The classic Donkey Kong arcade cabinet seems like it will be the next entry in the Lego x Nintendo collaboration, according to a leaked photo of the new set’s box on Reddit. The post claims that the set will be available in August and will cost $200. While that’s a bit pricey for a Lego set, any retro enthusiast will remind you that figure is far cheaper than trying to buy the real thing.
Based on the single image, the Donkey Kong set seems like it will be a neat but simple Lego-ified recreation of the classic 1981 arcade cabinet. You’ll be able to build a movable joystick and functional buttons, and the majority of the arcade’s “screen” will be rendered in plastic bricks, including ladders, barrel hazards, and hammer power-ups. It’s hard to tell if this Donkey Kong set has been rendered with the same level of intricate detail given to the Pac-Man Lego arcade cabinet released back in 2023. That set was priced at $270.
With that cabinet, once assembled, you could turn a crank to move Pac-Man and his hungry ghosts around the screen. On top of the cabinet, larger versions of Pac-Man, Blinky, and Clyde could also rotate and change colors, rendering in Lego what happens when Pac-Man eats a power pellet. While it does look like the Donkey Kong joystick and buttons might be able move a Lego Mario across the screen, the set doesn’t seem big enough for the kind of complex mechanical action required to bring the game to life beyond that.
For reference, the Pac-Man set featured 2,651 pieces while Donkey Kong is only reported to have 1,367. So while it’s a neat addition to Lego’s retro gaming collection, it seems to be more of a showpiece than anything you can realistically play with.
