Donkey Kong

This article is about the video game franchise. For the first game in the series, see Donkey Kong (video game). For the character, see Donkey Kong (character). For other uses, see Donkey Kong (disambiguation).

Donkey Kong
The most common logo in the franchise.
Genres	Platformer Action-adventure Puzzle Racing
Developers	Nintendo Rare (1994-2007) Namco (2003-2005) Paon (2005-2007) Retro Studios (2010-)
Publishers	Nintendo
Creators	Shigeru Miyamoto
Platforms	Arcade, Game & Watch, Intellivision, ColecoVision, Atari 2600, TRS-80 CoCo, Atari 8-bit Computer, TI-99/4a, IBM PC Booter, Commodore 64, Commodore VIC-20, BBC Micro, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari 7800, Nintendo Entertainment System, Famicom Disk System, Game Boy, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, e-Reader, GameCube, Nintendo DS, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, Virtual Console
Platform of origin	Arcade
Year of inception	1981
First release	Donkey Kong July 9, 1981
Latest release	Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze February 13, 2014
Spin-offs	Donkey Kong Country Mario vs. Donkey Kong
Official website	donkeykong.nintendo.com

The Donkey Kong (ドンキーコング, Donkī Kongu) is a series of video games featuring the adventures of a gorilla character called Donkey Kong, conceived by Shigeru Miyamoto in 1981. The franchise mainly comprises two different game genres, plus spinoff titles of various genres.

The games of the first genre are mostly single-screen platform/action puzzle types, featuring Donkey Kong as the opponent against Mario in an industrial construction setting. The original Donkey Kong game was the first appearance of Mario, Nintendo's flagship character, pre-dating the well-known Super Mario Bros. by four years. Donkey Kong first made his appearance in the 1981 arcade machine called Donkey Kong in which he faced Jumpman (later renamed Mario). In 1994, the series was revived as the Donkey Kong Country series, featuring Donkey Kong and his clan as protagonists in their native jungle setting versus a variety of anthropomorphic enemies, usually against the Kremlings, a clan of crocodiles, and their leader King K. Rool. These are side-scrolling platform games.

Titles outside these two genres have included rhythm games (Donkey Konga), racing games (Diddy Kong Racing), and edutainment (Donkey Kong Jr. Math).

A hallmark of the Donkey Kong series is barrels, which the Kongs use as weapons, vehicles, furniture and lodging. The Donkey Kong character is highly recognizable and very popular; the franchise has sold over 40 million units worldwide.

Synopsis

Donkey Kong Arcade from the 1980s

The original Donkey Kong video game running on the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Setting

Donkey Kong kidnaps Pauline (aka "the lady") and holds her hostage at the top of the unfinished building. As you control Mario, the hero, Donkey Kong hurls barrels at you to try to stop him. The barrels can be jumped over or smashed with a hammer. There is also the danger of fires that chase you down. Extra points can also be collected along the way by picking up Pauline's lost items such as an umbrella, hat and purse. When you reach the top to rescue the lady, Donkey Kong grabs her and takes her to the next level.

Characters

Main article: List of Donkey Kong characters

Donkey Kong first appeared in the eponymous arcade game in 1981 as an antagonist. He would become a protagonist in later games. Donkey Kong Jr. first appeared in an arcade style game released in 1982. The plot was that Donkey Kong Jr. saves his father, Donkey Kong, from Mario. Cranky Kong is Donkey Kong's grandfather who is the original Donkey Kong. He is elderly and frequently berates the younger generation of heroes. Diddy Kong was first introduced in Donkey Kong Country and featured in Diddy's Kong Quest as the main character. Dixie Kong first appeared in Donkey Kong Country 2 as a sidekick to Diddy Kong and has been referred to as his girlfriend. King K. Rool is the main antagonist of the Donkey Kong Country series.

Characters from the Donkey Kong series have appeared in Nintendo's crossover titles such as the Super Smash Bros. and the Mario Kart series.

