If rolling barrels past Donkey Kong is burned into your childhood memories, LEGO just built you something worthy of your desk. The LEGO Donkey Kong Arcade (set 72051) is the brand’s official recreation of Nintendo’s iconic 1981 arcade cabinet — and it lands in Singapore on 1 August at S$309.90.
What Is the LEGO Donkey Kong Arcade Set?
The 1,367-piece build recreates the classic upright arcade cabinet in remarkable detail, complete with a functioning joystick, JUMP button, and a barrel-circulating mechanism activated by a side lever. Four distinct barrel types are represented — honouring the variety of obstacles that made the original game both infuriating and iconic.
Official box art for LEGO Donkey Kong Arcade (72051). Image: LEGO / Nintendo
The reveal dropped via Nintendo of America’s social channels, with a trailer starring Steve Wiebe — the real-world Donkey Kong champion and subject of the acclaimed documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters — putting the finished model through its paces. The set joins a growing line of Nintendo-themed LEGO builds that has expanded steadily since the debut of LEGO Super Mario in 2020.
Watch the Reveal
Video: GameXplain — “LEGO Donkey Kong Arcade Revealed!”
The completed LEGO Donkey Kong Arcade with all 21 barrels in place. Image: LEGO / Nintendo
How the Interactive Mechanics Work
The barrel mechanism is the showpiece. A lever on the side of the cabinet sends all 21 barrels on a looping circuit — a tactile echo of the original arcade screen. Each barrel can be loaded individually, giving the model genuine replayability as a desk piece rather than a static trophy on a shelf.
The controller panel is equally faithful: the full-size joystick and oversized JUMP button recreate the feel of the real arcade deck, right down to the low-angle ergonomics that made Donkey Kong cabinets so distinctive in a sea of 1980s upright machines.
The four barrel variants and how the circulation mechanism works. Image: LEGO / Nintendo
Singapore Price and Where to Buy
LEGO Donkey Kong Arcade (72051) launches on 1 August 2026 and is available in Singapore through LEGO’s official Singapore store at S$309.90.
The working joystick and JUMP button on the arcade controller panel. Image: LEGO / Nintendo
Looking for more gaming and collectible releases landing in Singapore? Browse our Game News section for the latest.
After 27 years — and only one previous digital re-release — Donkey Kong 64 is finally on Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, live from toda
With the Nintendo Switch 2 having launched in Singapore on 26 June last year at SGD $719, it remains a great time to assess whether the Expansion Pack subscription is worth it for you. Priced at SGD $69.90/year for an individual plan, the subscription grants you access to 40 N64 titles (now including Donkey Kong 64), along with GBA, Game Boy, NES, SNES, and SEGA Genesis libraries—plus added GameCube access on your Switch 2. The arrival of Donkey Kong 64 today only adds more value to the service. For the full library list, visit Nintendo Singapore’s Expansion Pack page.
y, 4 June 2026. Singapore players with the Expansion Pack tier can download and play the full 1999 N64 platformer right now, with no extra charge beyond the subscription.
Donkey Kong 64 – Nintendo 64 – Nintendo Classics – Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack — via Nintendo of America on YouTube
What You Get with Donkey Kong 64 on Nintendo Switch Online
Rare’s legendary 1999 collect-a-thon platformer lets you take control of five members of the Kong family — Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Tiny Kong, Lanky Kong, and Chunky Kong — each with their own special abilities and upgrades. Together they climb, swim, and puzzle-solve their way through treacherous worlds to reclaim DK Island’s Golden Bananas from the villainous King K. Rool and his Kremling army.
The Nintendo Switch Online version comes with quality-of-life improvements: higher-resolution output, smoother ~30fps performance (fixing some of the N64’s notorious frame wobble), fully rebindable controls, widescreen display support, and save states — so you’re not forced to marathon every Golden Banana run in one session.
Image courtesy of Nintendo
Four-player split-screen battle arenas return too, so you can settle Kong supremacy debates with friends locally.
How Singapore Players Can Access It
You need a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership. In Singapore, the plan is priced at SGD $69.90 per year for an individual account, or SGD $119.90 per year for a family plan covering up to eight Nintendo Accounts. Once subscribed, DK64 is available inside the Nintendo 64 – Nintendo Classics library app directly on your console.
This addition brings the N64 catalogue on Switch Online to 40 titles, sitting alongside Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, GoldenEye 007, and other classics. Switch 2 owners on the Expansion Pack also get access to the GameCube library — and the Switch 2 launches in Singapore on 26 June.
Image courtesy of Nintendo
Note: DK64 is not available on the base Nintendo Switch Online tier — the Expansion Pack upgrade is required.
Why This Matters for Nintendo Fans
Donkey Kong 64 is one of Nintendo’s most beloved — and most elusive — retro titles. After its Wii U eShop availability ended when that storefront closed in 2024, the game vanished from all legal digital outlets. This Switch Online addition is only its second official digital re-release, making it genuinely hard to come by for anyone who hasn’t kept the original N64 cartridge around.
For veteran Singapore gamers who grew up with the N64 in the late 1990s, this is a proper nostalgia hit. For younger players, it’s the first accessible chance to experience the DK Rap in its natural habitat — and to discover why this collect-a-thon’s scope still impresses nearly three decades later.
Last Words
With the Nintendo Switch 2 having launched in Singapore on 26 June last year at SGD $719, it remains a great time to assess whether the Expansion Pack subscription is worth it for you. Priced at SGD $69.90/year for an individual plan, the subscription grants you access to 40 N64 titles (now including Donkey Kong 64), along with GBA, Game Boy, NES, SNES, and SEGA Genesis libraries—plus added GameCube access on your Switch 2. The arrival of Donkey Kong 64 today only adds more value to the service. For the full library list, visit Nintendo Singapore’s Expansion Pack page.
