History YMMV / DonkeyKong94

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[https://youtu.be/36wycV3oR5k Showdown At The Tower]], the "final" boss theme, is an epic and fast-paced boss theme, perfectly suitable to the final [[spoiler:(actually penultimate)]] battle against Donkey Kong.

** This is the first game to depict Donkey Kong with his now-iconic necktie, several months before ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry''.

* FridgeHorror: Pauline. Getting kidnapped by a giant thuggish ape is bad enough, but being carried away by said ape over the span of a game that lasts more than ''a hundred stages''? Not even Peach has been hauled around this much, or at least never in a single game. She's probably [[BrokenBird an emotional trainwreck]] by the time that Mario finally rescues her. It's no wonder that she's been absent for so long from the overall series; it probably took years of therapy for her to recover from the events of this game. Even then, she ''[[VideoGame/MarioVsDonkeyKong still]]'' hasn't caught a break from being caught in the middle of the disputes of Mario and Donkey Kong (albeit a different one), though she at least managed to be friends with DK this time. She seems to have come out alright down the line though, as she eventually makes a return in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' as the mayor of New Donk City -- a town that grew from the events of this game (as evidenced by the throwback level being acknowledged as the city's origins) and even getting locations named after the big ape's friends and enemies.

* ScrappyMechanic: While the combat roll Mario does at the end of falls of a certain length certainly helps with Mario's surviving skills compared to the original arcade game, at the same time the animation and momentum of the roll are uninterruptible, so Mario can very well roll straight into an enemy or hazard (or down a hole into a lower portion of a level and simply waste time instead) if you aren't careful.

** The music for the Iceberg map. Fittingly for the point where the game begins to get ''seriously'' hard, it's pretty much ThisIsGonnaSuck in music form.

* CultClassic: While not the most well-known or successful Game Boy game, it enjoys a good-sized following that not only considers the game to not only be a great puzzle-platformer, but one of the best games on the Game Boy in general.

* CultClassic: While not the most well known or successful Game Boy game, it enjoys a good-sized following that not only considers the game to not only be a great puzzle-platformer, but one of the best games on the Game Boy in general.

* CultClassic: While not the most well known or successful Game Boy game, it enjoys a good-sized following that not only considers the game to be a great puzzle-platformer, but one of the best games on the Game Boy in general.

* FridgeHorror: Pauline. Getting kidnapped by a giant thuggish ape is bad enough, but being carried away by said ape over the span of a game that lasts more than ''a hundred stages''? Not even Peach has been hauled around this much, or at least never in a single game. She's probably [[BrokenBird an emotional trainwreck]] by the time that Mario finally rescues her. It's no wonder that she's been absent for so long from the overall series; It probably took years of therapy for her to recover from the events of this game. Even then, she ''[[VideoGame/MarioVsDonkeyKong still]]'' hasn't caught a break from being caught in the middle of the disputes of Mario and Donkey Kong (albeit a different one), though she at least managed to be friends with DK this time. She seems to have come out alright down the line though, as she eventually makes a return in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' as the mayor of New Donk City -- a town that grew from the events of this game (as evidenced by the throwback level being acknowledged as the city's origins) and even getting locations named after the big ape's friends and enemies.

* DisappointingLastLevel: Compared to the Rocky Valley -- and even most of the prior worlds, for that matter -- the levels in the Tower are all short, they're unimaginatively designed, and they pose very little difficulty. It just comes across as a speedbump on the way to the final battle.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: Coincidentally enough, the beginning of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXaDv4B6EW8 Showdown at the Tower]] sounds incredibly similar to the ''Series/DoctorWho'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CYDgezeQas theme]].

** The time-up theme.

* CultClassic: While not the most well known or successful Gameboy game, it enjoys a good sized following who not only consider the game to be a great puzzle-platformer, but one of the best games on the Gameboy in general.

* GoodBadBugs: The fact that closing gates are stopped by any tiles Mario can interact with (including temporary ladders) results in an EasyLevelTrick for at least one stage. [[spoiler: Stage 2-3, to be exact.]]

* CultClassic: While not the most well known or successful Gameboy game, it enjoys a good sized following who consider it to be not only a great puzzle-platformer, but on of the best games on the system.

** Several of Mario's moves from the 3D games, such as his backflip and triple jump, made their debut in this game.

* CultClassic: While not the most well known or successful Gameboy game, it enjoys a good sized following who consider it to be one of the best puzzle-platformers on the system.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[https://youtu.be/36wycV3oR5k Showdown At The Tower]], the "final" boss theme, is an epic and fast-paced boss theme, perfectly suitable to the final [[spoiler: or penultimate]] battle against Donkey Kong.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[https://youtu.be/36wycV3oR5k Showdown At The Tower]], the "final" boss theme, is an epic and fast-paced boss theme, perfectly suitable to the penultimate battle against Donkey Kong.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[https://youtu.be/36wycV3oR5k Showdown At The Tower]], the "final" boss theme, is an epic and fast-paced boss theme, perfectly suitable to the final battle against Donkey Kong.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[https://youtu.be/36wycV3oR5k Showdown At The Tower, the "final" boss theme]].

* DisappointingLastLevel: Compared to the Rocky Valley -- and even most of the prior worlds, for that matter -- the levels in the Tower are all short, unimaginatively designed, and pose very little difficulty. It just comes across as a speedbump on the way to the final battle.

** The time up theme.
** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUIcyuLryzw music]] for the Iceberg map. Fittingly for the point where the game begins to get ''seriously'' hard, it's pretty much ThisIsGonnaSuck in music form.
** The sequence that plays before the title screen is rather chilling-- a hole has been broken into a brick wall and eyes peering out from the darkness of the hole with ominous music to match.
** How about the final level? [[spoiler: You beat stage 9-8, Donkey Kong falls to his doom, and everything now seems okay. Wait, what's this? [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle Stage 9-9?]] ''[[SlasherSmile Did the giant DK head just smile?!]]'']]
* 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.
* ScrappyMechanic: While the combat-roll Mario does at the end of falls of a certain length certainly helps with Mario's surviving skills compared to the original arcade game, at the same time the animation and momentum of the roll are uninterruptible, so Mario can very well roll straight into an enemy or hazard (or down a hole into a lower portion of a level and simply waste time instead) if you aren't careful.