You probably remember the screeching "beep-beep" sounds from the back of a school bus. Or maybe you found a dusty, gold-faced gadget in a shoebox at a garage sale and wondered why on earth someone would pay $200 for it. We’re talking about the Nintendo Donkey Kong Jr Game Watch, a piece of hardware that basically saved Nintendo before Mario even had a proper name.
It’s weird.
By today's standards, the screen is terrible. You can’t even see the pixels because there aren’t any; it’s all pre-printed Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) segments that flicker on and off like a digital clock. Yet, collectors lose their minds over this thing. Gunpei Yokoi, the legendary designer behind the Game & Watch series, didn't just build a toy. He built a bridge from the arcade to your pocket.
The Design Genius of the DJ-101 and CJ-71
There wasn't just one version. That’s the first thing people get wrong. Nintendo released the Nintendo Donkey Kong Jr Game Watch in the "New Wide Screen" format (model DJ-101) in late 1982. It had this gorgeous brown faceplate that felt premium even though it was just plastic and tin. Then, they followed it up with the "Table Top" and the "Multi Screen" (CJ-71) versions.
The Multi Screen is the one that really changed history.
Ever looked at a Nintendo DS? Look at a CJ-71 Donkey Kong Jr. It’s the same DNA. The clamshell design was a solution to a problem: how do you give a kid a bigger game without making it break in their pocket? You fold it. Honestly, it’s kind of wild that a design from forty years ago is still the blueprint for high-end folding smartphones today.
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The gameplay was deceptively brutal. You play as Junior, trying to rescue your dad, Donkey Kong, who has been caged by—ironically—Mario. This was back when Mario was arguably the villain, or at least a very stern zookeeper. You have to dodge snapjaws and birds, climb vines, and grab a key to unlock the chains.
It sounds simple. It isn't.
As your score climbs, the speed ramps up. The "beeps" get faster. Your palms get sweaty. The lag-free input of a dedicated logic circuit means that when you die, it’s 100% your fault. No frame drops. No internet latency. Just pure, unadulterated 8-bit frustration.
Why Collectors Are Obsessed With the Purple Version
If you’re hunting for a Nintendo Donkey Kong Jr Game Watch online, you’ll notice a massive price gap between the standard brown models and the bright purple ones. The purple Multi Screen version is the holy grail for many. It’s not just about the color, though that "80s neon" aesthetic helps. It’s about the condition of the ribbon cable.
Inside those clamshell units is a thin, flexible ribbon cable connecting the top and bottom screens. After 40 years of being opened and closed by hyperactive kids, those cables get brittle. They snap.
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Finding a "New Old Stock" (NOS) unit where the screens are still dark and the cable is intact is like finding a unicorn. Most of the units you see on eBay have "faded LCDs." This happens because the polarizing film inside the screen degrades over time. If you’re brave, you can actually repair this with some film from a cheap calculator, but most people just prefer to pay the premium for a mint unit.
The Secret "Game B" and Scoring Logic
Most people just hit "Game A" and start playing. But the Nintendo Donkey Kong Jr Game Watch has a "Game B" that’s significantly more difficult from the start. It’s not just faster; the enemy patterns are more aggressive.
- Scoring Milestones: You get 1 point for every jump over an enemy.
- The Key: Cracking the cage gives you a massive point boost.
- The Reset: When you hit 300 points, your misses are cleared. If you don't have any misses, you get double points for a period of time.
This risk-reward loop is what kept kids playing for hours. It wasn't about the graphics. It was about the "High Score" printed on the screen that stayed there until the batteries died. Speaking of batteries, these things run on LR44 or SR44 button cells. Fun fact: if you leave those batteries in for a decade, they leak acid and destroy the motherboard. If you own one, go check it right now. Take the batteries out.
Spotting a Fake vs. a Re-release
There are a lot of "Mini-Classics" floating around. In the late 90s and early 2000s, Nintendo licensed the Game & Watch titles to be sold as keychain games. They look similar, but they aren't the same.
A real Nintendo Donkey Kong Jr Game Watch from the 80s has a specific weight. It has a metal faceplate that feels cold to the touch. The keychain versions are all plastic and have a much higher-pitched sound chip. Also, check the battery door. Original doors are notoriously easy to lose, so a "replacement" door often looks slightly different in color or texture than the rest of the body. A unit with an original, matching battery door can easily add $40 to the resale value.
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Market Trends: Is It a Good Investment?
Price-wise, the market for the Nintendo Donkey Kong Jr Game Watch has been on a steady upward climb since 2020. People who grew up with these are now in their 40s and 50s with disposable income. They want their childhood back.
Is it a bubble? Probably not. Unlike modern digital games, these are physical artifacts. There is a finite number of them left in the world. Every time one gets thrown away or its batteries leak, the remaining ones become more valuable.
But don't buy it just to flip it. Buy it because the tactile click of those rubber buttons is something a touch-screen phone can never replicate. There’s a certain "soul" in the hardware that Gunpei Yokoi’s team poured into these devices. They were limited by the technology of their time, so they had to make the gameplay perfect.
How to Maintain Your Game & Watch
If you just bought one, or found your old one, maintenance is key.
- Clean the contacts: Use 90% or higher Isopropyl Alcohol on a Q-tip to clean the battery terminals.
- Avoid sunlight: The LCD screens are extremely sensitive to UV light. Long-term exposure will "sun-tan" the screen, making the background look brown and the sprites invisible.
- The Eraser Trick: If the buttons feel mushy or don't register, you can open the case (carefully!) and use a pencil eraser to gently scrub the carbon pads on the back of the rubber buttons. It works wonders.
The Nintendo Donkey Kong Jr Game Watch isn't just a toy. It's a reminder of a time when Nintendo was an underdog, fighting for space in your pocket long before the Switch or even the Game Boy existed. It’s a piece of industrial design history that happens to play a really addictive game of "climb the vine."
Actionable Next Steps for Enthusiasts
If you are looking to buy or restore a unit, start by checking the serial number on the back; units with a lower serial number or a "Made in Japan" stamp are generally more sought after by serious archivists. Always verify the LCD darkness in photos before purchasing, as a faded screen often indicates internal moisture damage or polarizer decay that is difficult for beginners to fix. For those who just want to experience the gameplay without the $200 price tag, look into the Game & Watch Gallery series on the Game Boy or the Club Nintendo Wii rewards, which offer incredibly faithful digital recreations of the original logic. Finally, if you do own an original, remove the batteries immediately if you aren't playing it; more Game & Watch units have been killed by battery leaks than by actual use.