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dkong3j: MAME ROM Information.

History:

Donkey Kong 3 (c) 1983 Nintendo.

The 3rd and final arcade outing for Donkey Kong sees the giant ape once again cast as the enemy. Unlike the first 2 Kong games, the legendary character Mario doesn't feature, with the player taking on the role of 'Stanley', a gardener who is armed with a bug spray with which he must destroy the swarms of insects that attack Stanley and try to steal his plants.

Each level has five plants that must be protected. Stanley must also spray Kong to force the ape to the top of the screen and complete the level.

CAST OF CHARACTERS :

Stanley - Stanley's job is to defend the greenhouse that Donkey Kong has invaded. He does this with his trusty bug spray. When Stanley pumps his spray can, the spray travels a certain distance before dissipating so it's not useful against targets that are far away. Stanley primarily uses his bug spray to zap bugs or to make Donkey Kong scoot up the vines that he holds onto. In order to complete each stage, Stanley's goal is to either push Donkey Kong all the way up the vine using bug spray, or defeat every insect present in that stage. There are many ways for Stanley to lose a life, including touching an insect, getting shot by any of the bee stingers, running out of time, or allowing Donkey Kong to slip off the bottom of the vine.

Donkey Kong - Nintendo's favorite simian seems to have been working out a little bit compared to his previous appearances. Donkey Kong attempts to keep himself above harm's way by hanging on to two vines that descend from the greenhouse ceiling. If left alone, Donkey Kong slips down the vines little by little, hoping to land on Stanley by surprise. Occasionally, he will reach over to one of the two beehives along side him and tap them in order to send more bees after Stanley. In the yellow stages, he even grabs coconuts from time to time and lobs them at Stanley's head. Starting in round 15, he will throw coconuts at you regardless of the stage.

Super Spray - One time for every one of Stanley's lives, a more powerful bug spray will be perched on Donkey Kong's right vine. When Stanley pushes Donkey Kong high enough so that his hand is touching the spray, the spray falls to the ground, at which time Stanley can pick it up. The Super Spray lasts for a number of seconds, and continues with Stanley to the next stage until the full time runs out. When this spray is activated, Donkey Kong is forced up the vines much faster, Creepies die when hit, and Queen Bees die in one hit. It will not be replenished after it runs out until Stanley loses a life, so it's not a good idea to plan your strategy around it's use.

Beespy & Buzzbee - These bugs are the primary attack force of the hive. Stanley starts the game squaring off against the Beespies as they swoop down and try to steal Stanley's vegetables. Starting in round 12, the hive switches to their faster and more aggressive soldier, the Buzzbees. Buzzbees strike at Stanley more directly than Beespies. Either bee may or may not be accompanying a Queen Bee, but they are dangerous either way.

Queen Bees - Starting in round 3, the Queen Bees of the hive will from time to time enter the fray surrounded by their royal escorts. One shot isn't enough to do them in, it simply changes them from red to blue. Even after you shoot them a second time, the threat isn't over. When killed, they split up in to 4 tiny projectiles that can kill you if the connect. You are only safe directly beneath them when they die.

Buttifly & Beetle - Starting in round 6, the Buttiflies escape from the hive. They fly down along the side of the screen until they are even with Stanley, pause for a brief moment, and then charge across the screen in an attempt to collide with him. They disappear after round 16, only to be replaced with Beetles in round 18, who are bigger and a bit harder to dodge. Beetles do not pause as Buttiflies do, and attack immediately.

Moth - The Moth is the mercenary of the bee hive, employed from round 24 and on. They move erratically, so it's slightly difficult to predict where they are going to end up. They will occasionally attack Stanley, or they will swoop down for his vegetables. Don't let them distract you from your efforts to force Donkey Kong up the vine, but don't get in their way either, or let them fly away with your plants.

