The game opens with remakes of all four levels from the original 1981 Donkey Kong arcade game. These are not direct remakes of the original levels; they were made easier and some of the stage designs had to be scaled back to fit the Game Boy's smaller screen. There was a back and forth argument within the development team over where to place these levels in the new game, as they did not want it to be mistaken for a remake. While they initially planned to make the original levels post-game content, they were ultimately placed at the start of the game. According to director Takao Shimizu, this placement was not intended to give players expecting a remake a surprise (akin to a "bait & switch"), but was rather meant to cater to nostalgic fans of the original Donkey Kong.