Donkey Kong 3
Donkey Kong 3 is a 1983 shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Nintendo for arcades. It is the third installment in the Donkey Kong series, following 1982's Donkey Kong Jr. It was ported to the Family Computer in 1984, then in North America for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986. The gameplay departs from previous Donkey Kong games, and it stars an exterminator named Stanley instead of Mario. The game was a modest financial success in Japan, but its commercial failure in the United States was later cited by commentators as contributing to a period of reduced activity for the series until the release of Donkey Kong (1994) and Donkey Kong Country.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA, read 5 September 2026.
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- Released
- 1984
- Developer
- Nintendo
- Platforms
- 2 systems
- Critics
- Not scored
- Steam Deck
- Unknown
- Download
- Not stated
The record
| First released | 4 July 1984 |
|---|---|
| Developer | Nintendo |
| Publisher | Nintendo |
| Platforms | Nintendo Entertainment System, Arcade |
| Genres | First-Person Shooter |
Source. Catalogue facts from Wikidata Q390291, seeded 30 August 2026.
How long is Donkey Kong 3? How long to beat it
Total play time for Donkey Kong 3 is about 0.6 hours to do everything, and around 0.2 hours to reach the end of the main story. These are player-submitted times from HowLongToBeat, not our own, shown with the number of players behind each.
| How you play | Hours | Players logged |
|---|---|---|
| Just the main story: straight through the critical path | 0.2h | 117 |
| Main + the extras: story plus the side content most people do | 0.3h | 21 |
| Completionist: everything: 100% the game | 0.6h | 18 |
Source: HowLongToBeat community submissions, read 2026-10-19.
Where Donkey Kong 3 sits on the grid
The grid places every game in the catalogue on measured axes rather than on an opinion. This is where Donkey Kong 3 lands on each map it has the data for, with the share of the catalogue it beats on each axis.
- Year
- 34ahead of 1% of the catalogue
- Reach
- 38ahead of 79% of the catalogue
Percentiles are against the games that carry a reading on that axis, not the whole catalogue: counting a game with no figure as a zero would flatter everything that has one. How the grid works.
What readers say about Donkey Kong 3
Reviews written by people who have played it. These are separate from the GamingPickz Score and are never averaged into it: that score comes from thousands of Steam reviews with a sample-size correction, and a handful of unverified ratings would distort it rather than improve it.
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Where Donkey Kong 3 appears
The ranked lists and finder pages Donkey Kong 3 qualifies for, from its own genre and platform to what it takes to run.
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Common questions about Donkey Kong 3
What platforms is Donkey Kong 3 on?
Donkey Kong 3 is available on Nintendo Entertainment System, Arcade. It first released in 1984.
Who made Donkey Kong 3?
Donkey Kong 3 was developed by Nintendo and published by Nintendo.
How long does it take to beat Donkey Kong 3?
about 0.2 hours for the main story, 0.3 hours with the main extras, 0.6 hours to complete everything, from HowLongToBeat's player-submitted times. These are community medians, so your own run may be shorter or longer.