In honor of the recently released Donkey Kong Country Returns, I thought I’d do a retrospective blog on the big gorilla and his many games and other appearances.

Now, DK has quite a bit of history behind him. Mistranslated name, lawsuit with Universal because of King Kong, and lots of other interesting tidbits. But you won’t find any of that on this blog. Why? Well, that would make my blog a thousand pages long, and you can read that stuff at plenty of other places on the Internet. So my retrospective will be my personal experiences instead. I know that’s not very ‘journalistic,’ but this is just my blog so get over it. But enough of that, let’s take a look at Donkey Kong and his games!

Donkey Kong

The first time I saw an arcade machine was at the local Kroger grocery store. It was Pac-Man and I fell in love instantly with it. The next time we went, they added two more games at the checkout lanes to go with Pac-Man: Space Invaders and Donkey Kong. When I was little, I wasn’t into the arcade DK game as much. Mainly because I was so infatuated with Pac-Man, but also because the DK game was just too tough for my five-year-old self. I did enjoy watching older people play it, though.

Now that I’m grown, I have a lot more respect for the Donkey Kong arcade game. It’s a shame that most home console versions are missing one of the levels. And Nintendo has strangely enough not made a collection of their arcade titles! Luckily you can play the original arcade game in Donkey Kong 64. And I heard a rumor that the European version of the red Wii will come prepackaged with some VC titles, and one is a remade version of the NES game with the extra level thrown in!

Donkey Kong Jr.

I first saw DK Jr. at the roller rink that my mom always took us to as kids. I was never very good at roller skating (due to my vision disability), so I would always put on my skates, get some quarters, and go crash into the arcade machines. I was excited to see Donkey Kong Jr. at first because I thought it might be a DK game for little kids, since the original was too hard for my young self. Too bad it wasn’t like that. I have to admit that I did think it was a pretty creative game for back then. And it’s the only time we’ll ever see Mario as the bad guy! Later on the NES, they made a version of DK Jr. called Donkey Kong Jr. Math. I guess Nintendo needed a game to show their NES was educational, too. I never played it back in the day, but I wouldn’t have any interest in it anyway since I hate math. I did play it on GameCube Animal Crossing and learned I wasn’t missing much.

Donkey Kong 3

When I first saw this in an arcade, I thought, “Hey, what happened to Donkey Kong 2?” I didn’t make the connection that DK Jr. was the first sequel. But hey, don’t blame me, I was just a little kid. Weird thing about DK 3 is that you don’t play as Mario, but a one-time character called Stanley the Bugman. DK is making a mess at a greenhouse, batting beehives and such, and you have to shoot the bees to defend the flowers and shoot bug spray up DK’s butt to make him move all the way up the vines to beat the level. It’s really more of a shooter than anything, like a reverse Galaga. It kind of bombed, too. I never really played it much, just enough to where I can describe it.

And that’s all the Donkey Kong games in the arcade. A few years back, they did make an arcade cabinet with DK, DK Jr. and Mario Bros. on it. Only problem with it is that it uses a vertical screen, which is fine for the DK games, but the Mario Bros. screen was horizontal, so it gets cut off a bit in this new cabinet. I heard that Capcom made a music game in the arcades in Japan called Donkey Kong Jungle Fever a few years back, but I have never seen anything about it.

Donkey Kong Game & Watch Games

While DK was getting big in early 80’s arcades, Nintendo was also doing well with their Game & Watch titles. I just have to assume so anyway. As a kid, I never really saw them in stores or played them. Later on when Nintendo released their Game & Watch Gallery collections, I did learn of DK in G&W titles. Of course you have the expected Donkey Kong and DK Jr. ones, but did you also know that Donkey was also the star of other handheld G&W’s like Donkey Kong Circus and Donkey Kong Hockey? Mario wasn’t ALWAYS the star back then!

Donkey Kong Game Boy

While Mario was rising in popularity in the NES and most of the SNES era, DK took a bit of a hiatus. But in 1994, DK came back in a big way. Donkey Kong on Game Boy (also supported the SNES Super Game Boy add-on), started out with the first four levels of the arcade game, but then opened up more than 100 new levels to try! Some of these levels were more puzzle oriented as you had to figure out how to get a key to a door. But there were still plenty of action levels as you tried to rescue Pauline from DK’s clutches. Some levels even made reference to DK Jr. as well, with lots of vine climbing, and Jr. would even appear on some stages to make Mario’s life more difficult!

Mario had many new moves as well. Almost as many as in Super Mario 64! He could triple jump, backflip, do a handstand, pick up and throw items, and much more. But the controls and gameplay still felt like classic Donkey Kong. And the last boss fight with DK was truly epic. I’d have to say that DK on Game Boy is one of the best classic arcade updates ever. Even to this day. I like it better than many Pac-Man updates. And considering how much of a Pac-Man fan I am, that’s really saying something. If you are a big DK fan, you owe it to yourself to track this one down and play it.

