Editing Donkey Kong 3 (section)

== Reception ==
The game was moderately successful in Japan, where ''Game Machine'' listed ''Donkey Kong 3'' on their December 1, 1983, issue as being the fourth most-successful new table arcade unit of the month.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型新製品 (New Videos-Table Type)|magazine=[[:ja:ゲームマシン|Game shut the :アミューズメント通信社|Amusement Press, Inc.]]|date=1 December 1983|page=32|lang=ja}}</ref> Despite this, it was a commercial failure in North America, particularly due to the wake of the [[video game crash of 1983]].

Reviews for the arcade game were generally positive. Gene Lewin of ''[[Play Meter]]'' magazine rated it 8 out of 10.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Lewin |first1=Gene |title=Gene's Judgements: Critiquing AMOA Show Conversions, Dedicated Games |magazine=[[Play Meter]] |date=January 15, 1984 |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=60–2 |url=https://archive.org/details/play-meter-volume-10-number-2-january-15th-1984/Play%20Meter%20-%20Volume%2010%2C%20Number%202%20-%20January%2015th%201984/page/60/mode/2up}}</ref> ''[[Computer and Video Games]]'' said that the game's "fast action and superior sound effects" made ''Donkey Kong 3'' a "sure hit" in arcades.<ref name=CVG>"Donkey Kong Swings Back". ''[[Computer and Video Games]]''. February 1984. p. 50.</ref>

Retrospectively, reception has been divisive, with criticism aimed at its departure of its predecessors and the lack of [[Mario]]. ''[[IGN]]'' gave the Virtual Console version a 6.0 out of 10, describing it as a "radical departure" from the previous Donkey Kong games, calling it "repetitive".<ref name="IGN Donkey Kong 3 VC review">{{cite web|url=http://wii.ign.com/articles/893/893851p1.html|title=Donkey Kong 3 Review|access-date=August 27, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813213417/http://wii.ign.com/articles/893/893851p1.html|archive-date=August 13, 2012|url-status=dead|website=[[IGN]]}}</ref>

In 2015, Nathan Birch of ''[[Uproxx]]'' ranked ''Donkey Kong 3'' twentieth on a list of the thirty NES black box titles. Birch called the game "fun enough" but criticized the gameplay as "simple, not-terribly-challenging arcade action", which he felt deviated too far from the gameplay of the game's predecessors. Because of its change to the genre, he thought that the game "killed" the series until its comeback with ''[[Donkey Kong Country]]''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Birch |first=Nathan |date=2015-10-18 |title=Ranking All 30 'Black Box' Nintendo Games In Honor Of The NES' 30th Birthday |url=https://uproxx.com/gaming/30-black-box-nes-games-ranked/ |access-date=2023-10-21 |website=UPROXX |language=en-US}}</ref>