Games

Original series

Donkey Kong

The original arcade game was created when Shigeru Miyamoto was assigned by Nintendo to convert Radar Scope, a game that had been released to test audiences with poor results, into a game that would appeal more to Americans. The result was a major breakthrough for Nintendo and for the videogame industry. Sales of the machine were brisk, with the game becoming one of the best-selling arcade machines of the early 1980s. The gameplay itself was a large improvement over other games of its time, and with the growing base of arcades to sell to, it was able to gain huge distribution. In the game, 'Jumpman' (the character would later become Mario) must ascend a construction site while avoiding obstacles such as barrels and fireballs to rescue Pauline, his girlfriend, from Donkey Kong. Miyamoto created a greatly simplified version for the Game & Watch multiscreen. Other ports include the Atari 2600, Colecovision, Amiga 500, Apple II, Atari 7800, Intellivision, Commodore 64, Commodore VIC-20, Famicom Disk System, IBM PC booter, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Atari 8-bit family and Mini-Arcade versions. The game was ported to the Family Computer in 1983 as one of the system's three launch titles; the same version was a launch title for the Famicom's North American version, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Both Donkey Kong and its sequel, Donkey Kong Jr., are included in the 1988 NES compilation Donkey Kong Classics. The NES version was re-released as an unlockable game in Animal Crossing for the GameCube and as an item for purchase on the Wii's Virtual Console. The original arcade version of the game appears in the Nintendo 64 game Donkey Kong 64. Nintendo released the NES version on the e-Reader and for the Game Boy Advance Classic NES series in 2002 and 2004, respectively. The game was once more ported to Nintendo consoles Wii, WiiU and 3DS in 2013 and 2014, under the name Donkey Kong Original Edition.

Donkey Kong Jr.

The success of the original game spawned several ports, and a sequel, Donkey Kong Jr. In this game, Donkey Kong Junior is trying to rescue his father Donkey Kong, who has been imprisoned. Donkey Kong's cage is guarded by Mario, in his only appearance as a villain in a video game.

Donkey Kong II

The game was developed by Nintendo R&D1 and released as part of the Game & Watch Multi Screen series, featuring two LCD display screens. It was released in 1983. Donkey Kong Jr. has to touch a key, then it moves up to the top screen. Donkey Kong Jr. has to climb to the top screen while avoiding things such as electrical wires. When he gets to the top screen, Donkey Kong Jr. will have to touch the key again, and it will move to the keyhole of one of the chains. Donkey Kong Jr has to climb up the rope below the keyhole, while avoiding birds. When he gets to the top of the rope, one of the chains will unlock. He has to do this 4 times until he saves Donkey Kong. After that, the game will start over, at a somewhat faster pace.

Donkey Kong 3

It did not feature Mario. Its protagonist, Stanley, is a bugman. Donkey Kong has taken refuge in his greenhouse and it is now up to him to stop the ape from stirring up any more insects that will soon destroy his flowers. Stanley saves the flowers by spraying bug spray on Donkey Kong.

Donkey Kong Circus

is a Game & Watch Panorama series game released in 1984. In this game, the player controls Donkey Kong, who is placed on a barrel while juggling pineapples and avoiding flames. This game is very similar to Mario the Juggler, the last Game & Watch game, as they both involve a character juggling while avoiding objects.

Donkey Kong

In 1994, a homonymous remake of the original game was released for the Game Boy, adding 96 new levels. This game was also the first game released with Super Game Boy enhancements, to help sell the new SNES peripheral. Later, Nintendo would revamp this style of gameplay into the Mario vs. Donkey Kong games.

Donkey Kong Country series

Main article: Donkey Kong Country (series)

Released in 1994, Donkey Kong Country (in Japan, Super Donkey Kong) was an entirely new DK series established by the British company Rare and Tim Stamper which took the Donkey Kong premise in an entirely new direction and became a showcase title to show off then-revolutionary CGI graphics. In Donkey Kong Country, the original Donkey Kong's grandson, also called Donkey Kong, was the hero and he and his sidekick Diddy Kong had to save his hoard of bananas from the thieving King K. Rool and his Kremling Krew. The game was an action sidescrolling title similar to the Mario games and was enormously popular for its graphics, music and gameplay. The sequel, Diddy's Kong Quest (Super Donkey Kong 2 in Japan) involves DK being kidnapped by K. Rool, who was now a "Kaptain", and getting rescued by Diddy Kong and his girlfriend Dixie Kong, in a less cheery and a more darkly-themed game. In Dixie Kong's Double Trouble (in Japan, Super Donkey Kong 3) Donkey and Diddy both got kidnapped by K. Rool, now Baron K. Roolenstein, and Dixie and her cousin Kiddy Kong had to save them in the final game of the series for the SNES. All three of the Donkey Kong Country games for the SNES have been made available on the Wii's Virtual Console. In addition, Donkey Kong Country was ported to the Game Boy Color, and the entire Donkey Kong Country trilogy has been ported to the Game Boy Advance. Tim Stamper stated that an SNES emulator was used to rip the graphics and port it to GBA, and that the GBA versions were coded from scratch.

