Donkey Kong 3

Donkey Kong 3 is the third game in the Donkey Kong arcade series. Unlike its predecessors, Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr., it does not feature Mario, instead it stars Stanley. The game's approach is closer to a shoot 'em up rather than a platformer, further distinguishing it from the previous Donkey Kong games.

Hudson Soft developed a semi-sequel to Donkey Kong 3, titled Donkey Kong 3: Dai Gyakushū, featuring new levels. Donkey Kong 3 was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System under the Arcade Classics Series of games, came out for the e-Reader as part of Series Three, along with seeing a Virtual Console release for the Wii, Nintendo 3DS, and Wii U. The original arcade version was released under 's Arcade Archives brand on the Nintendo Switch's eShop on April 5, 2019.

Story
Donkey Kong breaks into Stanley's greenhouse and goes to hang in the rafters where he stirs up nests of bugs, which will destroy Stanley's flowers in revenge. Armed with a sprayer, Stanley must destroy the bees and chase Donkey Kong away before he eats all five of his vegetables.

Characters

 * Stanley
 * Donkey Kong

Enemies

 * Beespies
 * Beebombs
 * Queen Buzzbees
 * Buttiflies
 * Buzzbees
 * Beetles
 * Moths
 * Creepies
 * Vine Eaters (arcade only)

Greenhouses

 * Blue Greenhouse
 * Gray Greenhouse
 * Yellow Greenhouse

Gameplay
The game is very simplistic, requiring the player to gather points as the object rather than have any specific long-term goal in mind. There are three screens per level, and once the player completes all three, they return to the first. Throughout the screens are scattered various enemies: Buzzbees, Beespies, Queen Buzzbees which shatter into deadly pieces when destroyed, Buttiflies, Beebombs, Vine Eaters, and Creepies. The bees attempt to steal Stanley's flowers, and the bees must be destroyed before reaching the plants. Donkey Kong himself hangs from two vines at the top of the screen. Spraying him drives him upwards and eventually off the screen to win. In the arcade version, defeating him in the Yellow Greenhouse causes his head to be pushed into a beehive. Stanley automatically moves out of his way as Donkey Kong falls, where the beehive splits in half. He becomes stunned, and Stanley does a victory dance. In the NES version, the beehive falls on his head, but the rest of the cutscene is absent.

The Gray Greenhouse never appears in the first round. The Yellow Greenhouse directly follows the Blue Greenhouse, but the Gray Greenhouse is included in all rounds following the first. The Blue Greenhouse is repeated from the 159th screen to the 255th screen. The game then loops back to the first round which skips the Gray Greenhouse.

In some stages, a Power Spray can be found, attached to the vines Donkey Kong hangs by. When he is pushed up to its levels, it falls, allowing Stanley to equip it for a limited time. It turns his insecticide yellow and it becomes more powerful, even being able to defeat Creepies.

Sales
According to The Ultimate History of Video Games: from Pong to Pokemon and beyond...the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world, the arcade version of Donkey Kong 3 moved 5,000 units in North America, representing a steep decline from the previous installments (which sold 60,000 and 30,000 unit respectively, according to the same book).

References in later games

 * WarioWare: Twisted!: The microgame Donkey Kong 3 is based on this game.
 * WarioWare: Touched!: The microgame Donkey Kong 3 is based on this game.
 * NES Remix: Several challenges are based on this game.

Trivia

 * The for the game has two misspelled words back-to-back, saying "Donkey Kong has plenty og cocnuts to hurl at you."