XP Arcade: Donkey Kong 3

There is a whole lot of misinformation out there regarding Donkey Kong 3. There are claims that its commercial failure in North America caused the Donkey Kong series to be shelved for over a decade, even though ports of the arcade games were released for the Famicom and NES following Donkey Kong 3’s release in arcades — including DK3 itself — as well as a trio of original Donkey Kong Game & Watch handhelds. Donkey Kong’s absence from arcades had more to do with Nintendo’s own shift in focus to the Famicom and NES than anything: after Donkey Kong 3, Nintendo released Punch-Out!!, Super Punch-Out!!, and Arm Wrestling to arcades with dedicated cabinets, and from that point forward everything else in the 80s outside of distribution of Irem’s R-Type was a VS. System released designed to sell you on the concept of playing these games in your living room on a Famicom or NES, depending on your region. If all of that is Donkey Kong 3’s fault, then it’s even more powerful than its greatest…