Donkey Kong Country 1, 2, and 3

A lot of people say the SNES DKC games are overrated, and they’re partially right. They just used fancy graphics to sell a pretty basic 2-D platformer. But you know what? It wasn’t THAT bad of a game. Certainly a lot better than some of the other me-too Sonic mascot platformers other companies were making in the 90’s. I do agree the pre-rendered graphics haven’t aged well, and even back then were a little wonky at times (the jungle background looked like plastic). But it helped keep the SNES afloat for a few more years, which is good because that’s when we got such great titles like Chrono Trigger and Yoshi’s Island. What really impressed me about DKC was the music. Go listen to the water level tune and tell me that’s not impressive for the SNES to pull off. Plus, while Rare’s character designs are weird at times, you have to admit that giving DK a necktie was a good idea. It just fits somehow.

Shortly after we got the sequel, which starred sidekick Diddy Kong and his gal pal Dixie as they tried to rescue Donkey from K. Rool, who was now a pirate. The music was even better in this game. In DKC3, you played as Dixie and her baby cousin Kiddy Kong as they rescued Donkey and Diddy from K. Rool, who was now a mad scientist. DKC3 had the best gameplay and level ideas, but the music took a BIG hit and wasn’t near as good. But DKC3 is still a special game to me because it was one of the first games I reviewed for The Dallas Morning News (yes, that long ago). There were three black and white Game Boy DK games called Donkey Kong Land and ports of the SNES games on GBA, but I never messed with the handheld ones.

Diddy Kong Racing

This kart racer starred sidekick Diddy. They should’ve called it Rareware Racing because it also had Banjo and Conker before he had a Bad Fur Day. They remade it on the DS and took out the two Rare characters and put in some generic DK racers. But the first one was on the N64 before kart racers had become overdone, so it still felt fresh and new thanks to the multiple vehicles you could ride and boss battles. Only problem was it was their big holiday release for the N64 that year, which was a big disappointment and one of the reasons why I bought a PlayStation soon after.

Donkey Kong 64

This 3-D follow up to the DKC games also garnered some much-deserved criticism, but I still enjoyed the game anyway. The levels were sprawlingly huge, you got to finally play the original DK arcade game, and the game was loaded with personality. For instance, I loved it when you would highlight Chunky Kong on the select screen. The big coward would shake his head ‘no,’ point to Tiny Kong and suggest you pick her!

But yeah, DK64 did have its problems. Most complain that the Banjo-Kazooie games were bad with the collect-a-thons, but it was really DK64 that took it to a whole new level. For instance, each character had their own colored banana to collect, and there were 100 of each in every level! Sheesh! Plus, DK64 was nothing more than a more action-oriented Banjo game anyway. And one year later, Banjo-Tooie featured better graphics and didn’t need the required Expansion Pack. And the DK rap was pretty bad, but it still makes me laugh and I was still impressed they got it on the N64.

Donkey Konga 1, 2, and 3

During the GameCube days, Namco had a arcade hit on their hands with the Taiko no Tatsujin (Taiko Drum Master) music games in Japan. They STILL make Taiko games for Wii and DS over there! Nintendo wanted a piece of that action so they got Namco to make their own version for the GameCube. They replaced the Taiko drum with a barrel-shaped bongo controller (which you can find en masse at used game stores now), but the gameplay is very similar to the Taiko ones. Japan had three games but the US only had two. The first game had a wide variety of music, but the US sequel just had modern songs, so it was kind of lame. They were fun music games, but I think I liked the Taiko ones better.

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat

This game also used the bongo controllers, but instead of a music game, Jungle Beat was a 2-D platformer. I thought this game was BRILLIANT, and it’s probably my second favorite DK game ever (right below the Game Boy one). The game was less about getting to the end of the level and more about getting a high score along the way by doing tricks. For instance, you could pick up that banana for a quick few points, but if you backflipped into it and clapped to pick it up instead, you’d get almost triple the points! The whole game was like that. And the Punch-Out styled boss battles were great. I’ve been meaning to pick up the Wii version for a while now. I know it probably won’t play as well with the remote, but I’d like to try it anyway since I like the game so much.

Donkey Kong Barrel Blast

This was originally going to be a racing game using the bongos, but they moved it to the Wii instead. Now, Nintendo is definitely capable of making a bad game from time to time, but even their bad ones are still polished and playable. But not this one! It’s an unplayable mess on the Wii and I doubt it would’ve been much better on the GC. Stay away from this one. Worst. DK game. Ever.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong

Moving back a little bit, on the GBA they made a sequel to my favorite Game Boy DK game. It was a great game and all, but something about it felt a little…off, and I didn’t like it near as much as the original. I really can’t put my finger on it, though. I did like the fact they brought back Pauline for the Mario vs. DK games, however.

DK: King of Swing & DK Jungle Climber

These creative action games on the GBA and DS used just the L and R buttons to make DK climb pegs hand over hand, like Crazy Climber. It did get ridiculously hard in later levels, though. King of Swing on GBA had a 2-D cartoony artwork style while DS Jungle Climber looked more like the rendered graphics from DKC. I liked the King of Swing graphics better.