Creepy - This worm likes to play interference. In the blue and gray stages, he crawls down to the platforms from the plants along the side of the screen. Once he reaches the platform, he will wiggle back and forth and make a nuisance of himself. He cannot be killed by the normal bug spray, but he is quite allergic to it, and spraying him causes him to stop in his tracks until he finishes coughing. He can be persuaded to climb back up the plant for a while if you blast him with spray before he reaches the platforms. In yellow stages, three or more Creepies will slide along the vines below Donkey Kong and try to get in the way of your bug spray. If you hit one, not only with it absorb the spray, but you'll have to wait for it to finish coughing before he will move on and allow you to shoot Kong. They can be killed by super spray.

Beebomb - After an insect successfully steals one of your plants, it turns into a Beebomb. Beebombs circle around a few times near the hive that they came from, and then immediately dive bomb towards Stanley. They are incredibly fast when diving towards you, but due to their direct attack nature, they are easy to defeat as long as you keep your eyes on them and time a blast of bug spray just as they are about to hit you.

Vine Eater - These creatures appear when the bonus timer runs out. When the timer reaches zero, two of these appear on either side of the screen. They are oblivious to bug spray. When they reach the vines, they eat the vine from the bottom up to the ceiling. If they eat the section of vine that Donkey Kong is holding on to, Donkey Kong falls down and Stanley loses a life just as if he had allowed Donkey Kong to drop off the vine himself.

- TECHNICAL -

Main CPU : Z80 (@ 4 Mhz)

Sound CPU : (2x) N2A03 (@ 1.789772 Mhz)

Sound Chips : (2x) N2A03 (@ 1.789772 Mhz)

Players : 2

Control : 4-way joystick

Buttons : 1 (SPRAY)

- TRIVIA -

Released in October 1983, Donkey Kong 3 was Nintendo's 3rd arcade featuring the hapless ape.

This game came out at the time of the big arcade game collapse. Companies such as Atari, Konami, and Taito saw a drastic reduction in sales for their arcade machines. Smaller arcade companies such as Centuri (producer of "Pleiades" and "Phoenix") simply went out of business. Although some notable games such as "Cloak and Dagger", "Track and Field", and "Elevator Action" were released, none of them had strong sales. Donkey Kong 3 was no exception to what was going on.

First of all, Donkey Kong 3 changed the look of their game. Second, Instead of Mario, they now used Stanley the Exterminator (This is the only Nintendo game to feature the character of Stanley). Unfortunately, Donkey Kong 3 was not well received at the arcades and did pretty poorly in sales. It did develop a cult of games who remained loyal to the Donkey Kong series, but it never offered any serious competition.

Dwayne Richard holds the official record for this game with 2,583,000 points on September 21, 2008.

A bootleg was made by Kazutome in 1984 on the "Donkey Kong Junior" hardware!

- SCORING -

Beespy : 100 points

Buttifly : 200 points

Buzzbee : 300 points

Insect with Plant : 400 points

Beetle : 700 points

Beebomb : 700 points

Moth : 700 points

NOTE: Killing an insect with a plant will rescue the plant.

The Queen Bee's scoring depends on how many Beespies or Buzzbees are escorting her :

Queen Bee with no escorts : 400 points

Queen Bee with one escort : 700 points

Queen Bee with two escorts : 1000 points

Creepy : 300 points (can only be killed with Super Spray)

You get 500 points per plant saved. If you save all the plants in consecutive levels, you get the following bonus :

First two consecutive levels (at this point, plants are not all full size) : 2000 points.

Third consecutive level onward (saving all plants after all 5 have grown to full size) : 5000 points.

If you lose a plant, you will get no plant bonus. Afterwards you'll have to grow a new plant, resetting the plant bonus to 2000.

You also get the remaining bonus points added to your score when you complete a level. The bonus points start off at 8000.

- TIPS AND TRICKS -

* When you start the game, Stanley will start at the bottom, middle of the screen. You job is to move him up to push Donkey Kong out of the area and to defend against the various insects that will plague Stanley. Using the joystick, you can easily navigate on the platforms as long as there is a platform above and below Stanley. Use this ability to maneuver to keep out of harms way.