Donkey Kong Country Returns was developed for the Wii by Retro Studios and was released in 2010. In this adventure, Donkey and Diddy Kong must retrieve the Banana Hoard and save the island from the Tiki Tak Tribe with their leader, Tiki Tong. The 3DS edition of the game was released on May 24, 2013 under the name Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D with Monster Games as the developer and it includes a secret ninth world, extra items and new stages. A new title was revealed at E3 2013 and which would be called Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. The game was released for the Wii U in February 2014.

Donkey Kong Land series

The Donkey Kong Land trilogy for the Game Boy were smaller counterparts of the "Country" games and were presented in a rare yellow cartridge compared to the typical grey color.

Donkey Kong Land

The first game was released in 1995.

Donkey Kong Land 2

The second game was released in 1996.

Donkey Kong Land III

The third game was released in 1997.

Donkey Kong 64

A successful Nintendo 64 sequel to Rare's Donkey Kong Country games was also developed. In Donkey Kong 64, DK once again has the starring role as he joins forces with Diddy Kong, Lanky Kong, Tiny Kong, and Chunky Kong to save Donkey Kong Island from destruction at the hands of K. Rool and his Kremling Krew. This game features a unique yellow cartridge and is only playable with the included Expansion Pak.

Racing series

Diddy Kong Racing

is a 1997 racing game for the Nintendo 64 developed by Rareware. It is the first game to spin off from the Donkey Kong Country series. It currently stands as the Nintendo 64's sixth-most best selling game. A racing game like Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing also has a distinctive adventure mode. Some of the playable characters would later appear in their own franchise titles. Donkey Kong can also be found in Diddy Kong Racing DS, an enhanced remake for the Nintendo DS released on February 7, 2007.

Donkey Kong Racing

A demo for a racing game on the GameCube, Nintendo's sixth generation console, was shown at SpaceWorld 2001. It showed various characters, including Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and Taj the Genie racing on Ellie, Expresso, Rambi, Enguarde, and Zinger, Necky, Army, and Chomps Jr. that had been introduced in previous Donkey Kong games by Rare. Following the sale of Rare to Microsoft in 2002, Rare announced that they were concentrating their efforts on Xbox games. Although they had continued to support Nintendo's portable consoles, the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS, the game was cancelled.

Donkey Kong Barrel Blast

Donkey Kong's first title role on the Wii was released in the form of Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, a racing title originally in development for the GameCube.

Donkey Konga series

Main article: Donkey Konga

Donkey Konga

was released for the GameCube in 2004. Created by Namco, this musical rhythm action game relied upon use of the DK Bongos accessory (purchasable separately or included, depending on the package) to hit a beat in time with the tune. The tunes included pop songs and themes from some previous Nintendo games. Its sequel, Donkey Konga 2, was released in 2005, and Japan later got Donkey Konga 3 that same year.

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat

was released in Japan in December 2004 and elsewhere in 2005. This platform game used the aforementioned DK Bongos as a controller; tapping one drum repeatedly made Donkey Kong run, tapping both at the same time made him jump, tapping both alternately made him attack, and clapping or blowing in to the microphone caused an explosion, shown by a ripple in the screen, attracting assorted jewels or clearing obstacles to progress. As of Nintendo's conference at October 2, 2008, a New Play Control! remake of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat was ported to the Wii; it was released in Japan on December 11, 2008.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong series

Main article: Mario vs. Donkey Kong (series)

Nintendo's first Donkey Kong title for the Game Boy Advance after Rare left was Mario vs. Donkey Kong, a return to the earlier arcade-style games that incorporated many elements from the Game Boy version. While its style was that of other games, the Rare design for Donkey Kong carried over. Donkey Kong, originally a villain, returns to this role in the game: wanting a Mini Mario clockwork toy, he finds that they are sold out at a local toy store. Enraged, he terrifies the Toads at the factory and steals the toys. This sets up the game's plot, where Mario chases Donkey Kong until he can take the Mini Marios back from Donkey Kong. The game was followed by March of the Minis for the Nintendo DS, Minis March Again on DSiWare, Mini-Land Mayhem in 2010 for the DS, and Minis on the Move for the Nintendo 3DS in 2013.

