Castle Kong from Drowning Monkey Games is a 2D old-school infused arcade-style platformer on Nintendo Switch. Learn more about it in our Castle Kong review!
In Castle Kong from Drowning Monkey Games, you’ll be taking on a 2D old-school, infused arcade-style platformer that pays homage to the Donkey Kong arcade game and other similar experiences from way back in the day. Right from the game’s title screen, the way your score and lives are displayed in the upper left corner of the screen, with the high score set in the upper center of the screen. There’s a leaderboard that you can work your way through as you try to be the best you can be. There’s even a kill screen to reach if you manage to play for long enough!
The game starts when the villain with the big crown sees the princess just minding her own business, all princess-like, and decides it would be a good idea to steal her away, taking her all the way up to the castle’s top. You, as the hero you were born to be – even if you walk like a peasant and look like a peasant – decide it’s time to do what’s right, and set out to try and rescue her as you walk left and right, go up ladders, jump from platform to platform, and try to avoid the many hazards on the screen, such as the very hot, oozing molten metal that is dropped onto the stage, or the arrows of the archer perched close to the top.
You’ll move your character with the left analog stick or the D-Pad, as you walk left or right as needed, jumping with the A button.. While Mario in Donkey Kong would get access to a hammer to be able to destroy the barrels making their way down the level, or the flames that would pop out of the oil drum or that would show up every now and then, your peasant will have access to a just as powerful pitchfork, with the added bonus of being able to climb up or down a ladder to then carry on attacking with it. While you do this, you can try to collect the letters around each stage that spell out K-O-N-G so that you can get an extra bonus for your score.
There are four different stages to beat, which you can play on for eight full sets in total before you get to the lovely kill screen where your glorious run will need to come to an end. As you play towards that glorious goal, you will need to get good so that you can finish each stage as quickly as possible to get as high a bonus as you can, so that you can boost your overall score. Your first goal will be to beat your own best score, but the ultimate objective will always be to be good enough to get onto the top of the leaderboard. And to go along with the arcade vibes, Castle Kong is also compatible with the Flip Grip, which means that you can play this one in Portable Mode by flipping the screen vertically for that proper arcade feel!
If you’re looking for an old-school arcade-style 2D platformer that pays homage to the great Donkey Kong, then Castle Kong is going to tick all of those boxes. It’s a fun take on the old-school classic, presented for a new generation. You can try to work your way up the leaderboards, but there’s some pretty big score numbers out there already, so you better get good! Castle Kong is out on Nintendo Switch with a low $6.99 asking price.
Disclaimer
This Castle Kong review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Drowning Monkey Games.
