Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong for Game & Watch is Nintendo’s 1982 Multi Screen handheld adaptation, model DK-52. Its folding case contains two LCD playfields, extending the construction site across an upper and lower screen.

Donkey Kong holds the lady at the top of the site. The player guides Mario upward through the structure, avoiding barrels that roll toward him and girders that move overhead.

The objective is not to clear the arcade game’s four stages. Mario must reach the crane, use its swinging hook, and remove the wires supporting Donkey Kong. Once every wire is removed, Donkey Kong falls and the lady is rescued.

The directional control moves Mario left and right and up and down ladders; pressing left can start the crane. The jump control lets him clear barrels and board the hook, while collisions, hitting an overhead girder during a jump, or missing the hook cost a rescuer.

This is a dedicated LCD game rather than the 1981 arcade board, the NES/Famicom conversion, or the 1994 Game Boy cartridge. It has Game A and Game B modes, with Game B intended as the more challenging option.