Mario vs. DK 2: March of the Minis

The DS sequel to GBA Mario vs. DK let you control the Mario Mini toys with the stylus, very well I might add. It was a great game. The puzzles were fun but not too hard, and you could even design your own levels. There was a DSiWare sequel called Minis March Again, but it looked like more of the same so I haven’t downloaded it yet. DKC Returns isn’t the only new DK game out this year, as there is a new cartridge based sequel called Mario vs. DK: Mini Land Mayhem. I hear you don’t control the Mario toys so it’s more like Lemmings, but that’s OK because I love Lemmings! I haven’t bought the new Mario vs. DK game yet, but I’ll definitely get it soon, I’m sure!

Donkey Kong Country Returns

And now we come to the newest member of the DK game family. I just got it today and only cleared the first world, so I can’t say too much about it in a review yet. But I will say that so far, Retro really nailed the feel of the classic DKC games. Which is more than what I can say about Team Ninja’s take on Metroid. In the game, new villain Tiki gods come out from a volcano and hypnotize all the jungle animals and make them steal DK’s bananas. Not sure WHY they’re doing that, but that’s OK, video game stories rarely make any sense anyway. Although I do kind of miss the crocodilian Kremlings. I’m also glad they let you play with the Wii remote sideways, as I didn’t like the nunchuck controls when I played it at PAX. I still wish you didn’t have to roll by shaking the Wii remote, but I understand why they did this since in the old games, running and rolling were mapped to the same button. I can’t wait to play two players, but considering I never got brother Jeff to play Kirby with me, I think it might be a while.

Speaking of which, I think it was a smart idea for them to release a new DKC game since the folks who grew up with the originals are now old enough to have buying power now. Brother Jeff was just a little tyke who could barely talk, only babble, when I first showed him DKC on the SNES. He was so enthralled by it and when our mom came in the room, he just looked at her, pointed at the TV, and babbled incessantly! I think that might’ve been the first video game he ever saw! Shortly after, he learned how to say ‘Donkey Kong’ so he could tell me he wanted to play it. Granted it sounded more like “Conky Conk,” but I like to say that Donkey Kong was one of Jeff’s very first words!

Kong Kancellations

There were a few Donkey Kong games that got cancelled that I know of. One was going to be a Rare made racing game on the GameCube featuring DKC characters on animal riders. Rare also had a GBA puzzle game called DK Coconut Crackers, but they turned that into It’s Mr. Pants starring their Web mascot.

Kong Kameos

DK’s been in other games, too, but there’s no way I can list them all! He’s raced karts with Mario, played sports, and been to parties. Yoshi even babysat his baby form in Yoshi’s Island DS. And DK was a secret boss in Wii Punch Out, too!

Donkey Kong has also been on lots of products that there’s no way I can mention them all either! Back in the 80’s he had his own cereal (DK cereal was just barrel shaped Cap’n Crunch and DK Jr. cereal was fruit shaped pieces). He also had plush toys and a board game! When I was a kid, one time a local Toys R Us said that you could meet Donkey Kong one Saturday, but it was just a guy in a gorilla suit. Even today there is DK merchandise, like a DK themed Jenga game that I’d like to get, but not at 25 bucks (plus I don’t like Jenga much anyway).

Kong Kartoons

DK has been in three different cartoons as well, which is more than most video game characters ever hope for! Back in the 80’s, there was a cartoon called Saturday Supercade and it had short toons based on popular arcade games like Frogger, Q*bert, and Donkey Kong. Mario was a circus trainer and Pauline was his niece as they tried to capture the escaped Donkey Kong. DK was voiced by Soupy Sales (R.I.P.) and he really got into the part. When he’d say his name, it wasn’t just “Donkey Kong,” but “Dooowwwnnnkeeeyyy Kaaawwwwwnnnngggg!” There was also a DK Jr. cartoon where Jr. and a teen biker tried to search for his dad in the second season.

Later in the NES heyday, DK was a villain in Captain N. DK here was a giant King Kong styled gorilla, but he had feminine qualities. But considering how they portrayed Simon Belmont, Mega Man, and Mother Brain, that doesn’t seem too surprising. Last was a Donkey Kong Country cartoon. I don’t remember it being very good, but it was one of the few computer animated cartoons during its time, and the style fit perfectly with the look of the games.

Kong Konclusions

And that’s all I feel like talking about DK right now! Did anyone read the news that Nintendo is trying to copyright the phrase “It’s on like Donkey Kong?” I’ve never heard anyone use that phrase outside of a couple of TV shows, and I’m not sure what it means, but that sounds pretty silly. If someone said, “I’m as hungry as Pac-Man,” would Namco try and copyright that? Oh well. In the comments section, let me know YOUR favorite DK games and moments. Have a happy Thanksgiving! –Cary

Tags: Game Reviews