A possible entry for the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series for the Wii U was taught as a demo at the GDC 2014. It was developed with Nintendo Web Framework to show their capabilities. Like the other entries, the goal of each level is to guide the Mini Marios to the exit, creating paths through the positioning of platforms and other interactions with the setting made through the Wii U GamePad. The first level shows the basic capabilities of the program, but the second has more complex lighting effects and animations.

DK series

DK King of Swing

which features gameplay similar to Clu Clu Land. Here, the player must navigate levels using only the GBA's left and right shoulder buttons.

DK Jungle Climber

a sequel to the game, is Donkey Kong's first title role on the Nintendo DS.

Spin-off games

Donkey Kong Jr. Math

It is an edutainment game released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), wherein players must solve math problems in order to win. It is the only game in the "Education Series" of NES games in North America. The game features one and two player modes, both of which are single screen. In the first mode, the objective is to enter math answers in order to receive points. These questions include addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In the two player mode, two players control two characters as they race to create a math formula to reach the number shown by Donkey Kong, incorporating platform gameplay. Donkey Kong, Jr. Math was made available in the video game Animal Crossing, along with several other NES titles. It has also been released on the Wii Virtual Console in Europe, Australia, Japan, and North America.

Donkey Kong Hockey

It was developed by Nintendo R&D1 and released in 1985 as part of the Game & Watch Micro Vs. series. The game features one LCD display screen and two attached control pads. The hockey features Donkey Kong as one of the players and Mario as the other.

Super Smash Bros. series

In the Nintendo 64 game and its many sequels, Donkey Kong has a very strong move called a spike. When a spike is done correctly, Donkey swings his massive fists over the back of his head, and sends an opposing player down into the death zone.

Other media

Television series

The Saturday Supercade was the character's first role in a television series. In it, Donkey Kong (voiced by Soupy Sales) has escaped from the circus and Mario (voiced by Peter Cullen) and Pauline (voiced by Judy Strangis) are chasing the ape. As with the original game, Donkey Kong will often grab Pauline, and Mario has to save her.

Donkey Kong also had its own television series called Donkey Kong Country, which is based on the SNES game of the same name. Aired in France in 1997 and in the USA in 1998, the series lasted 2 seasons with 40 total episodes featuring exclusive characters including Bluster Kong, Eddie the Mean Old Yeti and Kaptain Scurvy.

Film

The original arcade iteration of Donkey Kong will be appearing in the upcoming film Pixels.

Medal games

During the seventh generation of video games, there were two arcade Donkey Kong titles released in Japan. The first was Donkey Kong Jungle Fever, a medal game released in 2005, and the second was a sequel, Donkey Kong Banana Kingdom (released on November 16, 2006. Both games were developed by Capcom and published by Nintendo on the Triforce arcade system board. As of 2011, neither title has been released outside of Japan.

Reception

Critical response

Since his debut in Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong has received mainly positive reviews from critics.

Impact and legacy

After the first Donkey Kong was released, Universal Studios sued Nintendo, alleging that the video game was a trademark infringement of King Kong, the plot and characters of which Universal claimed for their own. In the case, Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd., a United States District Court ruled that Universal had acted in bad faith, and that it had no right over the name King Kong or the characters and story. The court further held that there was no possibility for consumers to confuse Nintendo's game and characters with the King Kong films and their characters. The case was an enormous victory for Nintendo, which was still a newcomer to the U.S. market. The case established the company as a major player in the industry and arguably gave the company the confidence that it could compete with the giants of American media.

The success of the Donkey Kong series has resulted in Guinness World Records awarding the series with 7 world records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. The records include: "First Use of Visual Storytelling in a Video Game" for the rudimentary cut scenes featured in the original Donkey Kong arcade game, and "Most Collectible Items in a Platform Game" for Donkey Kong 64.

"It's on like Donkey Kong" is an expression used in pop culture that is inspired by the game. Nintendo requested a trademark on the phrase with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in November 2010.

The original game was the focus of the 2007 documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.

In 2007, the USHRA Monster Jam racing series licensed Donkey Kong's appearance for a monster truck. The truck is driven by Frank Krmel, and is owned by Feld Motorsports. The truck is decorated to look like the character and has Donkey Kong's tie on the front. The truck made its debut in the Monster Jam event at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US on December 8, 2007. It went to the Monster Jam World Finals 9, as well as World Finals 10, where it was the fastest qualifier.