Donkey Kong Land is now available on Nintendo Switch Online
Rare’s Game Boy title is based on Donkey Kong Country but is actually a different game
Donkey Kong Land is the latest game to be added to Nintendo Switch Online’s retro catalogue.
The Game Boy title was released in 1995, and is now available as part of the Game Boy app on Nintendo‘s online service.
Developed by Rare, the game was commended at the time of release for taking the art style from SNES title Donkey Kong Country and bringing it to the Game Boy.
Despite this, the game isn’t actually a straight port of Donkey Kong Country, but is instead a separate game with entirely different stages.
It also has a somewhat meta plot, according to the manual – after Cranky Kong tells Donkey and Diddt that the only reason Donkey Kong Country sold well was because of its graphics, the pair deliberately let villain King K Rool steal their banana horde for the second time, so they can prove it’s still fun on an 8-bit handheld.
The addition of Donkey Kong Land brings the total number of Game Boy and Game Boy Color games available on Switch Online to 30 in the west, with two more (Yakuman and The Frog for Whom the Bell Tolls) available in Japan.
Game Boy and Game Boy Color games are available as part of the standard Switch Online subscription, which costs £3.49/€3.99/$3.99 for a one-month membership, £6.99/€7.99/$7.99 for a three-month membership, and £17.99/€19.99/$19.99 for a 12-month membership.
The standard membership also includes separate libraries of NES and SNES games.
Players who pay extra for the Switch Online Expansion Pack also get access to Nintendo 64, Mega Drive / Genesis and Game Boy Advance libraries.
