Back in 1981, Nintendo graced the arcades with a game that pit a giant gorilla against a plumber in a construction site setting, which introduced the world to Donkey Kong and Mario. Regardless of whether you beat the game or not, Mario would go on to become the ultimate winner of that showdown, going on to become the face of the franchise. Granted, Donkey Kong eventually made a comeback over a decade later, eventually earning his spot among Nintendo’s mainstays. So now that Mario has his own LEGO line, the jumping plumber is bringing his favorite primate along in the form of the LEGO Donkey Kong’s Tree House Expansion Set.
That’s right, DK is getting his own LEGO set, so you can finally add the giant gorilla to your Super Mario collection. Want to recreate the original showdown between Mario and Donkey Kong? Well… you’d have to build your own construction site setup, but this lets you do that. Plus, you can recreate a bunch of Donkey Kong titles, since the tree house is, pretty much, the starting point for many of the games that came out from the 90s onward.
The LEGO Donkey Kong’s Tree House Expansion Set recreates the titular character’s abode in Donkey Kong Island, allowing you to bring not just the character, but his wooden shack to your collection. Do note, this is the version of the tree house with elevated stilts rather than one perched on a tree branch, although you can definitely set it up in one if you have a LEGO tree large enough to host a cabin fit for a giant gorilla. The set comes with a number of banana trees you can put around the tree house to give it that genuine jungle feel.
While this is a smaller set, it does have a number of interesting details onboard. There’s a hammock on the side of the shack, for instance, allowing our favorite gorilla to catch some relaxing naps in between his adventures, as well as a buildable TV and radio for some more familiar comforts in the jungle. Somewhere, they also set up a secret compartment for DK’s valuables and a pair of conga drums for some Donkey Konga action. Yes, we still can’t believe that rhythm game for the Gamecube sold incredibly well outside of Japan.
The LEGO Donkey Kong’s Tree House Expansion Set also includes Cranky Kong, who is, basically, the original Donkey Kong before the 1994 redesign that recast him as the new DK’s grandfather. Yes, Cranky Kong being the guy that was throwing all those barrels at Mario actually makes sense. If you own other LEGO Super Mario sets, you can have characters from those sets ride Donkey Kong’s back, as the character has been scaled such that he can accommodate Mario, Luigi, or any of the other mainstays in Mario World on a piggyback ride. When assembled, the finished model measures 7.5 x 18 x 6.5 inches (height x width x depth). A total of 555 pieces are included in the set.
The LEGO Donkey Kong’s Tree House Expansion Set is currently on preorder, priced at $59.99.