many ways for
Stanley to lose a life, including touching an insect, getting shot by
any of the bee stingers, running out of time, or allowing Donkey Kong
to slip off the bottom of the vine.
- Donkey Kong
- Nintendo's favorite simian seems to have been working out a little
bit compared to his previous appearances. Donkey Kong attempts to keep
himself above harm's way by hanging on to two vines that descend from
the greenhouse ceiling. If left alone, Donkey Kong slips down the vines
little by little, hoping to land on Stanley by surprise. Occasionally,
he will reach over to one of the two beehives along side him and tap
them in order to send more bees after Stanley. In the yellow stages, he even grabs coconuts from time to time and lobs them at Stanley's head.
Starting in round 15, he will throw coconuts at you regardless of the
stage.
- Super Spray
- One time for every one of Stanley's lives, a more powerful bug spray will be perched on Donkey Kong's right vine. When Stanley pushes Donkey
Kong high enough so that his hand is touching the spray, the spray falls
to the ground, at which time Stanley can pick it up. The Super Spray lasts
for a number of seconds, and continues with Stanley to the next stage until
the full time runs out. When this spray is activated, Donkey Kong is forced
up the vines much faster, Creepies die when hit, and Queen Bees die in one
hit. It will not be replenished after it runs out until Stanley loses a
life, so it's not a good idea to plan your strategy around it's use.
- Beespy & Buzzbee
- These bugs are the primary attack force of the hive. Stanley starts the game squaring off against the Beespies as they swoop down and try to
steal Stanley's vegetables. Starting in round 12, the hive switches to
their faster and more aggressive soldier, the Buzzbees. Buzzbees strike
at Stanley more directly than Beespies. Either bee may or may not be
accompanying a Queen Bee, but they are dangerous either way.
- Queen Bees
- Starting in round 3, the Queen Bees of the hive will from time to time enter the fray surrounded by their royal escorts. One shot isn't enough to
do them in, it simply changes them from red to blue. Even after you shoot
them a second time, the threat isn't over. When killed, they split up into
4 tiny projectiles that can kill you if the connect. You are only safe
directly beneath them when they die.
- Buttifly & Beetle
- Starting in round 6, the Buttiflies escape from the hive. They fly down along the side of the screen until they are even with Stanley, pause
for a brief moment, and then charge across the screen in an attempt to
collide with him. They disappear after round 16, only to be replaced with
Beetles in round 18, who are bigger and a bit harder to dodge. Beetles do
not pause as Buttiflies do, and attack immediately.
- Moth
- The Moth is the mercenary of the bee hive, employed from round 24 and
on. They move erratically, so it's slightly difficult to predict where
they are going to end up. They will occasionally attack Stanley, or they
will swoop down for his vegetables. Don't let them distract you from your
efforts to force Donkey Kong up the vine, but don't get in their way either,
or let them fly away with your plants.
- Creepy
- This worm likes to play interference. In the blue and gray stages,
he crawls down to the platforms from the plants along the side of the
screen. Once he reaches the platform, he will wiggle back and forth and
make a nuisance of himself. He cannot be killed by the normal bug spray,
but he is quite allergic to it, and spraying him causes him to stop in
his tracks until he finishes coughing. He can be persuaded to climb back
up the plant for a while if you blast him with spray before he reaches
the platforms. In yellow stages, three or more Creepies will slide along
the vines below Donkey Kong and try to get in the way of your bug spray.
If you hit one, not only with it absorb the spray, but you'll have to
wait for it to finish coughing before he will move on and allow you to
shoot Kong. They can be killed by super spray.
- Beebomb
- After an insect successfully steals one of your plants, it turns into
a Beebomb. Beebombs circle around a few times near the hive that they came
from, and then immediately dive bomb towards Stanley. They are incredibly
fast when diving towards you, but due to their direct attack nature, they
are easy to defeat as long as you keep your eyes on them and time a blast
of bug spray just as they are about to hit you.
- Vine Eater
- These creatures appear when the bonus timer runs out. When the timer
reaches zero, two of these appear on either side of the screen. They are
oblivious to bug spray. When they reach the vines, they eat the vine from
the bottom up to the ceiling. If they eat the section of vine that Donkey
Kong is holding on to, Donkey Kong falls down and Stanley loses a life
just as if he had allowed Donkey Kong to drop off the vine himself.
Trivia
Donkey Kong 3 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.
(arcade-history)
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