S4E10: Donkey Kong -or- Gorilla Warfare

Blindfolded speedrunner BlazeingPhoenix is ready to barrel through Donkey Kong (NES, 1986) and Donkey Kong (Game Boy, 1994) with Mike and Jaymo as part of The Old SwitchAroo’s epic quest to research and review every retro game in Nintendo Switch Online’s Nintendo Classics catalog.

In this episode, we talk about the impressive world of blindfolded speedruns and BlazeingPhoenix takes us on his journey into blindfolded speedrunning, including watching Ocarina of Time blindfolded as part of Games Done Quick and trying to beat Kingdom Hearts blindfolded before submitting the first blindfolded Donkey Kong speed run and speedrunning Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition for GDQ Hotfix. Along the way, we’ll also look at how Donkey Kong began design as a Popeye-themed game before evolving to the giant gorilla we all know in a decision that would see Nintendo and Universal Studios face off over the rights to King Kong, what causes the Donkey Kong kill screen, and how Donkey Kong on the Game Boy nearly had a level editor years before Mario Maker would make its debut.

Thanks for listening, and a very special thanks to Kristal Fields of The Lazy Circles for our catchy theme song! Subscribe to The Old SwitchAroo to get more retro goodness delivered straight to your feed! You can also join the fun on https://www.theoldswitcharoo.com, where you'll find links to our Discord, social media, and so much more!

Game on, everyone.

(0:00) Intro

(1:10) BlazingPhoenix

(10:30) Donkey Kong (NES)

(38:05) NintenDis or Dat

(41:58) Donkey Kong (Game Boy)

(1:04:47) NintenDO or NintenDON’T

Watch more of BlazeingPhoenix at https://www.twitch.tv/blazeingphoenix and https://www.youtube.com/@Blazeingphoenix.

And if all this has you motivated to try some blindfolded speedrunning of your own, check out https://blindfoldedgaming.com/

Donkey Kong (NES) manual: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/clv/manuals/en/pdf/CLV-P-NAAEE.pdf

Donkey Kong (Game Boy) manual: https://www.retrogames.cz/manualy/GameBoy/Donkey_Kong_-_GameBoy_-_Manual.pdf

The History of Blindfolded Punch-Out | Summoning Salt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZT6JEOC3D8

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out - 2 player 1 controller blindfolded speedrun w/ sinister1 @ AGDQ 2020 [23:39] | zallard1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4HnZ4-_HzI

Blindfolded Mike Tyson's Punch-Out in 15:57.76 (World Record) | Summoning Alt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eelj0jv-4u0

Super Mario 64 Relay by 70 Runners in 1:55:53 - Awesome Games Done Quick 2026: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-VFPEh59k4 (Mike got the number of stars wrong)

Games Done Blindfolded Day 1 - GDQ Hotfix Speedruns: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9erTZ7jpvMk&t=6760s

My GDQ's Games Done Blindfolded Run | NWC NES Edition by Blazeingphoenix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmzwaoJ--Yo

Awesome Games Done Quick 2015 - Part 169 - Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Blindfolded) by Runnerguy2489: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhHMW_atNG4&t=807

Kingdom Hearts 1 Blindfolded Speedrun! World First Completion by Bubzia! | Bubzia - Blindfolded Speedruns: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOTWE9aEmtc

Game Over: How Nintendo Conquered the World by David Sheff: https://www.amazon.com/Game-Over-Nintendo-Conquered-World/dp/0679736220/

Mario Origins: How A Popeye Game Became Donkey Kong by "Critical Kate" Willaert | ACriticalHit: https://www.acriticalhit.com/hidden-influences-mario-how-popeye-game-became-donkey-kong/

From UVA Law Student to Beloved Nintendo Character: The Story of John Kirby, Jr. by Ryan Moore | Virginia Law Weekly: https://www.lawweekly.org/col/2023/11/12/from-uva-law-student-to-beloved-nintendo-character-the-story-of-john-kirby-jr

World's First | Blindfolded Donkey Kong (NES) | any% [2:23] | Blazeingphoenix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPqjc362XMs

Donkey Kong 1994 Wonder Life Special - APE Inc. Official Nintendo Guide: https://archive.org/details/donkey-kong-1994-ape-official-nintendo-guide/Donkey%20Kong%201994%20APE%20Official%20Nintendo%20Guide