* Your big goal is to prevent the insects from getting all of your plants. If you lose all of your plants, you lose the game. If you do happen to lose a plant, it takes two levels to grow another one.

* Some players use this to their advantage in order to increase their scores. They let the insect capture the plant, then they shoot the insect to get both the plant and insect bonus. In addition, they collect the bonus for having all five plants at the end of the stage.

* When using the regular bug spray, you will have to go to the top of the platform area and jump up to force Donkey Kong higher while defending yourself against the insects.

* Keep in mind, that the bug spray you start with is pretty weak; both in terms of range and power. Your immediate goal is to get Donkey Kong far enough up the ropes so that the super-bug spray can gets dropped. This will enable you to hit him from the bottom of the platforms and give you more running room to avoid the insects. Keep in mind, this super-bug spray only last for that stage.

* The above will be especially crucial during the yellow stages. The bug spray merely causes the Creepies to choke and cough and it doesn't kill them. Instead, you may end up creating a wall of choking Creepies that block your line of fire from Donkey Kong. Make sure you fire in-between the four rows of Creepies.

* You will note that on the gray stages, there is no middle level, per se. Instead, you must work your way around to the right or left to get to the top platform. This delay could prove crucial since you will have to be very wary of the insects that will have had a head start on you.

* In the yellow stages, Donkey Kong likes to throw coconuts down on Stanley. There is a pattern to his throwing. He will first throw one to the left, then one to the center, then one to the right. The left and right coconuts that are thrown are aimed at the beehives, which will release a Beespy or Buzzbee.

* In the later levels, after 18, for the blue and gray stages, the pattern is a little different regarding the coconut throwing. Donkey Kong will throw a coconut to the right, then the left, then to the center.

* As you progress further into the levels, the insects become faster and more aggressive. As a matter of fact, after level 15, their shots are much more accurate when they shoot at Stanley. Also, the insects that don't shoot will home in on Stanley. This will require good joystick control if you are to survive.

* Be aware that the Queen Bees explode into shrapnel when killed. Four pieces will radiate downward. Most of the time, if you are centered under them, the shrapnel will go around Stanley. If you are moving, though, be aware that even though you killed the Queen Bee, you will still have to deal with the aftermath.

* Watch for patterns on the blue and gray stages. The bees have a pattern when they swarm from their hives and come down to attack. Even on the later levels, when extra bees are involved in the attack, they still show patterns. Use this to your advantage.

- SERIES -

1. Donkey Kong (1981)

2. Donkey Kong Junior (1982)

3. Donkey Kong 3 (1983)

- STAFF -

Designed and programmed by : Shigeru Miyamoto

- PORTS -

* Consoles :

Nintendo Famicom [JP] (July 04, 1984; "Donkey Kong 3 [Model HVC-DT]")

Nintendo Game Boy Advance (2003, "e-READER Series")

- SOURCES -

Game's rom.

Machine's picture.

F.A.Q. by Kevin Butler A.K.A. War Doc

MAME Info:

0.11 [Mirko Buffoni]

Artwork available

TEST MODE:

- Press F2 + F3 for Test-Mode

WIP:

- 0.127u2: Replaced I8035 CPU2 with MB8884 in clone Donkey Kong 3 (bootleg on Donkey Kong Jr. hardware).

- 0.127: Couriersud added address decode prom dkc1-v.5e (18S030) to Donkey Kong 3 and clone (Japan).

- 0.125u7: Cleaned up Z80DMA interface [Couriersud]: Removed compatibility to old Z80DMA driver. Now uses std. callbacks (READ8_HANDLER, WRITE8_HANDLER). Updated Donkey Kong 3 accordingly.

- 0.125u3: Added 2x 'Unknown' dipswitches.

