Before the Game Boy, before the NES and long before mobile phones, there was the Game & Watch. In the early 1980s, if you wanted to own a piece of the arcade that actually fitted into your pocket, few handhelds captured imaginations quite like Donkey Kong Jr., released by Nintendo in 1982.
For many children, this wasn't just another electronic toy—it was the handheld to own. It travelled in school bags, sat on bedside tables and consumed countless AA batteries as players desperately tried to rescue Donkey Kong from Mario himself.
That's right. One of the most unusual facts about Donkey Kong Jr. is that Mario is the villain. It's one of the very few official Nintendo games where the famous plumber kidnaps Donkey Kong, leaving Donkey Kong Jr. to climb vines, dodge birds, crocodiles and sparks in a daring rescue mission. Today it's almost impossible to imagine Mario as the bad guy, making this game a fascinating piece of Nintendo history.
The dual-screen design was equally revolutionary. Nintendo designer Gunpei Yokoi is said to have been inspired after watching a commuter passing the time with a pocket calculator on a Japanese bullet train. That simple observation led to the folding Multi Screen Game & Watch design, a concept Nintendo would revisit more than twenty years later with the Nintendo DS.
Another clever trick lay beneath the screen. Nothing was truly animated. Every character position was permanently printed beneath the LCD display, and the console simply illuminated different segments in sequence. What looked like smooth animation was actually a carefully timed illusion created using a surprisingly small number of images.
Released in 1982, Donkey Kong Jr. arrived during one of the biggest years in entertainment history. Thriller topped the charts, the Commodore 64 launched, E.T. filled cinemas and arcade gaming was at its peak. Nintendo was still several years away from launching the NES, yet it was already laying the foundations for one of the biggest gaming empires the world would ever see.
One detail that many British collectors overlook is the CGL connection.
CGL, or Computer Games Limited, distributed Nintendo's Game & Watch range in the UK before Nintendo had its own official UK presence. Because of this, some genuine UK examples carry CGL branding on the packaging, instructions or distribution labels. These are especially desirable because they represent Nintendo's earliest commercial footprint in Britain.
While Nintendo never published production figures for individual Game & Watch models, CGL-distributed examples are generally considered much harder to find than standard worldwide releases, particularly when complete with their original box, inserts, warranty cards and paperwork. Many were heavily played, thrown away or simply lost over the past four decades, making complete UK sets increasingly scarce.
Even today, collectors debate small production differences. Some units display subtle manufacturing variations, while others differ only by their regional packaging. These tiny details can make a surprising difference to collectors looking for the most authentic UK example.
The Game & Watch wasn't designed purely as a game either. Every unit included a digital clock and alarm, encouraging owners to keep it on display every day rather than hidden away in a drawer. In many households, it doubled as both a bedside clock and a favourite toy.
Finding a Donkey Kong Jr. Game & Watch today in excellent condition is becoming increasingly difficult. Scratched polarising screens, damaged hinges, battery corrosion and missing battery covers are common after more than forty years. Original boxes are even rarer, particularly those carrying CGL branding, which has become one of the small details that seasoned UK collectors actively search for.
At Old's Cool®, it's details like these that make collecting so rewarding. The little CGL logo tells a story that many people never notice. It marks the moment Nintendo first began finding its way into British homes, years before the words Game Boy, Pokémon and Switch became household names. Sometimes it's the smallest logo on the box that carries the biggest piece of gaming history.