History VideoGame / DonkeyKong94

* AdaptationalBadass: Donkey Kong is much more persistent compared to the arcade version. Here, it takes chasing him through ten worlds and fighting him in ten boss fights before he's finally defeated.

* LikeFatherLikeSon: Though Donkey Kong Jr. isn't as good at antagonizing Mario.
* LockAndKeyPuzzle: Pretty much the entire point of the game.
* LostWoods: The "Forest".
* MakeMyMonsterGrow: The final boss, though he seems to make himself grow.

Every four levels, you face off against Donkey Kong himself, sometimes accompanied by Donkey Kong Junior. The last stage of each world is a direct boss battle against the big guy where you get to throw the barrels ''back'' at him.

Every four levels, you face off against Donkey Kong himself. The last stage of each world is a direct boss battle against the big guy where you get to throw the barrels ''back'' at him.

* CallForward: Mario, Donkey Kong, Junior, and Pauline all end up in the [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1 Mushroom Kingdom]].

* EndOfAnEra: This would prove to be the last "classic" ''Donkey Kong'' game prior to Creator/{{Rare}} radically revamping his appearance and character later the same year with the release of ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry''.

* FragileSpeedster: While Mario is faster, more nimble and resists falls better than he did in the [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong original game]], he's still defenseless against enemies if he has nothing to throw on them and one well-placed projectile [[OneHitPointWonder can steal him a life]].

* DeathMountain: The Rocky Valley is the penultimate world before the Tower.

** This is what happens to Donkey Kong [[spoiler:before turning giant]].
** And like the arcade game, Donkey Kong appears to fall to his demise after beating the last of the original four stages, only to get right back up and kidnap Pauline again.

* FragileSpeedster: While Mario is faster, more nimble and resists falls better, he's still defenseless against enemies if he has nothing to throw on them and one well-placed projectile [[OneHitPointWonder can steal him a life]].

* JungleJapes: The simply named Jungle world.

* SlippySlideyIceWorld: The appropriately named Iceberg world.

* PushyMooks: The fittingly-named Sir Shovalot charges at Mario with its shield as soon as it sees him. While they can be useful to get through tight gaps, if they push Mario against a wall, he'll be SquashedFlat and lose a life.

* VideoGameSettings: Mario chases Donkey Kong through quite a lot of scenery:
** BossOnlyLevel: Every fourth stage, and Tower stages. Also the trope picture.
** BubblyClouds: A few Airplane stages and one Tower stage.
** BuildLikeAnEgyptian: Desert.
** DeathMountain: The penultimate location, Rocky-Valley. Also the longest with '''16 levels'''.
** DownInTheDumps: A few Big-City stages.
** EternalEngine: At least one Airplane stage.
** GangplankGalleon: Ship.
** GreenHillZone: Forest.
** GustyGlade: A few Airplane stages.
** ItsAllUpstairsFromHere: Tower.
** JungleJapes: Jungle.
** LethalLavaLand: A few Rocky-Valley stages.
** LevelsTakeFlight: Airplane.
** TheLostWoods: Forest and Jungle.
** NoobCave: The Construction Site, where the first 4 levels take place. It apparently isn't even counted as a world, as World 1 is the one after it.
** NostalgiaLevel: The first four stages are straight from the arcade.
** OneTimeDungeon: Every stage is this and thus cannot be revisited once beaten...unless you choose to start from it on the file menu.
** ShiftingSandLand: Desert.
** SlippySlideyIceWorld: Iceberg.
** TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: Tower.

* SaveThePrincess: [[CompletelyMissingThePoint Pauline isn't actually a princess]], but still.

** Mario also has a rolling maneuver if he's moving diagonally, which prevents him from being stunned like he normally would if he falls far enough. If he completely inverts during the fall though, he will land on his head and die.

* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: Like in the original Donkey Kong, Mario can get killed if he drops from too far high up (though the distance to do so has significantly increased). If you don't swerve and turn it into a roll (which helps negate the fall damage), you get the grisly image of Mario ''cracking his skull'' before he enters his classic death pose (with a unique jingle just to rub it in).

* SequelDifficultyDrop: The first four levels are [[NostalgiaLevel the levels of the original game]]. However, Mario starts with all of the upgraded abilities that you get to take advantage of in this game. Even if you don't know how to do his new moves, this includes improved jump height, improved speed on ladders, and the ability to fall much further before dying. Consequently, it's much easier to clear the first four levels than it was in the original game. A level in the Tower is much closer to the actual 25m, although it's just as easy to get through as the first level with Mario's new moves. The other levels, however, didn't receive the same treatment.

* DifficultySpike: The game really starts to get hard around Iceberg.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUIcyuLryzw music]] for Iceberg invokes this.

* BloodsuckingBats: It's implied that the bat enemy is vampiric, as it makes a "suck-suck" noise when it touches Mario.

The game starts with the pretense of being a straight UpdatedRerelease of the [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong original 1981]] UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame. The exact same ExcusePlot is used here--Donkey Kong has kidnapped [[DamselInDistress Pauline]], and [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]] must chase him down. The game even opens with the same four levels of the original, but after the fourth level is beaten, the arcade ending begins, and is [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle immediately subverted]] when Donkey Kong comes to and takes Pauline back. What follows is 97 levels of {{lock and key puzzle}}s spread across nine more worlds.

Every four levels, you face off against Donkey Kong himself. The last stage of each world is a barrel fight.