- 0.122u4: Added Z80 DMA chip [Couriersud]: Only implements intelligence to emulate Donkey Kong 3. Fixed a misleading comment in 8257dma.h.

- 0.122u2: Couriersud added DIP locations to clone (bootleg on Donkey Kong Jr. hardware) and replaced DAC/Samples sound with Discrete.

- 0.121u3: Couriersud fixed bug in clone (bootleg on Donkey Kong Jr. hardware) memory map.

- 0.120u4: Added 'Service Mode' dipswitch.

- 0.116u3: Changed VSync to 60.606061 Hz. Fixed proms loading.

- 0.116: Couriersud implemented discrete sound and color generation (resistor mixer) from schematics in Donkey Kong 3.

- 12th November 2006: Mr. Do - Donkey Kong 3 artwork has been "optimized" by Ad_Enuff; much smaller file size (up to 80%) with no loss in quality.

- 13th October 2005: Guru - Donkey Kong 3 on Galaxian h/w arrived a few days ago. Thanks to Tingoes.

- 0.97u1: Pierpaolo Prazzoli fixed clone Donkey Kong 3 (bootleg) colors.

- 0.93: Added clock parameter to NES sound (1789772 Hz).

- 0.74u2: Pierpaolo Prazzoli added clone Donkey Kong 3 (bootleg on Donkey Kong Jr. hardware).

- 1st October 2003: Pierpaolo Prazzoli added Donkey Kong 3 bootleg to the dkong driver.

- 0.37b14: Replaced 8-way Joystick with 4-way.

- 0.36b13: New NES sound emulation for Punch Out and Donkey Kong 3 [Matthew Conte, [email protected]]. Replaced 2x NES and DAC sound with 2x Nintendo. Changed N2A03 CPU1/2 clock speeds to 1789772 Hz.

- 0.36b12: Added 'Coinage' dipswitch.

- 0.36b9: Added clone Donkey Kong 3 (Japan). Changed parent description to 'Donkey Kong 3 (US)'.

- 0.36b5: Replaced the M6502 CPU2/3 with 2x N2A03 CPUs.

- 0.34b1: Added color proms ($0, 100, 200 - red & green, palette blue component and character color codes on a per-column basis).

- 0.31: A first attempt at sound in Donkey Kong 3 / Punch Out. These two Nintendo games use the same sound hardware as the NES console [Nicola Salmoria]. Tim Lindquist added accurate colors to Donkey Kong 3.

- 0.29: Accurate colors in Donkey Kong 3 (well, not really) [Tim Lindquist, Nicola Salmoria]. Nicola Salmoria fixed high score saving in Donkey Kong 3. Known issues: The colors come from a bootleg board. They might not be the same as the original version.

- 0.16: Matthew Hillmer submitted a new palette for Donkey Kong 3. It is not intended to be correct, but at least it gets rid of the annoying checkerboard effect.

- 0.14: Donkey Kong 3 now also preserve the score distributions (use F1 to see them) [Nicola Salmoria].

- 0.13: Nicola Salmoria added high score saving to Donkey Kong 3.

- 0.11: Mirko Buffoni provided a driver for Donkey Kong 3 (Nintendo of America 1983). Runs on hardware similar to Donkey Kong. Game is playable with wrong colors and no sound. Control: Arrows = Move around, CTRL = Fire and F1 = Test (keep it pressed - very nice, try it!).

- 18th July 1996: Dumped Donkey Kong 3 (US).

LEVELS: 4

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* CottAGE

* JAE

* JEmu2

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Romset: 74 kb / 16 files / 40.8 zip

MAME XML Output:

<description>Donkey Kong 3 (Japan)</description>

<manufacturer>Nintendo</manufacturer>

</input>

</dipswitch>

</dipswitch>

</dipswitch>

</dipswitch>

</dipswitch>

</dipswitch>

</dipswitch>

</dipswitch>

</dipswitch>

</dipswitch>

</game>

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