Don Doko Don
Two lumberjacks stun and throw enemies in single-screen stages.
Don Doko Don is a 1989 platform arcade game developed and published by Taito. Players control two lumberjacks, Bob and Jim, who use mallets to stun enemies and throw them to clear each screen. The gameplay has been compared to Taito's earlier platform titles such as Bubble Bobble and The NewZealand Story.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Taito
- Genre
- Platform
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
- Platforms
- Arcade
- Family Computer
- PC Engine
- Producer
- Seiji Kawakami
- Toshiaki Matsumoto
- Hiroyuki Sako
- Programmer
- Kazutomo Ishida; Masaya Kinoshita
- Artist
- Hiroyasu Nagai
- V.A.P
- Seiji Kawakami
- Yukio Ishikawa
- Yukio Abe
- Composer
- Yasuko Yamada
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
In this arcade platformer, players take on the roles of two lumberjacks named Bob and Jim. Their mission is to rescue both the princess and the king of Marry Land. The game is built around a series of single-screen levels, and the main goal in each is to wipe out every enemy present. To do this, Bob and Jim use a mallet to stun foes. Once an enemy is stunned, it can be picked up and hurled at others. Doing so destroys the thrown enemy and any it hits, awarding bonus points based on how many enemies are caught in the path. Defeated enemies drop fruit, which can be gathered for extra points. After all enemies are cleared, the next, generally harder, stage begins. Various power-ups appear throughout the game, taking the form of potions, hammers, or books. These can boost the player's speed, increase their power, or grant new ways to eliminate enemies. If a player lingers too long on a level, a flying devil—similar to those seen in The Fairyland Story and The NewZealand Story—appears and tries to kill them. Completing the game without any special steps leads to a bad ending where only the princess is saved. However, by finding a shortcut on the first stage, players unlock a secret set of levels. Finishing those allows access to the good ending, where the king is also rescued.
Release
Taito first released Don Doko Don in Japanese arcades during July 1989. IPL handled the port to the Family Computer, which Taito published on March 9, 1990. IPL also ported the game to the PC Engine, with Taito publishing that version on May 31 of the same year. The arcade original appears through emulation on the Taito Memories Joukan and Taito Legends 2 compilations. My Arcade put out a handheld that includes the Family Computer version alongside Don Doko Don 2 and the Famicom port of Chack'n Pop. Hamster Corporation brought the game to the Arcade Archives line for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in February 2023.
Reception and legacy
Don Doko Don found a modest audience in Japanese arcades, ranking as the twelfth best-performing table arcade cabinet in Game Machine's August 15, 1989 issue. When it moved to home consoles, Famitsu gave those ports a mixed reception. Still, Robert Swan of Computer + Video Games was enthusiastic about the PC Engine version, noting that even though it offered nothing new or groundbreaking, it was extremely playable. Over time, critics have looked back on the game mostly with favor. Retro Gamer published three positive retrospectives—two covering the arcade original and one for the PC Engine version, which they included on their "PC Engine GT: Ten Perfect Games" list. They praised its simple but engaging gameplay, a quality they linked to many of Taito's other platformers. GamesTM also gave two positive write-ups, thanks to the game's appearance on Taito Memories Joukan and Taito Legends 2, but they criticized it for lacking the depth of Bubble Bobble and similar titles. Hardcore Gaming 101 echoed that criticism, saying it didn't stand out among the many Bubble Bobble clones of its era, yet still called it a worthwhile play because it was another solid platformer from Taito. Hardcore Gamer was more negative, focusing on how Bubble Bobble was a locked title in Taito Memories Jokan. They admitted players could settle for Don Doko Don and The Fairyland Story, but ultimately described it as "decaf when you want espresso." A sequel, Don Doko Don 2, was developed by Natsume for the Family Computer, but it shifted to a more conventional side-scrolling platformer format.
More in Taito Games of the 1980s
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