By sjj_admin 
Originally published on GameOnAus.com in Feb 2021
Castle Kong is an arcade inspired retro platformer by indie developers Drowning Monkeys Games. As soon as you boot up the game you can see Castle Kong takes inspiration from arcade classics such as Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. From the pixel art style to the music and sound design, everything about this game is made to transport you back to the arcade, coins lined up along the cabinet and a line of people waiting for their turn. Obviously, there is no line, but the feeling is still there.
Castle Kong has as much story as you’d expect an arcade inspired game to have. One day PrincessGirl is picking flowers waiting for her beloved PauperBoy when she’s suddenly kidnapped by BaronMan. Enter PauperBoy to rescue the fair princess and restore order to the kingdom.
There are four stages and 22 in the game. Level 1 has the Castle Wall and Throne Room stages and as you move through the levels more stages are added, with the Courtyard being included in level 2 and the Kitchen in level 3. That’s not all though. With each level that you complete more and more obstacles are put in your way, making it harder to rescue PrincessGirl.
This game is very hard but feels like a challenge rather than a grind. Enemies have predictable patterns and at no time did the many, many deaths I suffered feel unfair.
An interesting feature Castle Kong has is the ability to play in either wide screen or classic arcade vertical mode. For PCs or playing the game with the Nintendo Switch docked, it’s not much use, unless you happen to like having a monitor in the vertical form. Vertical mode uniquely suits an undocked Nintendo Switch though, where you can rotate the device to have a classic style arcade experience. Sadly, it doesn’t add much visually. Where the widescreen view has trees and other decorations to make it look nice and lived in, vertical mode has almost half the screen with just a solid colour with not much added to the experience.
Drowning Monkeys Games has an online leaderboard so you can see how well you do against other players. They are also currently running high score tournament. From the launch of Castle Kong on the Nintendo Switch (February 25th 2021) to 25th May 2021, players can compete for prize pool of $3,500.
Castle Kong is available now through Steam and the Nintendo Switch eShop. This review was conducted on the Nintendo Switch.