Nintendo reaches back to the golden age of arcading with DK: King of Swing for the Game Boy Advance. It uses a control scheme from that era that is at once intuitive yet requires a fair learning curve to use with great proficiency. Taking command of every gamer’s favorite nemesis turned hero, Donkey Kong, players will swing and climb through multiple levels of puzzle-solving adventure fun. It isn’t the most riveting game ever, but it offers above-average on-the-go play.

In DK: King of Swing the player is cast as the big furry one himself. The jungle is very excited because the Junglee Jam tournament is about to take place. Of course you can’t have a tournament without medals, and Cranky Kong has put them in a safe place – he thinks. But here comes the gator-like King K. Rool in his air carriage and snatches them. Now there is going to be no tournament unless Donkey Kong can recover the medals. He sets off immediately to get them back.

Back in the early '80s Nichibutsu made the arcade game Crazy Climber. In that game the player used two joysticks to manipulate the hands of a human fly as he scaled buildings. The object of the game was always to reach the top and move to the next harder building. Developer Paon has adopted this control scheme and adapted it to the GBA hardware. Since the GBA does not have two joysticks, the two shoulder buttons have been used to control DK’s hands. The player cannot move the hands around like in Crazy Climber, but each hand can be made to grip independently. This is where the "Swing" comes in from the title DK: King of Swing. As the player has DK grip one of the pegs or devices that make up the levels with either of his hands, he will begin to swing around the peg. If it is a left-hand grip he will rotate around the peg in a counterclockwise direction. If he grips with the right hand, clockwise. By alternating the left and right hands, the player can cause DK to climb, or let go of the peg and launch off it. In addition, DK can jump and attack enemies by holding both of the buttons together.

While there is a control option that uses the directional pad, this game was built for the retro control scheme using the two shoulder buttons. It would be a crime not to use them. Other than the limited use of the "A" button to put DK into the "Going Bananas" mode or the "B" button to trade collected bananas for additional health, all movement and actions are accomplished using the shoulder buttons. The nice thing is the scheme is easy to understand and intuitive but, like a good arcade game, it is a moment to learn and long in the mastering. Teaching yourself to take into account DK’s position in relation to where his body is during a swing and releasing to launch our hero at the exact moment to make a leap to the next peg takes practice.

The adventure mode of the game consists of five worlds and 25 levels. You can tell the level designers ripped a big page out of the Donkey Kong Country play book with lots of collectables and character-blasting barrels to hurl the player’s character over longer distances. There is also the Jungle Jam mode that puts the player in a dozen competitive events that are opened up as the main game is played. The Jungle Jam competitions can be played solo or with other gamers via the link cable.

Graphically the game is very good. It looks a lot like a good SNES game with bright colors and fair 2D animation. Sound is not a front-and-center element of the game, but it suits the play well enough and does not become annoying like handheld game soundtracks are prone to do.

The biggest weakness of DK: King of Swing is that the play mechanic of swinging between countless pegs can get a little repetitive. It also has a nasty tendency to up the difficulty level in unfair increments, making for a little bit of frustration. Also the game can only be saved at the end of a level. That to me makes it less kid-friendly and limits it as an on-the-go time killer that may need to be put away at a moment’s notice.

It has a few weaknesses, but DK: King of Swing is a fun game that employs a slick control scheme to give the game an air of originality that is all too often lacking in games. Perhaps better first as a rental to see if it is for you, DK: King of Swing is a worthy addition to the Donkey Kong pantheon of games if you are a fan of the big, hairy ape.