Donkey Kong is a video game franchise created by Shigeru Miyamoto and published by Nintendo. Games in the franchise have been developed by a variety of developers including Nintendo, Rare, Paon and Retro Studios. While the first games were arcade releases, most Donkey Kong games have been released for Nintendo consoles and handhelds since the third generation.
It debuted in 1981 with the arcade gameDonkey Kong, which was a sales success that brought Nintendo into the North American market.[1] With the original arcade games being ported into versions on third-party home consoles and developed by several companies. The Donkey Kong franchise has sold a total of 82 million copies as of 2022.
Most of the games in the franchise are platform games, although the series also includes spin-offs other genres such as racing and rhythm games. The franchise is centered on the anthropomorphicgorillaDonkey Kong and his clan of other apes and monkeys. Many of the Donkey Kong games use supporting characters throughout gameplay, allowing the player to control different members of the family.[1] The success of the series is commonly attributed to its technical innovation and entertaining platforming sequences.[1]
The game has two modes: one is a two-player mode in which the objective is to add numbers up to what Donkey Kong is holding, and the other is a single-player mode in which the player must solve algebraic equations.[1]
1998 – Game Boy Color[66]
2002 – Game Boy Advance[64]
2009 – Nintendo DS
Notes:
The handheld was developed by Nintendo.
Like the arcade Donkey Kong, Mario must climb a building while avoiding barrels; however, beating the game is different from the arcade version. The player must trigger a lever on the upper screen, activating a hook, which Mario must then jump and catch. If the player succeeds, a peg will be removed and Mario will return to the starting point, but if the player does not, Mario will fall to the ground and lose a life. Removing all available pegs in this manner will cause Donkey Kong's platform to collapse, and he will fall to the ground.
Donkey Kong was released in a dual-screen format.[65]
This Game & Watch version was later re-released in Game & Watch compilation games for the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance.[64][66]
It was included as one of the games in Game & Watch Collection, a Club Nintendo exclusive release for Nintendo DS.
1998 – Game Boy Color[66]
2002 – Game Boy Advance[64]
2010 – DSiWare
Notes:
The handheld was developed by Nintendo.
Donkey Kong Junior was released in a widescreen format.[65]
This Game & Watch version of Donkey Kong Junior was later re-released in Game & Watch compilation games for the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance[64][66] and as DSiWare download in 2010.[67]
Donkey Kong Hockey was an original title developed for the Game and Watch series.[71] It was developed by Nintendo R&D1 and released in 1984 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.
The game is based on the original Donkey Kong; it features the first four arcade levels, but from there, features ninety-six more levels and becomes a hybrid between Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and Super Mario Bros. 2.[1]
The game was later re-released for Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console download.
It is extensively based on Donkey Kong Country 2, but due to the limitations of the Game Boy system, it was missing several features and held radically different level designs.[76]
The graphics are enhanced if the player plays via the Super Game Boy.[1]
The game is extensively based on Donkey Kong Country 3, but lacked the exploration aspects seen in the home console game.[1]
The graphics are enhanced if the player plays via the Super Game Boy.[1]
An enhanced version for the Game Boy Color, titled Donkey Kong GB - Dinky Kong and Dixie Kong was released exclusively for Japan on January 28, 2000, over two years after the US and EU releases.
It is a spiritual successor to the Game Boy version of Donkey Kong, which was a hybrid of the arcade game Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and Super Mario Bros. 2.[83]
Return of Donkey Kong was advertised in the 1987 Official Nintendo Player's Guide, but was never released,[93] and the advertisement remains the only evidence of its existence.[94] It mentioned that Donkey Kong would have been the playable character.[93]
Diddy Kong Pilot was a Rare-developed kart racing game that was intended as a handheld sequel to Diddy Kong Racing.[95] It was scheduled to be released on March 4, 2002,[96] but remained unreleased when Microsoft acquired Rare in September 2002.[97]Diddy Kong Pilot was reworked to remove Donkey Kong elements after the acquisition and released as Banjo-Pilot in 2005.[95]
Donkey Kong Racing was developed by Rare as a console sequel to Diddy Kong Racing.[99] It was a racing game in which players rode on animals rather than vehicles.[100] Following the Microsoft acquisition, Rare attempted to rework Donkey Kong Racing as a Sabreman game for the Xbox and Xbox 360 before canceling it entirely.[100][101]
Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers was a Rare-developed puzzle video game that featured the ability to switch between top-down 2D graphics and a 3Disometric layout.[102] It was scheduled to be released on December 7, 2001,[103] but after the Microsoft acquisition, Rare reworked Coconut Crackers to remove Donkey Kong elements and released it as It's Mr. Pants in 2004.[102]
A Donkey Kong game, codenamed Freedom, was co-developed by Nintendo and Vicarious Visions for six months. It was a 3D platformer that emphasized traversal, with grinding on vines as a core mechanic. The game was canceled in 2016 after Activision Blizzard, Vicarious Visions' parent company, redirected its developers' focus to the Call of Duty franchise.[104]
^Metts, Jonathan (9 October 2001). "Nintendo's New Release Dates". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.