Donkey Kong Jr. makes a guest appearance on some levels, helping his father hinder Mario's progress.

After these four initial stages are completed, the usual arcade ending begins, but after a few notes of the "victory theme" Donkey Kong revives, grabs Pauline again, and takes off with her, with Mario giving chase.

Similar to Super Mario Bros. 2, he is able to pick up and throw items or certain enemies, which he will need to use to carry the key over to the door.

There are several blocks that allow the player to add bridges, ladders and springs anywhere on the screen for a short amount of time.

Other abilities Mario can perform include swimming, climbing ropes in a similar fashion to Donkey Kong Jr. and spinning on wires to reach new heights.

It was followed by a sequel titled Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, which featured a level designer.

The Game Boy title was re-released as a download for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console service in June 2011.

[7][8] Since its release, reception of Donkey Kong has been positive, holding an average score of 84.93% at GameRankings based on nine reviews.

[10] AllGame gave the game a four and a half star out of five rating, praising the graphics, sound and challenging gameplay that requires a planning and strategy.