There's certainly more to Donkey Kong than terrific 2D platformers — the ape began life as a villain in the iconic self-titled arcade, went 3D on the Nintendo 64, has gone up against Mario in some tricky puzzle games and even had his own set of bongos. All of that said, Game Boy Advance title DK: King of Swing is still one of the mascot's more surprising titles.
In this game you use the two shoulder buttons to guide DK between pegs from a top-down perspective, swinging through environments while collecting bananas and taking down foes. It's tricky to explain, so the official trailer below may help.
As you may have guessed that's from Nintendo's Japanese YouTube channel; this title's been released today on the Wii U Virtual Console in the country. It seems to be headed to the West too, however, courtesy of a heads up via an ESRB rating.
Do you think you'll get into the swing of this one when it makes it out of Japan? Let us know.
[source esrb.org, via nintendoeverything.com]
Comments 52
Its always good to see VC entries but... NO THANKS.
This game looks cute af Luv DK
This actually may be fun.
No, NOA, you are wrong again.
This is not the DK game we want. I don't care that Diddy is in the cover, it is NOT this one!
lol that looks cool
give us gba and super nintendo games for 3ds already, nintendo !!!
Don't buy this game please. Save your 8 bucks for something else like the DKC trilogy or Super Castlevania IV. Anything but this.
Dem PC Engine Games PLEASE?
I was wondering what happened to this series. I really enjoyed this game a lot when it came out, though I never got up the time/dough to grab Jungle Climber for DS. I liked the visual style of this one and the gameplay was unique. May have to pick this one up when it hits North America. Also, it never occurred to me until literally right now that this was based on Clu Clu Land. Honestly, they should just re-skin it with a re-imagined Clu Clu Land 2.5D design and sell it on the eShop for a couple bucks as "Clu Clu U." I would probably buy that.
Also, I didn't really consider this a "top down" perspective, so much as just a 2D one.
DK Jungle Climber, this game's sequel, is one of the most disappointing titles I've ever played on a Nintendo console. So no, I'm definitely not getting this one.
Meanwhile, Japan gets the DKC trilogy this week.
Come on, NOA. I want to play some DKC trilogy on my Gamepad.
Game shows as coming out tomorrow on Nintendo.com for 6.99.
No sign of DKC.
I'll get all the DK I can get. Bring DK Arcade and DK Jr. Math to Europe as well!
Wait, wait. Are the DK Bongos compatible with Smash?! I had forgotten all about them until their mention in this article. I know mine are still out in the garage somewhere.
where is donkey kong land and country(gbc version) for the 3ds vitual console
@Stu13 They work on DK's final smash, but I don't know if you can do other stuff with it.
expects this to be here by tomorrow even though this game isn't really borderline bad per se I bought the cartridge .
I would rather the real Donkey Kong games.... not garbage.
@Dipper723
and Europe already got it.
It don't mean a thing if it aint got that swing, unfortunately this swing aint it.
I played it and it was really fun, actually. It feels nice to use the shoulder buttons to grab with each hand. Definetly not garbage.
YES!!! Love this game! This is just as "real" a DK game as anything else! Prefer this over ALL the DK Land games on SNES / GB - which haven't dated well at all!
Now just bring us a remastered DK64 3D and I'll be satisfied. The DK / Mini-Mario game for WiiU can't come soon enough either!
WHy all the hate? This is a great game.
Weird: never even heard of this game before.
looks fun but kinda slow
and i have never heard of this game before i would maybe try it out
Looks like a mobile app game. This isn't the game I'm looking for, Nintendo. Give me Donkey Kong Country!
@allav866 my thoughts exactly. This is $7.99 for an old GBA game that looks like nothing more than a decent at best mobile game. Terrible Choice Nintendo
(looks at the comments) Have you guys even played it? I await a review!
The game is set to release this Thursday for $6.99. Maybe they're planning to release the DKC/DKL Trilogies on Thanksgiving?
Blah Blah Blah... When does Zero Mission come out!?!?!?!?
I'm glad that Nintendo gave the UK the DKC series and gave those of us in the US this garbage.
Yes! I could never get ahold of this game back in the day. Finally, a GBA VC game I need!
Looks pretty cool and seeing as I could always use more DK in my gaming I will most likely end up picking this one up!
I completed it 100% because is DK, but this game is horrible.
I've played the Ds version, its not great
I always seem to forget that this game is a thing that happened. That might be for the best.
NOA is just trolling now.
@NintyMan It's already confirmed not to be? I thought NA releases were revealed on Thursdays?
Oh that's funny. And sad. Reggie!!!!!
Wow, I totally forgot about owning this title before until now.. It was quirky and fun the only problem was I quit playing because my right shoulder button stopped working on my GBA thus rendered the game unplayable for me.. I think. Why the hate people, please give me a detailed explanation why this game, a game I enjoyed in my childhood, is 'garbage'.
I remember playing this game at "Target" while my sister played "NINTENDOGS" on the phat "NINTENDO DS" way back in 05. From what I've played, I liked it.
@NintyMan all 3 hitting Japan next week. UK has all 3 already...just good ole NOA dragging ass as usual! Wii u was 2 years old yesterday and we STILL only getting 1 vc game a week! Ugh!!!
People should stop judging this game based on their wanting of DKC. This game is great, quirky fun and that cannot be diminished by the lack of another game.
Wow, I didn't remember the animations being so, well... terrible.
@sinalefa I want this DK game :/
Never had a chance to play it back when it came out.
I got this game and Its really a fun game actually! It has tons of replay value and the simple controls work really well for this one.
I think Nintendo needs to expand the series even more than what it is now with only two games being done.
@ikki5
Odd, I think the DKC trilogy (hasn't aged well, graphics look like poo compared to sprites, etc. Only DKC2 is the real masterpiece) is garbage compared to this very fun and inventive game.
I remember seeing this in the Club Nintendo magazine years ago, unfortunately I never got the chance to play it. It reminds me a little bit of Aura Aura Climber, guess I'll wait for the review.
... and talking about reviews, are you guys gonna review Sportsball? I'm just curious, it's taken a little longer than usual
Fun little game. I owned this one and had good times playing it on my phat DS.
@6ch6ris6 - agreed with the SNES games being on the 3DS, that would be cool and I can't see any reason why not. I doubt we'll get GBA titles though due to the Ambassador pledge.
This game is coming out today for North America.
I liked playing this game. My sister used to have it on her GBA. I'll pick it up since I don't see DKC or DKL hitting the US any time soon.
I have never played it before, so good news!
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